My husband is from Alabama. He was reading Monday's newsletter over my shoulder, and when we got to the bottom, he said, "Ooo! She's going inside The Machine!" I asked him what The Machine was, and he said, "It's kind of like the Klan back when they were still a political organization. Now they're really just a hate group, but back in like the 1920s, they were both a political organization and a hate group. It's kind of like that."
So there are only a few suitable occupations for Blacks. Housekeeping and music so far. We just need some athletics thrown in, and we will have hit the trifecta of Appropriate Jobs for Working While Black (in the South).
I think one way of understanding the deep conservatism of historically white Greek orgs is to understand that the power structure that runs it is composed of the people who 20-30 years ago gained significant material and social advantage from participating, and who continue to do so. In the 80s, that was rich white men and women who went to college in the 50s and 60s. They own the sorority house, often through an llc or commercial mortgage. They give the donations and offer the internships and make the phone calls to "fix" the conduct charge or the legal problem. They visit the house, they come to parties, they play golf or get mani-pedis with each other and with current members. They have, in some sense, never left college. They are very powerful in this niche and they love exerting this power--and that tradition perpetuates itself in successive generations. Tons of people move through and out of Greek life without a backward glance. The people who stay tightly involved are a very specific demographic.
This is interesting, because in my chapter, our most involved alums (served on the house board, chaperoned events, etc) were the women who seemed to have felt the most...gifted? by the sorority experience. I always got the feel that they were so grateful and thrilled to have been included when they were actives, and they wanted to keep it going for that reason. None of them were particularly powerful socially or economically, and they certainly didn't socialize with us. Mostly they tried to keep us safe and from doing things that would get us sued.
Your last line is spot on! I've advised at my chapter for about 10 years. I love mentoring the women and helping them navigate things like: difficult conversations with peers, Robert's rules (our chapter has ~300 women so we need to have order!), following a budget, etc. Some of our active alums are rich old ladies but the vast majority are 25-45 and work in education, non-profits, healthcare, law...
Yes! I was a chapter advisor for several years until I moved away, and it was really just like "Please be organized, please don't hurt yourselves or each other, please don't get arrested" ....and I'm a public interest lawyer. LOL.
Your comment reminds me so much of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader culture that Ann discussed a while back, which led me to watch the whole Netflix America's Sweetheart series.
This is what I was trying to understand--it all has the feel of the popular girls in high school who reproduce their popularity and care about high school above all, it's not clear that this power exerts itself in big ways beyond the Greek system at UA.
Except when you start looking at the influence of fraternity affiliation in politics (76% of all U.S. Congressmen and 85% of all Supreme Court Justices (since 1910!) are Greek-affiliated), business (85% of Fortune 500 execs), there's a disproportionate relationship. Now that's not because being Greek means you will succeed, obviously--it's because socially-well-capitalized people also have access to this resource and make use of it, relatively effortlessly. The folks who have to fight their way in, have to fight to stay in, have to fight to get any benefit, have to keep fighting to be seen and included. It's too exhausting for most folks.
It’s WILD to me that someone’s college memories can be both posting on Facebook AND being the first black member of a Greek organization on campus. TWENTY-THIRTEEN.
What a fascinating / horrifying piece. I hope Jared has gone on to incredible things.
This part at the end really stuck out for me: "The status quo can change. Incrementally. Reluctantly. And often for deeply cynical reasons. The truth is that it’s designed not to change, and will often go to great lengths to prevent any sort of change from happening, cloaking that defense in terms like “tradition” and “legacy.”"
It reminded me of a piece from Anil Dash, whether he discusses a concept from cybernetics that is applicable in so many other contexts: the purpose of a system is what it does - and we shouldn't be surprised when it keeps on doing the thing it has been designed to do.
"When trying to understand systems, one really eye-opening and fundamental insight is to realize that the machine is never broken. What I mean by this is, when observing the outcomes of a particular system or institution, it’s very useful to start from the assumption that the outputs or impacts of that system are precisely what it was designed to do — whether we find those results to be good, bad or mixed."
Your first sentence continues to raise the question for me of what happens to all of these kids after college- in other words, how much of Alabama's politicians are from top tier frats/sororities, etc.?
