I feel compelled to write in response to Meghan Valerio's rant in The Chronicle about what is wrong with Duke. Where I take most offense is her assertion that Duke women, namely those in sororities, "hide their intelligence." Is Valerio serious? First off, students in the greek system have a higher average GPA than those who are not greek. Additionally, greeks are among the most highly active members of the Duke community, serving in positions of leadership in various groups on campus.
More importantly, Duke women in the Greek system are still Duke women. They are intelligent and very capable people just like everyone else at this school. These students work hard and take pride in doing so. Just because they decided to join a sorority doesn't mean they hide their intelligence.
I understand why people decide not to join the greek system, but that doesn't mean you have to criticize the people who do. The greek system provides opportunities to students that may not in fact be as available to students not involved. For example, greek organizations participate in dozens of philanthropy events throughout the year that generate tens of thousands of dollars for charitable causes.
I'm not saying that non-greeks can't do this as well, but when you think about it, if you take just one fraternity and one sorority, that's approximately 200 people contributing to an event. I doubt that those kinds of numbers can be as easily generated by independents.
And to anyone who actually agreed with
Valerio's warped perspective, just because a student decides to go to a semi-formal or a date function and (gasp!) decides to get drunk, that doesn't mean they are pretending to be less intelligent. They just want to have a good time. Sstop giving them a hard time about it.
Ian Roth
Pratt '05
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