Duke University Sorority Article

[BigRedBeta]

This is not a new criticism, just one that has finally been brought up in mainstream articles. Several years ago, while doing research for a paper in my Sociology Senior Capstone Course on the differences in messages in GLO magazines from NPHC and NPC/IFC orgs (as well as gender differences) I came across an interesting article (one of the few that came even close to my topic) from 1999. The authors found that for many white women, the motivation for joining a sorority was largely due to social concerns, while for black women, there was an expectation that joining a sorority would help them professionally. The article was pretty well written, and my own content analysis in looking at fraternity and sorority magazines and the messages presented there both latently and manifestly, found similar things. There was a lot more emphasis in the NPC group's magazine on fulfilling multiple roles as a woman, but they were all equal - wife, mother, career, sorority member, friend, etc...and this was in the "Career" issue. The NPHC sorority mag though had a lot more on service and achievement - the messages were much clearer that joining the NPHC sorority was a way to succeed as an educated woman, with much less emphasis on friendship and "sisterhood".


Here's the citation for the article I was talking about. In the academics section of Chit Chat here on GC, there's a thread I started when I was Betarulz! titled "The GC Academic Conference" in which I briefly (very briefly - the final paper was 17 pages and early versions were closer to 25) cover my paper and findings.


Berkowitz, Alexandra and Irene Padavic. “Getting a Man or Getting Ahead: A comparison of White and Black Sororities.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography; Vol. 27 No. 4 January 1999.

[FSUZeta]

sororities offer no professional assistance? how many of us alumnae have referred a collegiate member of our own sorority who is job hunting, to a business associate, a friend or acquaintance who might be in a position to help her? or assisted a collegian in writing her resume or written a letter of reference for the young woman applying to graduate school?

how sad that this young woman has no plans to remain active in her sorority after she graduates. she will definately miss out on professional assistance and mentoring that she accuses the sororities of failing to provide.

does she want her sorority to hold journalism seminars? that is fine for her, but i don't think that the pre-med or education majors would get much out of it. if this young woman is looking for more professional guidance, she should join the journalism club or the greek letter equalivent. that is the purpose of a professional organization. social organizations are just that-organizations that enhance the social aspects of college, and hopefully help make the member a more well rounded individual.

in zeta we have standards programs-they can run the gamut from changing a tire, to resume' writing, to buying insurance, making a will, investing or napkin folding and everything in between. i am sure all sororities have the same type of program, just under a different title. so we're not all fluff and no substance.

[AlwaysSAI]

You know, the more I thought I about this thread the more I realized what my GLOs have done for ME.

Think about it for a second. The author of the article is asking what her Nationals have done for her. It's all about ME ME ME ME ME. Think about what the National staff deals with every day. Think of what they do every day to keep the organization up and running. They meet with regional directors, handle expansions, communicate with other orgs, organize resources, network and manage how many every chapters exists. Most orgs, both of mine included have more than 100 chapters and that is a lot to manage. Asking nationals to do something for ME is selfish and ungrateful. Nationals has done something for you. They provided a chapter of that organization on your campus at which you found your home. Not everyone is even lucky enough to find a GLO they call home. Sorry if your nationals hasn't done anything for YOU lately.

She is posing the wrong question. In my mind--the sorority/fraternity is what you make it. The more you put in, the more you get out. Its all on the author if she has no job connections, professional opportunies, whatever through her org. I don't know how many times I've emailed or called someone and said "Hi-My name is AlwaysSAI and I'm a Sigma Alpha Iota/Phi Sigma Pi " and had doors open for me just that way. Because someone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who is an SAI or Phi Sig.

[FSUZeta]

brava alwayssai. to go a bit further, not just your sai or phi sig connections, but your general greek connections can open many doors for you.

most of our national officers(and those on the local level too) are not paid for their service- it is volunteer work.

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

most of our national officers(and those on the local level too) are not paid for their service- it is volunteer work.

I guess the author doesn't realize that. I aspire to one day be a National Officer, but I would have to figure out how to do that and still work to support myself-it's a lot of work.

and ETA on my last post post-My nationals do a lot for me. Phi Sig has a website where brothers can go and find job postings through other brothers and be recommended for that job by a brother. In SAI-our Province Officer comes every year and spends ample time with the chapter to help us build and make it stronger. She is also our voice in NH. The NVP-Ritual is looking at revising the ritual and our PO asked us what we would like to see added, changed, or removed. My NH listens to me when I speak as a member and my voice is heard. SAI also has a website where sisters can post jobs and reccomend sisters for jobs and the like.