Yes, I had the same thought. I assume most? I occasionally dip my toe into reading extreme qanon/maga telegram posts, just to get a feel for what the ultra "other side" is talking about, and there are often conspiracy theory posts in there about how everything is controlled by secret societies / fraternities, including at the local & state level. This article, plus the preceding one on The Machine, makes it clear they're maybe not wrong?!
Also: I think I should've said something like "gone on to achieve what he wanted for himself" rather than "incredible things". Really hope that Jared has managed to forge his own path in some way.
To some extent I think it reflects the differences between modern male and female friendships- not that sorority rush is a good thing, but if men spent more time actually talking to each other about things that matter and not so much resting on vibes, drinking, and sports, we might have less toxic masculinity.
Such a good point. And I know there’s a lot of cringe about sorority rush, but there’s also a lot of joy, connection and maybe satisfaction that comes from their shared experience and actually working together on something. The guys, mehhhhh
I tell people I could hold a conversation with a brick wall because of rush! I absolutely did not have that skill before it, and I have needed it many times in my adult life.
Excellent series. I will say that an important factor in getting a bid from the top tier fraternities at Alabama is where you come from (zip code, high school)—just like with sorority rush. The brothers in certain top fraternities are much more likely to give a bid to a guy from their high school in Birmingham, for example, than to a random guy from, say, Ohio. So it’s definitely more than being chill and cool, at least with respect to the top tier fraternities. (Second hand info from my husband—out of state student who ended up in bottom tier fraternity, my sister—top tier sorority, brother—top tier fraternity, and ex brother in law—top tier fraternity. All at Alabama, where I also attended grad school. Growing up in Birmingham, I intentionally chose a small liberal arts college out of state that had just gone coed and didn’t have sororities at the time. Ironically they decided to add sororities my freshman year, so I pledged the one that was tops in Tuscaloosa. You can take the girl out of Alabama…)
I should add something that your readers may find interesting/horrifying. Growing up in Mountain Brook (ritzy suburb of Birmingham) in the late 80s, we had local high school sororities and fraternities. All of the sorority charters stated that potential members must be white, unmarried, and Christian. My public high school was all white so we were not excluding potential Black members at that time. But there was a decent-sized contingent of Jewish students, who were excluded. When I was a member, some of us tried to change the language to include our Jewish friends, and, shockingly, older alumni in the community were vehemently opposed. To put this craziness in context, my family belonged to a country club. My friend’s family joined the same club, but apparently it was an issue that my friend’s mom was of Lebanese descent. Fortunately her dad had played football for Bear Bryant, so that outweighed the Lebanese “issue,” and they were able to join. Long way of saying that I don’t live in AL anymore and not sure I could because I’m not sure a lot has changed since then!
It's very much like this at UGA and Auburn, too (the only ones I can speak on besides UA). You could look at the "top" fraternities and sororities and pick out the patterns and it wasn't always money or legacy. One of my best friends from HS was solidly middle class, but she went to probably what would be considered the top sorority at UGA because she was a debutante and her cousin, also a debutante, was a member. Another friend of mine pledged a top tier sorority because a lot of her friends from HS were already members.
One thing I haven't seen discussed, and it may be more common in Georgia because it has so many more colleges than Alabama, is how some people who were worried they wouldn't go top tier at their ultimate school of choice (so in Georgia usually UGA) would go to a smaller school for a year or two and pledge the house they wanted to be in so they could automatically be in their preferred sorority when they transferred.
I really hope this series discusses how debutantes are tied in. I think the debutante article she did a few years ago was what made me a paying subscriber.
I have been wondering about what would happen if someone transferred from a school with a chapter of one of these sororities, particularly since the sorority I was in (Phi Mu) is one of those Old Row-ish ones. (My chapter was VERY different.) So they would just automatically get to join if they transfer? It seems like with the plethora of written and unwritten rules there would be some kind of guardrails around doing this. (Although I suppose if you *are* the sort of ambitious person who would go to such lengths maybe you're prepared to navigate that situation?)
I had the reverse happen--we had a girl transfer from a school where our org was vastly different (and I think more "old row-ish"). At least at the time, we had to accept transfers--no if or buts. She was definitely not pleased with the differences between her original chapter and ours, and ended up going inactive after a year.
