Average dues for affiliated students were over $300 for both men and women in the fall of 2014. While the number may seem small compared to the $67,044 net cost of Dartmouth, it poses a financial burden for many students.
In recent years, both student groups and administrators have placed increased pressure on Greek organizations to provide financial aid for members. The “Greek Proposal” released last November included a statement of commitment from Greek organizations to increase financial inclusivity.
Campus dialogue has also begun to focus more on issues related to socioeconomic class. Dartmouth Class Confessions, a Facebook page created in early May, describes itself as “an open space for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds to share their campus experiences.”
The page’s second post – on May 3 – detailed the story of an anonymous woman who went inactive in her sorority for financial reasons, which a fellow member of her sorority claimed was “never” a factor in members’ decisions to go inactive.
“We exist in the sorority. We exist in the Greek system. We exist at Dartmouth,” she wrote. “Please do not assume my socioeconomic status.”
Membership costs at Greek houses vary dramatically. While the Greek Letter Organizations and Societies office does not provide a per-house breakdown for fraternities or gender-inclusive houses, it does for sororities. The data, current from winter 2013, shows a range in cost of dues from $235 at Epsilon Kappa Theta to $395 at Alpha Xi Delta. Across houses, dues for the first time of affiliation, known as new member dues, are the most expensive.
Alpha Phi sorority has dues of $300 for each full member and $586.41 for each new member; Alpha Xi Delta sorority, $395 for full members and $635 for new members; Delta Delta Delta sorority, $295 and $550; Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, $235 and $335, with second and third term member dues set at $310 to $325; Kappa Delta sorority has dues of $310 for fall term, $262 for winter term, $325 for spring term, $250 for summer term and $425 for new member dues; Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority has dues of $330 for full members and $380 for new members; Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, $250 for full members and $647 for new members; andSigma Delta sorority, $325 for full members and $365 for new members.
New member dues at local sororities – EKT, KDE and Sigma Delt– are substantially lower than those of national sororities, but the full member dues are comparable at each set of houses.
Panhellenic Council vice president for public relations Allison Chou ’17 said that Panhell has committed itself to meeting 100 percent of the demonstrated financial need of members, up from the current 80 percent of need that is met.
“I can’t say how major of a factor [financial barriers to membership] are, but Panhell recognizes it as a potential barrier for women who would like to join the Panhellenic community,” she said, adding that the group strives to maximize financial inclusivity.
Chou said that Panhell is set to open a fund that can be used to support the individual financial aid programs of member houses and potentially receive donations from alumni to support current students. The fund would initially be set up through the College, she said.
“The very existence of such a fund would, we hope, contribute to outside donors contributing their own donations to the fund which, we would hope, would relieve any financial strain that might place on Panhell or the houses themselves,” she said.
Chou said that the “gears [are] moving” for the fund to be set up by the fall term, but added that its launch depends upon external factors outside of Panhell’s control.
Panhell is not alone amongst Greek organizations on campus in attempting to address issues of financial inclusivity. In the “Greek Proposal,” the Inter-Fraternity Council committed itself to eliminating the “working for dues” policies that had previously allowed members to pay off their dues through additional housework. Additionally, the IFC committed 15 percent of the social and programming budgets of each house to financial aid.
Economics professor Charles Wheelan, who is a member of the Class of 1988, said that he does not believe individual houses differ greatly in terms of socioeconomic demographics.
“You absolutely, positively do not want to have a situation where out-of-pocket spending is a screen for your social involvement on campus,” Wheelan said.
He also said that the fact that most Greek parties are open to campus helps to reduce socioeconomic burdens on students, since they can participate without paying costs.
“The Dartmouth Greek scene divides in lots of ways — some of which we may like, may not like — but I’ve certainly never seen it as something that exacerbates any existing social cleavage,” Wheelan said.
The Gender-Inclusive Greek Council already meets 100 percent of the need of its members through a unique optional dues system, GIGC president Veri di Suvero ’16 said.
“At every house, your dues are optional,” she said. “In that way, it gets at the socioeconomic inclusivity idea that people who don’t want to pay or can’t pay don’t pay.”
Members simply approach their house officers and request not to pay dues or a portion thereof, and all requests are granted.
Di Suvero said that the GIGC has more flexibility with financial aid since all of its members are local organizations, while both Panhell and the IFC have numerous national organizations as members.
“That’s a huge asset in letting us determine our own financial policies,” she said.
The policy has not harmed the solvency of GIGC houses, di Suvero said. Since the houses typically have fewer members, their costs are lower and they can make do without the full dues from each member, she said.
Todd Heatherton, a psychology professor, said that people tend to group together based on the perception of shared characteristics, meaning that a Greek house that is perceived as wealthier could attract wealthier students.
“From a psychological perspective, we know that people want to belong to groups to help their social identity,” he said.
Heatherton noted the work of a student in the previous decade who found in the course of researching an honors thesis that “People could reliably predict who would get into which sorority based solely on physical appearance.” Heatherton was unaware of any similar data for financial or socioeconomic factors.
Sociology professor Janice McCabe, an expert in social psychology, inequality and education, said that while she lacked Dartmouth-specific data, research conducted by Jenny Stuber, a sociology professor at the University of North Florida, indicated that though socioeconomic factors may not necessarily contribute to the decision on to affiliate, they can impact the decision to join specific Greek houses.
“I wonder if it would be the same here or not,” McCabe said. “There are certainly reputations that houses have, from what students tell me.”
McCabe said that it was generally preferable that organizations be socioeconomically inclusive, noting that universities — through financial aid programs and need-blind admissions — have become more inclusive and diverse in recent years.
“Universities should help people become socially mobile, so if organizations are not being inclusive, then they can become agents of perpetuating inequalities,” she said.
Still, built-in socioeconomic biases can persist.
“People are going to join groups that are somewhat exclusive to people who they wish to be, because being a member of that group confirms that aspect of yourself that you want to have,” Heatherton said.