No, not everything my Nationals does directly affects me or is for me specifically, but they are working for the betterment of the organization which has become apart of me, who I am and my life.

Maybe I'm the minority, but when I take adavantage of a networking connection because of my greek affiliation I don't want to just use it as a professional tool. When I say "I am a member of Sigma Alpha Iota/Phi Sigma Pi" I intend to mean it in every sense of the word. I will remain active and my affiliation will always be apart of my life. But, maybe that's just me.

(My kids are gonna be like AF's-point to the letter and say "Sigma-Alpha-Iota/Phi-Sigma-Pi")

[Janerz222]

-I'm willing to wager that this author's organization has/participates in a lot of what she thinks is missing. She can wait for someone to come knock her over the head with "opportunities", or she could spend a few minutes of inquiry and find a lot of them are there for her and her fellow Dukies. (She is not by any means alone in this regard.)

-as my biological sister (a longtime Duke GLO alumna) said upon reading this article: "You ARE the sorority, girlfriend. So get to it."

-I am speculating here, and may be off base in this particular case, but I'm going there anyway:

For a long time, I have sensed that many of our NPC chapters at prestigious universities consider themselves above our inter/national organizations, and therefore they ignore/do not fully participate in what the larger organization offers. There's a bit of embarrassment at being a sorority member. So to assuage that and to make themselves feel more justified that they haven't sold out, they convince themselves that "it's different at Duke/Princeton/Stanford". (Note, I'm not throwing stones at glass houses--this most certainly applies to my alma mater/college chapter and to myself to some extent during my own college days.)

By belittling your ties to and the value of the inter/national organization, you can have your cake (3-4 years of fun) and eat it too (ignore the ritual/restrictions/hard work/alumnae involvement).

Imagine how much more we could accomplish if that energy was spent on strengthening the areas our of GLOs that they see as lacking! As an exception to the norm (an actively participating alumna from my chapter), that's the tack I've taken, and I wish I had more company.

You can complain about it, or you can do something about it. I agree that the former is much easier (and makes for more juicy journalism and more hits on your webpage). However, two of the lessons I've learned from being an NPC woman are that you can only change an organization from within, and that women make fabulous agents of purposeful change.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I think she makes some very good points. My group gives me very little reason to stay involved after college, and I haven't paid alumnae dues in years. The alumnae groups plan social events and do some philanthropy work, both of which I can get elsewhere.

I would guess that the three Chicago-area chapters (Chicago, NW burbs, and W burbs) have under 100 active members in total. I suspect many other organizations have similar problems, and I have a hard time believing that every single group doesn't have at least 5,000 members in the Chicago area.

Groups need to refocus on what they are providing women after graduation, and if they can do it as a Panhellenic community, all the better, because there is strength in numbers.

I have never used Greek connections to help me in my career. In fact, I have consistently left it OFF of my resume because so many people have negative Greek stereotypes, and I do not wear my badge to work on NPC badge day.

[ThetaDancer]

Originally Posted by Janerz222

-I'm willing to wager that this author's organization has/participates in a lot of what she thinks is missing. She can wait for someone to come knock her over the head with "opportunities", or she could spend a few minutes of inquiry and find a lot of them are there for her and her fellow Dukies. (She is not by any means alone in this regard.)

-as my biological sister (a longtime Duke GLO alumna) said upon reading this article: "You ARE the sorority, girlfriend. So get to it."

-I am speculating here, and may be off base in this particular case, but I'm going there anyway:

For a long time, I have sensed that many of our NPC chapters at prestigious universities consider themselves above our inter/national organizations, and therefore they ignore/do not fully participate in what the larger organization offers. There's a bit of embarrassment at being a sorority member. So to assuage that and to make themselves feel more justified that they haven't sold out, they convince themselves that "it's different at Duke/Princeton/Stanford". (Note, I'm not throwing stones at glass houses--this most certainly applies to my alma mater/college chapter and to myself to some extent during my own college days.)

By belittling your ties to and the value of the inter/national organization, you can have your cake (3-4 years of fun) and eat it too (ignore the ritual/restrictions/hard work/alumnae involvement).

Imagine how much more we could accomplish if that energy was spent on strengthening the areas our of GLOs that they see as lacking! As an exception to the norm (an actively participating alumna from my chapter), that's the tack I've taken, and I wish I had more company.

You can complain about it, or you can do something about it. I agree that the former is much easier (and makes for more juicy journalism and more hits on your webpage). However, two of the lessons I've learned from being an NPC woman are that you can only change an organization from within, and that women make fabulous agents of purposeful change.

Exactly! I think you hit the nail on the head with this one.