I'm pretty sure that, for my org at least, whether the chapter the member wants to transfer to has 'room' (has not met the total set by the campus panhellenic) is a factor on whether she'd be able to become an active member at the new school. Otherwise she'd be early alum status (once a member always a member, unless you specifically request to 'drop' or are kicked out). But that would mean, no events, etc
I went to college in the northeast, so definitely the Greek system was important but definitely not Bama levels of important, and my ~tOp TiEr~ sorority had a girl transfer in as a sophomore when I was a junior. She is someone who probably wouldn't have gotten a bid through our school's rush process, but nationals basically told the chapter tough luck, once you're in, you're in. I would be really interested to know if the outcome at Bama would have been different. For all my chapter's prestige on our campus, (almost?) none of us were Bama KKG material, especially me
Hello, sister! I can still remember my grandmother (an ADPi, livid her house cut me) being SHOCKED when I went Kappa. I definitely wouldn't have been UGA or Bama Kappa material! It was a... middle tier house at UF when I was there. Part of what non-Greeks usually don't understand is that the experience, and the constituency of the house, varies so much from campus to campus and decade to decade.
Yeah, I have no idea how it works, I just know it was something people did (but it could be more rare now; I graduated college >20 years ago). It's interesting, though, especially among schools that are close in geography (UGA, UA, and Auburn are all within 3 hours of each other). Some of the top tier sororities at one school are inverted at the others and I know several people who transferred between those 3. Only one of them was in a sorority, though, and she went from top tier at UGA to top tier at Auburn by going through rush.
Also, I know there's a KKG discussion going on on Instagram right now and the girls I know who are KKG at UA are a great example of connections and schools. Neither of them were UA legacies, but they went to a K-12 private school with girls who were. Both are from comfortable families, but not any kind of obscene wealth (definitely not the Mercedes G Wagon level).
This is so weird and fascinating and honestly helps to explain so much about U.S. politics and culture. This whole twisted system not only props up the patriarchy, but demonstrates how “educated” people can still have such retro and damaging attitudes about power, race, gender, on and on. As a Canadian who graduated from university in the 1990s, the idea of sororities and fraternities seemed such a quaint tradition from the States, but this series is helping me realize how much darker and more damaging it is. Seeing so many young people twist themselves into somebody’s idea of worthy, rather than focusing on the privilege of education, is just painful to watch.
It's important to note that this reporting is about ALABAMA, and cannot be extrapolated to apply to all Greek chapters. Sororities and fraternities exist all over the country, and most sororities have had organizational bans on hazing for decades. My sorority experience involved NO bullying or hazing, nor did that of the girls I knew in other chapters (and this was at an SEC school 20 years ago!)
While I love the work that AHP is doing here, I don't think it's fair or constructive to take a view this generalist--that the whole system is rotten and should be dismantled. My Greek experience got me low cost campus housing, study assistance, connections to alums in my career field, etc in addition to the social benefits. Sororities, unlike the frats, have national governing bodies which do a LOT of regulating and oversight, which keeps pledges and sisters safer. Obviously that has roots in purity policing, but it means you don't see girls dying. The frat nationals have historically taken a hands off approach; how could having groups of 100+ 18-22 year old boys with easy access to alcohol and no adult supervision police themselves go wrong?
Fortune Magazine, in the 1920s, noted that colleges in Europe had graduates, but colleges in the US had alumni. Of course, the French had L’Ecole Polytechnique and Japan had Tokyo University, so it isn’t just the US. Oxbridge anyone?
I've found myself gravitating toward the RushTok videos by the Black rushees because they seem so much more poised and confident in their self identity than the white rushees, and they don't appear to toe the line on the popular clothing and jewelry brands. I love that, but I also worry that the mere distinctiveness of their clothing and jewelry will be enough for some chapters to drop them. I hope I'm wrong, but I also feel in my gut there will be plenty of actives who write them off because they're not wearing the right brands without ever realizing how race may underscore both the decisions of what to wear and what the "right" brands are.
Were the national organizations of these groups not being hounded on this question in, I don’t know, 2012? How on earth could they have avoided it given that they have chapters at Big 10 schools, Ivies, UCs, etc. etc.? Seems like anyone who was in national leadership in 2010 should face questions about that basically for the rest of their lives?
So I obviously don't have any reporting on this but from all I know I imagine what happened was something like this: nationals may or may not have pressured them [for what it's worth, many of these groups were founded in the South with explicit Confederate ties like KD, so nationals may or may not have actually cared]. But then the Bama chapter would say something like "none of the dudes want to rush, we can't control it" or "they all go to Black houses" or some other bullshit excuse.
