Sorority Rush Indicates Lack of Hierarchy Among Sororities

After the dust settled on Fall 2010’s sorority rush, one thing was very clear: the hierarchy of sororities is no longer relevant. Any girls who were disappointed in the house in which they were placed were disappointed for very sophisticated reasons like the character of the girls in the house, and definitely nothing to do with socially perceived “coolness”. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Delta Epsilon sororities, historically top of the social heap, were happy to see the hierarchy system done away with.

“There’s no need to ‘win rush’,” said Hilary Rogers ’11, Kappa’s rush chair. “We’re happy to get a good group of girls, and hope that other houses have equal success. The sorority system is definitely not about winning anything. It’s about engendering lifelong friendships with a group of women.”

Men around campus mirrored the sentiment that the hierarchy system is over, noting how Kappa’s new pledge class is definitely not more attractive than the pledge classes of other houses.

“I’d say I’m equally excited for all our tails events this term,” said Josh Twiglegs ’12, a member of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity. “Sure, the hierarchy system existed in the past, so the ‘11s and ‘12s have some clear winners and losers, but the ‘13s have an even distribution of hotness. I guess it’ll have to be the personality of the houses that dictates which tails event I’m most excited for.”

A casual observer on Facebook would be able to tell the equal enthusiasm that there is across the board for different Greek houses. Status updates by older sisters and new members alike show that everyone is excited to be in their house, and definitely not just trying to deceive themselves with happiness. One Facebook status that read, “So glad to be in kay-deeeeeeeeee” certainly showed excitement for new membership in Kappa Delta sorority. It is in no way a veiled reference to bitterness over a Kappa Delta Epsilon (kay-dee-eee) ding.

Panhellenic Council President Ira Levent ’11 said that she thought nothing about sororities could have anything to do with hierarchy.

“We saw only 30% of girls drop out of rush this year, indicating that 70% of girls were able to suck it up and deal with the choices that were presented to them,” Levent said. “I’d say it’s a definite improvement over previous years, when at least 40% would quit after realizing that they faced social demotion with their sorority affiliations. I’m glad that the hierarchy system no longer exists, though. I’m sure that the 30% who dropped out this year did it for deeply personal reasons.”

Editor’s Note: This is part one of two in a series detailing the end of hierarchies in the Greek system. Next week, we will examine why Sig Nu and TDX are now equally “sweet”.