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Since I am not an Alpha Phi, I have been hesitant to comment. Yes, I am shocked at the number of horrible incidents of collegiate women flexing their power to degrade others they see as weaker than themselves. (To me the true measure of a person is how they treat those with less power, is it with helpfulness / kindness or is it to manipulate / degrade?) This is the 21st century, shouldn’t we be behind this??
So, Alpha Phi wanted to increase their presence and be the most sought-after sorority on campus (as we all do) so decided the most straightforward route is to recruit on looks. Afterall collegiate men usually only seek out beautiful women and “GreekRank” intensifies this. (See the missive about University of Michigan recruitment that showed a case where a lovely and very accomplished young woman, who most of the chapter wanted, was denied membership by the HQ staff member because she wasn’t pretty enough.)
Unfortunately, there is a higher percentage of entitled and “mean girls” in the beautiful young women category. So, now several chapters had had to contend with the consequences. And the consequences of closed chapters and unflattering PR have not been enough to promote a culture change. While there have been a number of closed chapters, Alpha Phi continues to be chosen for extension frequently. (I just saw APhi will present at Randolph Macon.) So, none of this has hurt Alpha Phi with PNMs (this is not surprising as the pull of being in a “top” group outweighs almost everything to an 18-year-old.) However, I would have hoped that being chosen for extension would entail College administrators having a voice (at least on who is invited to present) and they would not want the potential headache of an organization giving voice to racists or “mean girls”.
So, as sad as this is, I cannot see the situation changing until Alpha Phi HQ feels negative consequences in terms of numbers (i.e. not being selected for extension opportunities, fewer PNMs highly ranking APhi chapters.)
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