I can say that at least at my major public Southern university in the early aughts, there were verrrrryyy few non-white students who even tried to rush IFC/Panhellenic (the historically white greek councils). Like, it was startling (in a good way!) when they came through. But really, I can't blame them for not trying because who wants to be the token Black guy/girl their whole college experience?
So tomorrow’s installment covers hazing. I am hoping Friday might cover binge drinking, sexual abuse/assault and eating disorders. Because those are endemic to Greek life as well.
That was my fear when my son pledged, the forced binge drinking. I know it sounds naive, but when my son pledged his fraternity a few years ago, it was only a few years old and they were trying to build their reputation, so they ran a ‘clean’ pledging with no drinking. I swear! Did they have to stay up late after parties cleaning up, or being sent over to brothers’ apartments to clean their bathrooms ? Yes. Did they have to wake up early for workouts led by a brother whose grandfather was allegedly in the Ukrainian army? Also yes. But they also held the top GPA of all Greek houses for at least a few semesters, so I’m counting it as successful.
Exactly, I was also wondering when the sexualized hazing would be discussed. The fact that men who join fraternities and the military are more likely to be raped then other men -- and by their own "brothers"/colleagues -- is horrifying.
I know the frats did stuff like make pledges eat dog food and do other degrading things, but it never occurred to me that sex abuse could have been involved too. We didn’t hear about that 30 years ago, and now I’m wondering. Good lord.
Sports teams, specifically high school hockey teams, also engage in brutal sexualized hazing that coaches and communities prefer to ignore . . . Until a teenage boy ends up in the hospital for internal injuries.
Yep. My FIL's fraternity was kicked off campus (UGA) sometime in the 80s (years after he'd graduated) because of hazing allegations. Notably, the school came down hard on fraternities that had hazing allegations--one student died after falling out of the back of a truck while drunk during my freshman year--but NOT the houses that had allegations or blatant displays of racism. The KA house in Athens is right up the road from some public housing and one year the brothers went to the public housing and paid children to pretend to pick cotton in their front yard during one of their events. Still a very active, "top tier" fraternity.
When I was in college, there was always a rumor that KAs at University of Texas did some cotton picking bullshit too. On MLK Day no less! I just googled and couldn’t find anything, but also wouldn’t be surprised if they were able to keep it out of the news.
Sad to say I’m not surprised. Like I said in reply to yesterday’s thread, I didn’t like the frats. A significant number of my sisters married into one, and the only ones I still keep in touch with are single/divorced. Back in the day, one of my sisters was hospitalized after a party where Jungle Juice was the beverage of choice. A guy friend of mine from high school got dropped as a pledge and died by suicide my first year. I made it three years because I graduated early. Had I gone on the four year plan, I’m not sure I would have stayed in another year. I personally would love to see the Greek system abolished, but I fear something worse would fill the void.
One distinction I think it's important to make is that by and large it's the FRATERNITIES that were founded for exclusionary racial reasons. In contrast, women's fraternities/sororities were generally founded 1) by the earliest female collegians, for the purpose of support while proving women were entitled to higher education and 2) not in the South, because Southern universities weren't really letting women in then. While the Panhellenic sororities absolutely adopted exclusionary racial practices as integration was forced on Southern universities, that wasn't the original reason they were founded. They needed backup while being bullied by men who didn't think they deserved to be there. (Excluding ADPi and Phi Mu, since they were founded at a women's college in the South).
Did anyone here listen to “Scamanda” during its height of popularity a year or two ago? This series (! BRILLIANTLY, Anne Helen!) is giving me the same, immersive, chills on my arms, no-fucking-way while simultaneously of-fucking-course, experience that I had listening to that series. I am gripped. I also am sort of wrestling with an existential dread of “I sort of thought conspiracy theories couldn’t possibly be real because that many people can’t keep a secret” and yet here is what very much sounds like a conspiracy theory on paper that is very much real and has been for a century and that feels… destabilizing.
Exceptional journalism and storytelling and a tremendous thank you to all the sources who have contributed. Wow wow wow.
Ooh it makes me SO angry that the boys just get to "hang out and chill between classes" with no discernable personality or contributing traits other than not rocking the boat it seems, and the women have to be scrutinized and labor and painted and coiffed and spend thousands of dollars. It's almost like, a reflection of societal expectations? Eff all this.
