At my college in the midwest, there was a very active "Greek" community -- approximately 60% of the student body was a member of a fraternity or a sorority. Of the sororities, each had a personality and a look. The "Beta Sigs" were more glamorous but not the best students (the kind of girls a guy would want to date). The "Alpha Sigs" were wholesome girl-next-door types (the kind of girls a guy would want to marry). And the "Theta Phis" were athletic and boisterous (the kind of girls a guy would want on his coed softball team).
Apparently, these types of sorority stereotypes are pervasive, and at DePauw University in Indiana, when the Delta Zeta sorority got the reputation as being "socially awkward", the sorority's national officers paid a visit to the campus to assess the Delta Zeta sisters on their commitment to the sisterhood and to recruitment. Of the 35 sorority members, only 12 were deemed acceptable. The remaining 23 were told to move out of the sorority house.
The New York Times reports that the 23 members told to leave "included every woman who was overweight. They also included the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members. The dozen students allowed to stay were slender and popular with fraternity men — conventionally pretty women the sorority hoped could attract new recruits. Six of the 12 were so infuriated they quit."
Where racism once guided Delta Zeta's recruitment practices, now lookism does. The DePauw chapter was populated by brainy women, "including many science and math majors, as well as talented disabled women". What is apparently heretical, is that the women were selected for their smarts and personality, rather than for their sex appeal. Of course, having a sorority full of nerds can make it hard to recruit the archetypal sorority girl, which is what alarmed the national officers and caused them to swoop in.
After an interview with the sorority's national officers, where each DePauw Delta Zeta was told to look her best and where the ladies were quizzed on their commitment to the sorority and to recruitment, only a handful were deemed sufficiently committed. This group did not include the chapter's president and secretary; longstanding members of the sorority who had taken on leadership positions. If that's not "commitment", what is?
Delta Zeta should be ashamed of what it has done to its DePauw "sisters" in the name of furthering its membership. I am embarrassed for the "sisters" who were evicted from their sorority -- they deserve better. Fortunately, they appear to be smart, thoughtful types who will surely have satisfying professional and personal lives. But kudos go to the 6 "sisters" who resigned from this ugly, shallow and divisive family. They demonstrate the most significant meanings of sisterhood.
Those bad Delta Zetas remind me of my own sister, and she's to be avoided.
Posted by: Ann | May 05, 2007 at 06:42 PM