As members of a vapid cult, we have a few misconceptions to correct. Shadee Malakalou's most disconcerting claim is that sororities are not true sisterhoods. Maybe since she is a freshman who did not go through recruitment, she has only seen certain aspects of sorority life.
If she had been in our last round of recruitment, she would have seen the way we interact: we support one another, we like each other and we do cry on each other's shoulders.
We are both seniors who were tentative about sorority life; however, we decided to give it a try. We have made some of our best friends through our sorority. They are intelligent, diverse, capable and confident women who we go to for comfort, support, friendship and fun. We do not understand her negativity towards something we have come to care about deeply. It's her prerogative to have her opinion, but perhaps she should think twice before insulting a community in which roughly 40 percent of the women on campus are involved.
We do agree that we would like to have more time to get to know future sisters; however, as our chapter says, recruitment is a superficial process, but we are not superficial women and we do the best we can in the time allowed. Since when is being womanly a bad thing? In our sorority being womanly means that you are poised, thoughtful and self-assured.
Sororities on campus are involved in many different things. Duke sororities raise thousands of dollars every year for charities. Malakalou's ideas demonstrate an extremely shallow view of sororities. We guarantee her opinions are not true of our sorority and, from what we have seen, they are not true of any sorority. If she would contact us, we would like to invite her to one of our functions, where she will meet women who are friendly, spirited and strong with genuine smiles. Hey, maybe even some stilettos and black lace.
Vanessa Drumm Trinity '04 Ellen Newby Trinity '04
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