Speak up or bite my tongue?

[SydneyK]

So, I was invited to present a talk as a guest lecturer at a university (not my alma mater). After the presentation and Q&A session, I went to lunch with some of the students who attended. We ate in the Student Union on campus.

The Student Union has tables where the sorority members all gather for meals, and flags hang over the tables indicating which tables are for which groups.

It just so happened that my group was sitting right between two sorority tables: the ABCs and the XYZs. And, they're right in the middle of rush.

So, during a lull in the conversation at our table, I overhear members of ABC (who were even wearing ABC shirts, so it wasn't just random people sitting at the ABC table) talking loudly about how bitchy XYZs are, and how they hope PNMs see just how awful they really are. They then proceeded to bad-mouth EVERY other group on campus.

This isn't the first time I've visited this campus, and it also isn't the first time I've experienced ultra-foul behavior from this chapter of ABC. And to top it all off, this chapter of ABC has struggled for a while.

I struggled with what to do. I obviously wasn't going to say anything since I was with a group of students who, as far as I knew, weren't aware of the conversation going on beside us. But I realllllllly wanted to go back to that table afterwards and say, "Look, you don't know me from Adam, and I heard every comment you just made. That was totally inappropriate!" But, I didn't.

I'm friends with an alum from another chapter of ABC, so I'm tempted to contact her and tell her this story. But I always hate to make waves. I know sorority members can harbor ill-will during rush, but this really was excessive... and quite public.

Anyone here have any suggestions? Am I making too much of it? These ABCs aren't doing anything positive for themselves by talking trash about the other groups, but that's not news to anyone here.

I'm just wishing these sorority members knew just how much people observe, even when they don't seem to be paying attention.