Obviously the following headline is old news. We all know that some sororities will pick potential pledges based on how hot they look in a miniskirt. But things have gotten out of control. A group of Delta Zeta’s at DePauw University in Indiana are fighting back, and it ain’t pretty.
According to a Feb. 25 article in The New York Times, the laid-off ladies of Delta Zeta are angry, and they have every right to be. Recently, a provocative psychology professor at DePauw University surveyed students who described one sorority as “daddy’s little princesses,” another as “offbeat hippies” and Delta Zeta as “socially awkward.”
That’s what caused the uproar within their Greek system. The national officers of the sorority decided to take action: they interviewed 35 DePauw members and questioned them on their commitment to the sorority. Of the 35 women, 23 were considered “insufficiently committed” and were asked to vacate the sorority house as soon as possible. The 23 rejected women included every overweight member of the group, the only black, Vietnamese and Korean members and anyone else who was considered socially inept by the sorority.
According to the article, Elizabeth Haneline was among those evicted and she said, “The Greek system hasn’t changed at all, but instead of racism, it’s image now.” The remaining members were girls considered to be “conventionally pretty,” girls who could attract potential frat boys and urge other beautiful women to join. Because of the negative stereotypes surrounding Delta Zeta, it has had a major decline in membership, which has left the house half empty and full of superficial expectations.
The segregation outraged many of the remaining members and many eventually quit. Take Kate Holloway, who according to the article is a senior who withdrew from the chapter after it’s change of heart. “Virtually everyone who didn’t fit a certain sorority member archetype was told to leave. I sensed the disrespect with which this was to be carried out and got fed up,” Holloway added. “I didn’t have room in my life for these women to come in and tell my sisters of three years that they weren’t needed.”
The mass eviction shook the entire sorority to its core. Many former sorority members’ self-esteem plummeted, and some even withdrew from classes due to depression. There have been student protests, countless letters from alumni and concerned parents and even a faculty petition calling the sorority’s actions unethical. Unethical to say the least.
Sororities are supposed to bring together women from all walks of life, and they’re supposed to unite them in sisterhood, to share an unbreakable bond that lasts their entire lives. But nowadays, it seems sisters around the country are more focused on the physical appearances of their women than their academic abilities or even their personalities.
It’s a sad, sad world we live in where college-age girls are subjected to such brutal criticism and hatred due to their appearance or even their race, and that they are publicly rejected because of it. On top of that, why are girls still being segregated because of the color of their skin? Shouldn’t we be past that by now?
In the end, we can only hope that sororities at Cal State Long Beach stay away from such a superficial selection process. No one wants to be rejected, and sororities shouldn’t benefit from other girls’ misery.
