Congratulations! You have all survived the beginning of another school year at UW-Madison. For freshmen, that meant waiting in line until your calf-high sock tan lines fade just to board the elevator on move-in day. For others, it meant lingering on that treacherous intersection on Charter Street to see if you could score some free tuition. And, for some, the new school year meant Greek recruitment.
As a sophomore living in close proximity to the southeast dorms, I was often caught up in the traffic that sorority recruitment produces. There was an abundance of girls with name tags laced around their necks and snacks shoved deep into their purses (don’t be ashamed ladies, we all do it), each filled with hopes of being sorted into their favorite sorority house.
Before I delve too deep, I should say that this is not an article for or against Greek life as a whole. I have many friends involved in Greek life who thoroughly enjoy it, and I think that it is an excellent opportunity to meet people and get involved. I pledged as a freshman, but after a few weeks decided that Greek life was simply not for me.
There were a few reasons that prompted my withdrawal from the Greek system, but the most intolerable was the ridiculous stigmas associated with the name of my particular sorority. I was sick of telling people the name of my house just to receive “I heard those girls are super cliquey” or “I hear they throw crazy parties.” Negative or positive, the reactions were absurd. How could someone assume they knew so much about me just from that nugget of information? Sharing that part of my identity became a weight, even though I knew that was not the intention of the organization or its members. So, I had enough of being labeled, and that encouraged my Greek retirement.
At the beginning of this year, I met a fellow sophomore and quickly struck up conversation with her. We engaged in some small talk (we are both from Minnesota and we both really love dogs), which always seems to include the question, “so where are you living this year?” When prompted with this question, she replied, “In my sorority house, don’t judge me!”
She was so hesitant to reveal that she was in a sorority for the sake of being labeled in accordance with the existing stigmas that one might have of that particular house or Greek life in general. It was as if sharing her sorority with me put a cap on the conversation about her identity. But why is saying, “I’m a DG/AXO/KKG/WXYZ” different than saying “I’m an opinion columnist for The Daily Cardinal?” Each of these statements are just pieces of an identity. Neither can accurately portray the complete individuality of any given person.
Guess what? She isn’t just a sorority girl. She loves to sing, she has a really cool job working at the Chazen Art Museum and she loves to study communications and human behavior. Had we finished our conversation at Greek life, I would have never known how much we have in common. She isn’t just her sorority’s reputation or stigmas; she is a multi-dimensional individual with a life outside of her house.
My point is this: A sorority, a fraternity, a club, a major or any other one single activity or passion does not define a person. We must stop associating organizations with single-sentence reputations, and stop assuming that because your opinion of Greek life is X, every member of a Greek organization is X. Gather all of the information before you develop an opinion.
Marisa is a sophomore majoring in journalism. Do you feel that stigmas associated with Greek life are largely unfounded and harmful? Please send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
