Are Sororities Rooted in Exclusion?

"I had a community of over 200 women who were there to support me in my transition as a first-year college student. I had sisters to go to the dining halls with and try all of the different foods." This is how sorority recruitment coach Sloan Anderson describes her Greek life experience on her website, which is bright pink and covered with doodles of stars.

Southern universities in particular are known for their thriving Greek life, and they have many sororities—all-female social organizations—that are typically ranked based on popularity or other superficial standards (such as appearance). Unsurprisingly, the competition to join the "top-tier" sororities is cutthroat, hence the need for consultants like Anderson. Potential new members, known as PNMs, go through the intensive process of "rush" or "rushing" as they visit each sorority house and try to make a good impression.

Although it still remains a motivator for some PNMs, justifications for expensive coaches and $4000 sorority fees have far outgrown the typical "I want to meet people." Instead, when surveyed, girls tended to talk more about academic ambition and how a sisterhood would empower them in their future careers (interestingly, this trend coincides with the recent "girlboss" movement, which some criticize as an infantilization of females and their achievements). "Meeting people" to make friends has slightly shifted to "meeting people" for networking—and this rationale is not unsupported by statistics. The sorority's male counterpart, fraternities, found that members had a 36% higher salary than other college graduates. 

But how much does being involved with these societies benefit one's career compared to the privileges they were already born into?

Let's start with some astounding numbers. 85% of Supreme Court justices were in Greek life; one-third of the top 30 Forbes 500 CEOs were fraternity men. While it can be argued that this is due to the personality type sororities and fraternities attract, there is also a clear racial and socioeconomic divide. Surveys show a quarter of students in Greek life at Princeton University had families in the top 1%; 75% of Greek organization members were white, despite its student body only having a 47% white population.

This again, brings us to the question, is it sororities that expose individuals to top-tier social circles, or are sororities specifically accepting those already in these circles? Jordan Theresa does a great job exploring this idea in her video "The Cult of Sororities & BamaRush," emphasizing that "rich recognizes rich." Subtlety is key—PNMs don't talk about their family's money, but, instead, will occasionally mention their summer houses in the Hamptons. Most sorority girls say they were chosen because they "fit in," but when questioned further, admitted that "fitting in" boiled down to status and looks.

Sororities also have a deep history of racism, despite their outward denial of this. A Pi Beta Phi member said that when their sorority planned to accept a Black student, their alumni threatened to pull their fundings from the sorority. A Latina student who rushed said that the sorority vice-president of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) would say things like "diversity is so important to us because, you know, diversity." Sorority initiatives to increase diversity seem to be largely performative with no desire for actual change. The foundations of Greek life are usually racist due to its exclusivity and lack of objective criteria for what deems a girl "qualified" to join a sorority—which allows for all these excuses to avoid letting in people of color.

It seems that in the end, sororities have largely developed around selecting girls already tied to privilege. It's common tradition to join the same sorority or fraternity as your parents—whether or not they have these connections is, again, something beyond your control. After all, correlation does not equal causation. Sorority coaches may statistically have very high success rates, but not necessarily because of their top-notch advice—to be able to afford a $3000 sorority coach, their clients likely already come from wealthy families. That in of itself is something "top-tier" sororities are looking for.

by KATIE LIN