This is probably going to come as a shock to many people, some of my closest friends included, but after giving the matter serious consideration I recently decided to depledge from my sorority. I made this decision partly because I welcome the idea of seeing Dartmouth through a different light (I joined my house right after transferring here last fall, so I've never seen things from the non-Greek perspective), partly because I could use the extra $300 a term to do things I'd really like to do but haven't been able to afford, and partly because I'm curious to see whether I'm capable of hacking it on the road less traveled at Dartmouth. But mostly, it's because it has become increasingly difficult for me to reconcile to myself that I'm a member of an organization that, by definition, supports the continuation of the Greek system, while I am personally very much opposed to it.
As a community, we seem to largely ignore aspects of the fraternity system that are undesirable. Examples of things we would probably all like to see eliminated are social norms that suggest booting, blacking out, and passing out are acceptable occurrences or even worthy goals, the proliferation of disrespect toward women that contributes much to dysfunctional gender relations on this campus, and destructive hazing rituals. Instead of pulling together to address these issues, however, we have pulled together to collectively oppose any change in the system because we're indignant with the Trustees for presuming to tell US how to live OUR lives.
As a sorority member, I've found it easy to talk at length about the problems I have with fraternities, but I've had a harder time turning the microscope on sororities. A large part of this is that my own positive experiences have formed for me a pair of rose-colored glasses, but we've all caught glimpses or heard stories -- we know that not all houses encourage positive body images, welcome openly gay members, or encourage individuality. My response to these kinds of stories has been to pat myself on the back and thank God I haven't had to personally deal with any of these issues. My house IS a sorority, however, and as such actively supports the entire sorority system (not to mention the larger CFS system, of which it is also obviously a part). This is the same system that contributes to eating disorders, that teaches incoming women the social routine of the greater Greek community -- in which drunken (or even blacked out) "hookups" are considered normal and funny -- and that bears a portion of the responsibility for dysfunctional gender relations on campus. And although I've met people through my sorority that I may not have met otherwise, the process of rush (I think we're all aware of how messed up THAT ordeal can be) divides women on this campus rather than uniting them. Rush creates arbitrary and artificial walls between women -- walls I can feel in some of my friendships with unaffiliated women and women in other houses. The divisions that the CFS as a whole create between men and women cause even more obvious problems, and are fortunately starting to draw attention from the larger Dartmouth community.
A lot of these problems might exist in some shape even without the presence of the Greek system, but to me it's evident that the atmosphere created by the system increases the probability that people will make choices they might not have otherwise considered. And because of the prevalence of the Greek system on this campus, these problems affect all of our lives and all of our relationships -- not just those of the people who choose to join a house.
I've had a lot of positive experiences at my house and I've made a lot of good friends there -- I'm happy that I joined. However, it no longer seems acceptable to me to be a member of a system I view as contributing to widespread problems on this campus, particularly when that system stubbornly opposes even the slightest change.
