Book pledged: the secret lives of sororities

[AXOKatie]

Incidentally Meredith, where did you go to school? PM me!

[reverie]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
I get the feeling that some co-ed fraternities (as well as local GLOs, non-traditional groups like service-based, GLOs at schools with non-traditional Greek systems, and any Greeks who don't identify with the mainstream SEC/Big 12/Big 10/PAC 10 huge traditional Greek system model) look down on being considered "Greek" even though they are and that Robbins bought into that . . . It's like they want the benefits of being identified as Greek (brother/sisterhood, social life) but they aren't willing to take on the negatives (specifically stereotypes).

We have that problem with my APO chapter all the time: Are we greek? Are we not greek? People say things like, you shouldn't have so many social events if you're not a social fraternity. But there are definitely distinctions between social, service and non-traditional GLOs. The founder of APO was an SAE so it was modeled after the social fraternities, but it's not quite the same thing. (For example, we can't have houses or throw open parties.)

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by reverie
We have that problem with my APO chapter all the time: Are we greek? Are we not greek? People say things like, you shouldn't have so many social events if you're not a social fraternity. But there are definitely distinctions between social, service and non-traditional GLOs. The founder of APO was an SAE so it was modeled after the social fraternities, but it's not quite the same thing. (For example, we can't have houses or throw open parties.)

Right. I have no issues with people saying, "Well, we're Greek, but our organization is different from the social Greeks you usually think of when you hear that word." But I think that as long as you have Greek letters in your name or utilize them somewhere in your ritual, you're "Greek." The whole "We're Greek but we're not Greek" meaning "But we're not like that" is really insulting to a lot of social Greeks (or, like I said before, to anybody who fits the more traditional system mold that you're being compared to), but I see it a lot even on Greek message boards.

[AGDAlum]

I've just read/re-read this whole thread, and veered off to other links. (The blog/BBS from "sororitygirl" was interesting.)

First, I am *SO* proud of all of you who put the book on hold at your local libraries! This librarian is glad you understand ILL, and that you use your library -- thank you!

That said, I finally got the book today (at the library). I've skimmed it and probably won't bother to read it all. Partly a lack of time, and too much else to read -- and I have all of your comments to guide (influence) me.

What I don't get: Yale has had NPC groups for several years--maybe 10? Didn't she come across them? Did *no one* from her h.s. class or her hometown go Greek (women or men)? Were *none* of her parents' friends Greek?

and

at the end she says to go to her website to find out what's happened to the four women. I went there. Nothin'.

Has anyone figured out the campus of Beta Pi and Alpha Rho?

If she really wants to know our secrets, who's sponsoring her for AI? <vbeg> ("Raise your cards, ladies!" as we said during hash.....do you still call it hash?)

Ye Olde AGDAlum

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by AGDAlum


What I don't get: Yale has had NPC groups for several years--maybe 10? Didn't she come across them? Did *no one* from her h.s. class or her hometown go Greek (women or men)? Were *none* of her parents' friends Greek?

Has anyone figured out the campus of Beta Pi and Alpha Rho?

It doesn't surprise me. Greek Life at Yale is a little more (well, a lot more) disconnected from "regular" student life than at other schools. The "college" system at Yale, in some cases, overrides the Greek system.

I think "State U." is the University of Texas.

[WCUgirl]

Either Ms. Robbins made an unitentional reference to one of the sororities IRL, or she is smarter than we think she is. I caught a comment she made and it leads me to think I know which NPC she's talking about for one of the groups. But I don't know for sure....

[AGDAlum]

Sloppy editing -- bet others have found more.

p. 254, "Chicago high school" powderpuff football hazing in 2003.
Said high school was not in Chicago. Big difference between city schools and suburban ones.

p. 284, 285: she writes the XO and APhi secret work. It may be Greek to her, but it's not accurate.

Question: p. 306. She writes about the Penn Phi Sig chapter being "shut down," to recolonize. "Nearly all the 75 sisters resigned." What chapter recolonizes if it has 75 members? I would think at an urban Ivy like Penn, an NPC chapter with 75 members is huge.

Has GreekChat discussed Subrosa, "a women's community service organization that is unaffiliated with any national group"?

[33girl]

Originally posted by AGDAlum
Question: p. 306. She writes about the Penn Phi Sig chapter being "shut down," to recolonize. "Nearly all the 75 sisters resigned." What chapter recolonizes if it has 75 members? I would think at an urban Ivy like Penn, an NPC chapter with 75 members is huge.

Has GreekChat discussed Subrosa, "a women's community service organization that is unaffiliated with any national group"?

Penn's Greek system is not like the other Ivys. 75 was on the low side there (most chapters had over 100).

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...threadid=25933

Here's something about Subrosa. Robbins wrote as though the disaffiliates created it, but that's obviously not the case.

http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vn...4?in_archive=1

[ladyj39]

Originally posted by AXiD670
Either Ms. Robbins made an unitentional reference to one of the sororities IRL, or she is smarter than we think she is. I caught a comment she made and it leads me to think I know which NPC she's talking about for one of the groups. But I don't know for sure....

Was it a comment made in an interview? You can PM me if you don't want to say who you think it is here. Do you have an idea about what school it is?

[aabby757]

Can you post your opinion here please?

Me, personally, I think one of the chapters could be from the University of Maryland. The KD chapter is Alpha Rho. And she "looks" like she could easily fit in well with the greek system there.

[WCUgirl]

One thought I had - are we sure that she isn't making up the deferred recruitment thing? How could she have been at this school's deferred recruitment and at SMU's deferred recruitment at the same time?

ETA: from Ms. Robbins' website:

Updates on Vicki, Sabrina, Caitlin, Amy, and Brooke will be posted here in October (apologies for the delay; Alex has been traveling and the girls are lying low). To avoid spoilers, updates will be password-protected with varying words from pages of Pledged.

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by AXiD670
One thought I had - are we sure that she isn't making up the deferred recruitment thing? How could she have been at this school's deferred recruitment and at SMU's deferred recruitment at the same time?

ETA: from Ms. Robbins' website:

Updates on Vicki, Sabrina, Caitlin, Amy, and Brooke will be posted here in October (apologies for the delay; Alex has been traveling and the girls are lying low). To avoid spoilers, updates will be password-protected with varying words from pages of Pledged.

Yeah, I'm sure the girls are lying low. Their chapter sisters have probably figured it out and now want to kick their behinds.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by AXiD670
One thought I had - are we sure that she isn't making up the deferred recruitment thing? How could she have been at this school's deferred recruitment and at SMU's deferred recruitment at the same time?

Well, the school in question might in fact be SMU.

Or she could have been researching this book for more than one year.

[AXOKatie]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
Yeah, I'm sure the girls are lying low. Their chapter sisters have probably figured it out and now want to kick their behinds.

Or they already did and they're lying low so that their wounds can heal

[WCUgirl]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
Well, the school in question might in fact be SMU.

Or she could have been researching this book for more than one year.

Good point. I don't have the book in front of me at the moment so I can't recall correctly.

The reason I had that thought was b/c I thought the year she followed these girls was supposed to be academic year 2002-2003. In that last chapter, on the recap of the pig's run, isn't that supposed to take place for recruitment in 2003 (which, would be January-February-ish)?