The Panhellenic Association at the University of Michigan has released a statement in regards to the expose that that was recently leaked from the former recruitment chair of an unnamed University of Michigan sorority.
The statement explains the process of sorority rush at the University of Michigan as seen by the Panhellenic Association, emphasizing “values based recruitment”– a concept some would call a facade for the perhaps shallow process of recruitment at the University.
The statement, titled “Statement from the Collegiate Panhellenic on Values-Based Recruitment” references the expose that is circulating within the Greek Life community towards the end.
It states “Our understanding is that this document was a student submission for a Creative Writing course at the University. We do not believe it to be an accurate representation of the recruitment process practiced at the University of Michigan.”
Since the release of the statement this evening, many questions have been raised. Primarily regarding the conclusion that the document is a piece of fiction, intended for a creative writing course and not for the eyes of Potential New Members who are lining up at sorority houses this evening to participate in rush.
Many are wondering what the motive would be to write a twenty page piece of fiction on the horrors of sorority rush. Many creative writing courses at the University of Michigan focus on short stories and poetry, while the document in question is nonfiction, factual based writing. The University of Michigan community seems to be aligned to believe that imagining the contents of the document as a fictional “story” is unrealistic. This has guided the community to wonder if the statement released by Panhel is simply an attempt to mask and trivialize the potential reality behind the document.
The answer lies in the author of the document and the truth for now remains unknown.