Before I dive into this much-needed rant, I would just like to mention that I have nothing against the Greek community/lifestyle whatsoever! You host great parties, and do so much for the community with your philanthropy – good on you. It’s one particular sorority that I have animosity towards, due to a series of unfortunate rush events that ended with deceit and false hopes. But don’t worry – I won’t give you girls away.
It all started last winter, when my best friend begged me to rush a sorority with her. This was a sorority she held in very high regard. Being the supportive friend I am (and possibly very curious to try jungle juice), I agreed. Usually paired with a fraternity, these parties are meant to have you ‘mingle’ with your potential future sisters and class. Yet the sisters seemed to ignore us, clearly not interested in meeting any of the newbies. Later on, after a sister had a little too much jungle juice, she admitted that they ‘had to be rude’ towards the rushers so that we would work hard to stand out and be liked. (red flag number one!)
After rushing period, bids were handed out, and to my best friend’s sheer delight, she got one. She went out with the sisters, had lunch dates, and enjoyed her time with her new ‘friends’. After the first week of pledging though, my friend decided it was too much commitment with school work. So, she reluctantly dropped out, but remained friends with the sisters who encouraged her to rush in the fall (this season.)
All summer, she committed time to mingling with the sisters of the sorority, who constantly talked about fall rush and how she’d certainly, with no doubt in their minds, get an automatic bid. Beyond ecstatic to be given the opportunity to rush in the fall, with a less demanding school schedule, she promoted rushing this great sorority to her friends. She attended six of the rush events when she didn’t even have to go to one because of the sisters’ assurance of a bid. Why not? They were great pals after all.
She was blinded by the fake kindness and friendship they shared in the summer and throughout the year and after the rush period, she got a voicemail (low blow, by the way) to let her know that she didn’t get a bid.
She went through all this fake best-friends-forever stuff for nothing. Some of these sisters lied to her face, alarmingly with ease. To make matters worse, all but one don’t even talk to her anymore. Did some girls forget to leave their high school behaviour back where it belongs? Maybe this is why sororities get their unfortunate stereotypes – because one little sorority forgets that friendships don’t actually form from being a “mean girl”. (Did you see what happened to Regina George in the end?!)
I wrote this to expose the fact that some sororities might not be all what they seem. So ladies, before you decide to rush for a sorority – please look into it.
Some advice?
– Don’t ask the sisters themselves because they’ll just tell you that their sorority is the best out there– ask those who rushed.
– Join their Facebook rush groups; they give helpful insights about what you can expect from the sorority.
– Check out their reputation, but try to steer away from the stereotypes.
– Don’t go in with high expectations, but also have an open mind.
– Rush for several different sororities; don’t close yourself off to just one.
– Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable doing, do not brush off red flags, and especially don’t feel bad if you don’t get a bid.
There is a lot more to University than being in a sorority, I promise. Although I have always wanted to rock those cool sweaters! ;)
Photo source:
http://hellogiggles.com/everything-i-need-to-know-i-learned-from-mean-girls
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/mean-girls/images/2227049/title/mean-girls-p…