My sorority is bottom tier. I know that the girls in top tier sororities consistently skewer us, top tier guys hesitate to invite us to formals, and during rush girls pref us last, or pretty close to it. I know my sorority is somehow less prestigious than the others, and I know that the mothers of legacies to their sorority just about drop dead if on that fateful day in September their daughter receives our bid card. To be honest, I knew all this before I even joined.
I know here in the SEC, Greek social status defines you as a person more than say, your character or your capabilities, both social and otherwise. I know it’s wrong. And I want you to know I stopped giving a shit. I ask you this with the utmost lack of bitterness: in fifteen years, when we all have jobs and families (if I don’t die alone), will anyone care that Kappa Something was in a higher tier than Delta Whatever? Absolutely not.
I’m not your typical southern sorority girl. In fact, I’m not even from the South. I don’t monogram everything, this is my natural hair color, and Lilly Pulitzer makes cute dresses, and agendas, and even bath towels, but at 200 a pop for a dress, my collection is lacking. But it’s 2015, people! Does a “typical” sorority girl even exist anymore?
I didn’t go through formal recruitment. I wanted to rush for the experience, but my parents thought it better for me to wait a year and see what college was like without Greek life before I made that decision. And it was great at first until all the girls on my floor got their bids and spent all their time at their newfound houses, partying it up at their swaps with their newfound sisters. They all seemed so happy to be a part of something so big and it was then I realized I had to join a sorority. I was lucky enough to get invited to dinner at the house I wanted most and, wouldn’t you know it, I fit in perfectly. That week, I received a continuous open bid and I swear my life has not been the same since.
My sorority has girls from almost every state, ethnic background, religion, and even sexual orientation. And while it’s definitely something I’m proud of, it shouldn’t be something almost considered rare here, or something actives need to think about before giving a bid to a girl for fear of dropping their sorority’s status. And well, when you’re at the bottom, you have nowhere to go, so I’ve been exposed to some awesome people that I wouldn’t have met in a chapter with a higher social status. The thing is, sorority status shouldn’t be based on which sorority is the oldest, what fraternities they swap with, or the city they pull the most girls from. How about the girls that are fun to be around? The girls who care about each other the most? But maybe that’s just me.
At the end of the day, no one should let their preoccupation with status, or where their sorority ranks dictate their overall experience. A sorority is a place where you find your best friends and where you have a support system that extends far beyond that of unaffiliated girls, and isn’t that what letters are all about? .
Nice Move793
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