A group of students and faculty members talked about the relationship between sororities and feminism at a panel discussion in Delta Delta Delta sorority last night.
The panel, one of six discussion about feminism co-sponsored by the Panhellenic Council and the Women's Resource Center, was attended by about 20 students, most of them female.
Women's Resource Center Director Giavanna Munafo moderated the discussion.
She began the discussion by asking whether the members of the audience were feminists and whether they believed in the equality of the sexes.
Except for three students, all of the audience said they were feminists and everyone said they supported sexual equality.
Many students said the only real opportunities for women to become leaders on the campus are in the Greek system. The sorority members in the audience said sororities also possess a sense of unity.
Dani Brune '96, the president of the Panhellenic Council, said feminism and sororities "share a similar goal." Panhell is the self-governing body of the College's sororities.
Brune spoke of how a sorority could not be "political" because it is meant to be "supportive to all women" though this is not always the case.
Brune also said members of the sororities often feel their actions do not get the recognition they deserve for their awards and the programs they have started.
The panel members and members of the audience spoke of the poem written this summer by a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and allegedly read aloud at weekly Wednesday night meetings.
The poem provoked much controversy for its allegedly racist and sexist content.
Many of the women in the audience and on the panel agreed that opposition to the poem should have come not only from the sisters of Sigma Delta sorority who discovered the poem, but from women in general.
Panelists and audience members also discussed the differences between feminism in general and feminism at Dartmouth
It was stressed that being pro-female does not necessarily mean one is anti-male.
Many of the generalizations associated with fraternity men were also discussed.
Ever since the College became coeducational 23 years ago, the Greek system and the relationship between the fraternities and sororities have been important issues, panel members said.
The panel discussion included English and Women's Studies Professor Lynda Boose, Spanish Professor Diana Taylor, English Professor Priscilla Sears, Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority President Jessica Adelman '96, Nada Payne '96 and Shani O'Neal, a Spellman College exchange student and a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically black sorority.
Taylor said many women take important issues for granted and urged women to take charge of their lives and not be afraid to speak out.
