Sororities offer sisterhood, substance

Although most of the Chronicle's readers know that Shadee Malaklou's latest invective, "The Red Light," is merely another disdainful attack without merit, we think it's important to paint a more accurate picture of sorority life and involvement at Duke. We would like to supply some facts about sororities at Duke, which we hope will shed some light, other than red, on the substance of their being.

Unlike the author of Friday's column, we are actually members of a sorority. Over the course of our four years at Duke we have enjoyed interacting with other sorority girls in myriad situations. Our experiences therefore are not solely limited to Malaklou's cited observations at Parizade and Shooters, an inadequate basis on which to make such derogatory conclusions.

However, one of Malaklou's generalizations does ring true--girls in sororities are a "big deal" around here, maintaining higher than average GPAs, planning philanthropic events, playing on various varsity sports teams and, yes, heading to off-campus bars to have a good time.

Sororities at Duke extend far beyond the social arena, sponsoring events like Habitat for Humanity, book club discussions and peer tutoring. We know we're not alone in stating that some of our favorite sorority events are ones in which we watch our sisters star in a University play, attend a trunk show of the jewelry they have personally created or sing in an a capella concert. One of the truly great aspects of sororities is the diversity of girls with whom you become friends and, yes, sisters.

To first year women who may not know that Malaklou's columns are often full of overgeneralizations and devoid of facts or intellectual honesty, we urge you to get to know sorority girls. A more than cursory effort towards this goal will show that there are both differences between the various sororities and differences within each sorority, as every chapter is filled with girls who are not only accepted but valued for their individuality.

Tridelta Vice President of Public Relations