Approximately 150 members of the College's six sororities met at Sigma Delta sorority last night to address concerns they have about the Greek system as it currently exists and to come up with a plan of action on how to "redefine" it.
The meeting was called by the presidents of the six sororities -- Cai Boldt '97 of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Anne Jones '97 of Delta Delta Delta sorority, Emily Orzel '97 of Delta Gamma sorority, Kathryn Scharbach '97 of Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, Emily Smith '97 of Sigma Delt and Joanna Whitley '97 of Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority.
In an interview with The Dartmouth following the meeting last night, the six presidents, speaking as a unified group, said almost all the women who attended the meeting voiced a "strong demand for change" in the Greek system.
The six presidents said there is a demand among the members of the sororities for change to happen "immediately."
"It's not just people are talking. There's a demand for change to happen and to happen now," they said.
Panhellenic Council President Jessica Russo '97 said the meeting was called on the initiative of the six sorority presidents and added Panhell, although not involved in arranging the meeting, is "fully backing" the sororities in whatever actions they decide to take.
The presidents said they called the meeting because they "recognize that there are problems with the Greek system as it exists," particularly apathy and disrespect.
A BlitzMail message, which was circulated among sorority members yesterday, stated, "The sorority presidents are extremely fed up with the fact that we are defending a Greek system where certain parties are doing things we strongly object to. We feel it is time to use our power and find a way to force Greeks to ACT on this issue."
At the meeting, the sorority presidents said three immediate goals or "demands" were agreed upon -- accountability and respect on an individual, house and system level; equity of social space; and equality of representation and presence in the Presidents' Council.
The six presidents presented similar concerns on Tuesday night to the Presidents' Council of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council.
After last night's meeting, which was open only to sorority members, the presidents said they now possess a framework for their ideas, and they will formulate a "concrete plan of action" to achieve their goals later this week.
"We are not ending here," they said. But they would not discuss further details of any action the sororities must take.
Russo said the six sorority presidents will meet tomorrow to start to formulate their plan of action.
The purpose of the meeting was for the concerned members of the sorority system to offer ideas on how to "redefine" the Greek system and to suggest what the role of the sororities in that system would be, the six presidents said.
Although they organized last night's meeting, the six presidents stressed the general membership of each of their houses will have significant input in whatever action the sororities take.
The presidents said the general members of the sororities gave "support for us as individuals demanding change" and "a commitment from them as individuals to be a part of that change."
"No matter how we individually feel, we can't do anything without the support of all of our members," they said.
The six presidents said they were "excited and pleased" about the turnout at last night's meeting.
"We feel it was an energizing and empowering move for the sororities," they said.
Russo said the initiative taken by the six sororities is "wonderful."
She said it was extremely important that the sororities are constantly examining the Greek system and their role within it.
