[XOMichelle]

I think many people in greek orgs feel threatened when people start saying negative things about our beloved groups because we ARE being threatened. The system isn't perfect, we are humans who make mistakes, and there are tons of things that go on that aren't good. Many mothers, college students, and univerity administrators want to use each and every episode as a reason to shut everyone down. Not to evaluate how to change things to make it better, but to shut down the system, college by college. They did it at my University in the 40's, and they have done it elsewhere.

If we care about the longevity of our groups (which I do- since I had a wonderful experience, and hope to give others to have that chance as well) we need to make sure that 1) Universities see that our orgs contribute positively to our members and our communities and 2) women continue to join our groups. In order to do this we need to make sure that our chapters strive to be the best people they can be, and that people recognize this as the case. That is a hard task!! Also, press about sororities tends to be negative. Human interest stories about how an alum group found a member a good OB GYN, and put on a lovely luncheon don't make papers sell. Stories about cat fights and secret rituals are much more appealing. Unfortunately these well-selling (yet rare) stories give both the university administrators, and the potential new members a reason to want greek orgs out of schools, and not to let their daughters join. And while these unfortunate events help us to improve our systems and chapters, the public does not see it as the stepping stone for improvement, but a relic of all chapters in all places, even if there is a disclaimer.

ETA- I'm sorry you had a bad experience, and I wish it had been different for you.