The Greek system attracts a good deal of criticism, but the truth is that fraternities are not distinct from selective living groups in terms of the institutional privilege they enjoy. (They are somewhat different, I would argue, in terms of the less technical and more residual sources of their influence. This explains how those fraternities not formally recognized by the University derive social clout from the well-established brand power of their letters, their authority within the Greek scene intimately tied to the perpetuation of the system at large.)
In 2007, the CCI recommended the "decoupling" of residential space and selective living groups. The backlash was immediate, despite the committee's careful assertion that discontinuing the practice of pre-assigning space to selectives was not to deny the value of affinity groups but simply to recognize the inequities built into a housing model that bestowed privileged space to certain groups over others. The report should have added that these are groups that operate according to opaque membership processes, seemingly based entirely on current members' arbitrary, and (dare I say) at least occasionally superficial preferences.
Umbrella bodies like the Interfraternity Council and the National Pan-Hellenic Council strive to connect the different Greek organizations at Duke. And yet it is a fact acknowledged by every student on campus that our fraternities and sororities fall into a distinct hierarchy based on the perceived privilege, class and physical appearance of its members. How effectively, then, could even the most well-intentioned umbrella bodies carry out their mission, when their constituents have been judged and divided into something suspiciously like castes?
To continue this thought and supplement today's column, I offer some ruminations on the validity of even non-residential institutional support for Greek life as we know it at Duke.
Consider the following thought experiment.
Tiffany and Tracy are close friends—so close, in fact, you might mistake them for sisters. They do not live together, but they spend a lot of time together, and they custom order a lot of matching clothes. The same is true of Mary and Martha, who have their own club, as well as Laura and Lily.
Every year, Tiffany and Tracy pick a group of women to join their club. It is not a book club. It's not clear exactly what kind of club it is, but all of the members agree that it is one of "shared interests." Members pay an annual membership fee. Most of the members are usually white. All of these things are also true of the club headed by Mary and Martha. Most are true of the club headed by Laura and Lily, except all of the members self-identify as black.
Joe and John encourage their fellow roommates to date women who "share interests" with Tiffany and Tracy. They make fun of their roommates if they date women who sport custom clothes that match those of Mary and Martha. On the rare occasion that Joe and John even consider throwing a joint party with Mary and Martha, they demand that Mary and Martha cough up at least half the dough, if not close to all of it. Joe and John, of course, more than willingly cover costs when it comes to hosting parties with Tiffany and Tracy.
Laura and Lily never think to host a party with Joe and John, and the same is true vice versa.
Consider the following thought experiment.
Tiffany and Tracy reject Molly as a member of their shared interests club. Molly is confused and wants to understand their reasons for not selecting her. Tiffany and Tracy cite limited membership space and compatibility issues. This further confuses Molly, who has always considered herself a unique and highly sociable person. Molly notices that Joe won't speak to her at parties anymore. She cries herself to sleep for a week. For the next three years, she cannot look at a girl wearing a shirt designed by Tiffany and Tracy without being reminded that a group of women she considers beautiful and charming opted against explicitly associating with her. She can't forget that a man she likes then stopped even implicitly acknowledging her. Molly is accepted into Mary and Martha's club, whose members are equally beautiful and charming, but who Molly cannot help but see as less so because, after all, they took in Molly.
Tiffany and Tracy instead select Theresa, who is excited and happy at the prospect of forming close bonds with such friendly and genuine women. She does not understand why paying an annual fee is necessary to this end, but everybody at the office where she works tells her that this is just how the system works. They also tell her how lucky she is, which makes her even more grateful for the opportunity. Theresa notices that many of the parties that she attends are held at Joe and John's place in the wonderland, and soon she falls for Joe. About a week after their first meeting, someone anonymous forwards her an email that has recently gone out on a list-serv to Joe and John and all their friends. The email suggests that Theresa might be more physically digestible if she lost a few pounds.
Theresa's friend Jenny is outraged when she learns about the email and asks Theresa why she continues going to parties at Joe and John's. Jenny is too angry to be sensitive in phrasing the question; it comes off as an attack on not only Joe and John, but also the women in Theresa's club, who also continue frequenting parties hosted by Joe and John. Theresa is defensive because she knows that her friends are genuinely supportive, and that this is just how the system works.
Jenny does not belong to a club, but most of her friends do. She maintains relatively close relationships with all except Theresa, but sometimes she wonders what it is that the club offers her friends, and what it is she can't. She is afraid to broach the subject with anyone, for fear of repeating what happened with Theresa. She does not doubt Theresa's club is full of wonderful women, but she wonders why the wonderful women need a club at all—especially if it means validating the swagger of guys like Joe and John.
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