I read columns in The Dartmouth every day that reassure me that Dartmouth students think like me: I don't want to be judged before people can understand who I am and what I believe in. But I have never felt so judged and personally attacked as I did when I read Katie Greenwood's scathing column about the Dartmouth Greek system (The Dartmouth, Jan. 30, 2002, "System Failure).
The words with which Miss Greenwood makes her point, as I suggest, do not demonstrate the failure of the Greek system, but of the argument of one misled individual.
Exclusivity is a difficult concept to grasp, I admit. In truth, if Miss Greenwood were in a sorority, she would perhaps be better informed about the details of the rush process. It is complex and difficult for many women, but there are guidelines and rules that explicitly condemn and punish any "scorning and marginalizing" of women, during the rounds and deliberations.
Miss Greenwood describes the apologies of the girls at her door as "cowardly, obscuring any personal responsibility behind the incorporeal machinations of 'The System.'" Well, even though I only have a blonde sorority-girl brain, I would like to suggest that the rush process is indeed complicated. With computer matching systems, a new rule that allows house-elimination by rushees and Panhellenic governance, it is likely that members such as the women at Miss Greenwood's door were truly at a loss for how to explain the error that still exists in the system.
Besides, these girls were only at the door to perform an act of kindness toward their new sisters. They were not there to make an upset woman more distraught. They most certainly were not there solely for the purpose of being addressed in a clearly sarcastic (hence the quotation marks) and degrading manner -- "[s]o until your 'sisterhood' is predicated on something other than exclusion, we don't want any part of it." "Cattiness," used by Miss Greenwood to describe the Greek system that she has not taken the time to understand fully, should be used to describe the manner in which she confronted these women who came, in good spirit and good faith, to her door.
If you want to place the blame of exclusivity somewhere, place it upon the College. The College has mandated that no more sororities be formed. This makes it impossible for the present houses to accommodate the consistently increasing numbers of women who participate in the rush process in hopes of joining a Greek organization.
It is hard. I know. Wonderful girls get caught up in the complexities of the rush process. People don't always get into Sheba or the Aires, either. However, like Sheba and the Aires, sororities at Dartmouth do not judge members based upon financial need, race, sexual preference or appearance.
A sister of mine wrote emotionally: "As a minority in a predominantly white sorority, I don't feel as if I was given a bid to 'fill a quota.'" I truly feel that I have found friends with similar thoughts, beliefs and interests as myself." Another woman wrote: "In [my sorority] I am considered a sister, not a minority. I am not flaunted as a token minority, as I sometimes feel at Dartmouth. I am just a sister." A third sister (who also happens to be a minority, as labeled by Dartmouth College) wrote: "If there is any reason for the low number of minorities in sororities, it is because, by not rushing, minorities exclude themselves from the system."
In reference to Ms. Greenwood's attacks on "privilege," it is explained in detail, during rush, that most sororities offer nationally-sponsored and locally-endowed financial aid to sisters. One house on campus actually guarantees full scholarships to every woman who receives financial aid through the College.
"Three white women crammed into tiny clothing and plastered with makeup" are the viciously hypocritical words of Miss Greenwood used to describe the women who came, presumably with good intent, to support their new sisters. Apparently, Miss Greenwood is content to aid in the "internalized oppression" of the women that she so eloquently describes in her column.
The Greek system has long struggled to demonstrate its desire to work together with the non-Greek community. Women do not need to be in the same organizations to support and to respect each other as determined leaders, amazing intellectuals and loving friends.
It saddens me that some still dwell upon the stereotypes of the Greek system rather than try to help improve it or appreciate the positive aspects that it brings to the Dartmouth community.
Failure does not arise from exclusive organizations, as such. Failure, as I see it, can arise anywhere in the Dartmouth community when an individual can not conceive that humans can be part of different groups while retaining the utmost respect and appreciation for one another.
My warmest love to all of the women, affiliated and non-affiliated, who contributed ideas and support to me as I wrote these words. My gratitude to those who took the time to read my arguments in totality. What I write is solely my personal opinion.