[Speechpath]

[QUOTE=Janerz222;1539242]
For a long time, I have sensed that many of our NPC chapters at prestigious universities consider themselves above our inter/national organizations, and therefore they ignore/do not fully participate in what the larger organization offers. There's a bit of embarrassment at being a sorority member. So to assuage that and to make themselves feel more justified that they haven't sold out, they convince themselves that "it's different at Duke/Princeton/Stanford". (Note, I'm not throwing stones at glass houses--this most certainly applies to my alma mater/college chapter and to myself to some extent during my own college days.)

Knowing a bit about this situation at the local level, I can say you are very right.

[exlurker]

Another Article about Duke Sororities (October 31, 2007)

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/m...-3068457.shtml

Interesting column touches on Panhellenic cooperation / unity and issues like objectification of women, sorority women "serving" in connection with fraternity recruitment, sororities wanting housing, etc.

Brief excerpt from column:

They [the presidents of the NPC sororities at Duke] demonstrated that sorority women can change the way fraternities treat them if they demand better treatment.

But, with this in mind, several issues remain unresolved. Some argue for further reform, citing that lip sync remains inequitable so long as the women are dancing and the men are judging (note: Sigma Chi participated this year with its own dance). Also, next semester's fraternity rush brings a slew of more objectifying events-events where sorority women staff rooms, serve shots and give lap dances. It is my hope that sorority presidents and Panhel will exercise the same leadership when they encounter these events in the Spring.

Even so, right now I am excited to be writing a column that labels sorority women not as "sorostitutes" but rather as leaders who finally stood up and changed a Duke tradition for the better.

Edited to add: As a side note to the columnist's mention of Duke sorority women serving shots and giving lap dances, it's worth noting that U.S. News and World Report ranks Duke as #8 on the list of best national universities. The same source lists Duke's tuition and fees as approximately $35,700 plus of course room and board at about $9,500. Seems kind of a pricey way to get to be a cocktail waitress or lap dancer for an evening or so. And don't even get me started on the time spent on SATs, essays, interviews, and application fees just to get admitted. But hey.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...2920_brief.php

Edited to add article on sororities' lack of campus space

Problems at Duke with renting / reserving space for meetings, events, recruitment, etc.:

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/m...-3081376.shtml

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by exlurker

...that labels sorority women not as "sorostitutes" ...

LOL!

[denimeans]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

in zeta we have standards programs-they can run the gamut from changing a tire, to resume' writing, to buying insurance, making a will, investing or napkin folding and everything in between. i am sure all sororities have the same type of program, just under a different title. so we're not all fluff and no substance.

I'm in an NPC and we definitely don't have that. We have sisterhoods and philanthropies. Our risk management chair gives info on alcohol risk and we've had a self-defense workshop, but nothing even vaguely job related.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by BigRedBeta

Here's the citation for the article I was talking about. In the academics section of Chit Chat here on GC, there's a thread I started when I was Betarulz! titled "The GC Academic Conference" in which I briefly (very briefly - the final paper was 17 pages and early versions were closer to 25) cover my paper and findings.

The GC Academic Conference

[33girl]

She does have a point about alum involvement, we're actually talking about this on the ASA private site. We lose hundreds of women every year to Red Hat Society, Junior League, what have you because they think membership is a "college only" thing. However, the girl (she's not acting much like a grown woman, IMO) writing the article, by stating she has NO intention of staying involved after graduation, is part of the problem. Nothing changes if all you do is complain and don't get involved.

Are the alcohol and visitation restrictions ridiculous and antiquated? Yes. It's all part of a culture that's infantilizing college students more every day.

But I did NOT join a sorority for "political mobilization" - I grew up with that. If I want to be involved politically, I know where to go. I didn't join for "networking" either. I joined for friends and fun that I'm still having 20 years later.

And the last thing I want to hear about is all the sororities uniting toward a "common goal." What would the common goal be? Who decides what it is? For someone to think that 26 different organizations including thousands of diverse women could agree on a "common goal" is so ludicrous, it makes me question how she even had the brains to get into Duke.

Oh and janerz I totally agree with your prestigious schools assessment.

As far as the article:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/sto...candal_at_duke

Umm, college students get drunk. College students hook up. There are stereotypes about sororities and fraternities. Every 10 years, people are stupid enough to talk to Rolling Stone and think it'll not be a giant clusterfuck. This is something new how?

ETA: To all my Farmville Four sisters, and DG, and whoever else was founded at a female college, I guess our founders don't count as "pioneers" since we weren't founded in a hostile environment with males trying to keep us out of their groups.