My husband is from Alabama. He was reading Monday's newsletter over my shoulder, and when we got to the bottom, he said, "Ooo! She's going inside The Machine!" I asked him what The Machine was, and he said, "It's kind of like the Klan back when they were still a political organization. Now they're really just a hate group, but back in like the 1920s, they were both a political organization and a hate group. It's kind of like that."
I can't help but notice that the "Honorary House Dad" in the video is the only POC I saw throughout the entire thing, unless I missed something.
YEP.
I hope he's very well compensated. I would not be surprised to learn that he is known by another term when outside eyes are not around.
Well hold up, let’s not forget they get major cred for hiring black musicians as party entertainment *eye roll*
So there are only a few suitable occupations for Blacks. Housekeeping and music so far. We just need some athletics thrown in, and we will have hit the trifecta of Appropriate Jobs for Working While Black (in the South).
This was not lost on me either
I think one way of understanding the deep conservatism of historically white Greek orgs is to understand that the power structure that runs it is composed of the people who 20-30 years ago gained significant material and social advantage from participating, and who continue to do so. In the 80s, that was rich white men and women who went to college in the 50s and 60s. They own the sorority house, often through an llc or commercial mortgage. They give the donations and offer the internships and make the phone calls to "fix" the conduct charge or the legal problem. They visit the house, they come to parties, they play golf or get mani-pedis with each other and with current members. They have, in some sense, never left college. They are very powerful in this niche and they love exerting this power--and that tradition perpetuates itself in successive generations. Tons of people move through and out of Greek life without a backward glance. The people who stay tightly involved are a very specific demographic.
This is interesting, because in my chapter, our most involved alums (served on the house board, chaperoned events, etc) were the women who seemed to have felt the most...gifted? by the sorority experience. I always got the feel that they were so grateful and thrilled to have been included when they were actives, and they wanted to keep it going for that reason. None of them were particularly powerful socially or economically, and they certainly didn't socialize with us. Mostly they tried to keep us safe and from doing things that would get us sued.
Your last line is spot on! I've advised at my chapter for about 10 years. I love mentoring the women and helping them navigate things like: difficult conversations with peers, Robert's rules (our chapter has ~300 women so we need to have order!), following a budget, etc. Some of our active alums are rich old ladies but the vast majority are 25-45 and work in education, non-profits, healthcare, law...
Yes! I was a chapter advisor for several years until I moved away, and it was really just like "Please be organized, please don't hurt yourselves or each other, please don't get arrested" ....and I'm a public interest lawyer. LOL.
Your comment reminds me so much of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader culture that Ann discussed a while back, which led me to watch the whole Netflix America's Sweetheart series.
Such a good point. Big fish syndrome.
This does make me more curious about the financials of it all.
This is what I was trying to understand--it all has the feel of the popular girls in high school who reproduce their popularity and care about high school above all, it's not clear that this power exerts itself in big ways beyond the Greek system at UA.
Except when you start looking at the influence of fraternity affiliation in politics (76% of all U.S. Congressmen and 85% of all Supreme Court Justices (since 1910!) are Greek-affiliated), business (85% of Fortune 500 execs), there's a disproportionate relationship. Now that's not because being Greek means you will succeed, obviously--it's because socially-well-capitalized people also have access to this resource and make use of it, relatively effortlessly. The folks who have to fight their way in, have to fight to stay in, have to fight to get any benefit, have to keep fighting to be seen and included. It's too exhausting for most folks.
It’s WILD to me that someone’s college memories can be both posting on Facebook AND being the first black member of a Greek organization on campus. TWENTY-THIRTEEN.
What a fascinating / horrifying piece. I hope Jared has gone on to incredible things.
This part at the end really stuck out for me: "The status quo can change. Incrementally. Reluctantly. And often for deeply cynical reasons. The truth is that it’s designed not to change, and will often go to great lengths to prevent any sort of change from happening, cloaking that defense in terms like “tradition” and “legacy.”"
It reminded me of a piece from Anil Dash, whether he discusses a concept from cybernetics that is applicable in so many other contexts: the purpose of a system is what it does - and we shouldn't be surprised when it keeps on doing the thing it has been designed to do.
"When trying to understand systems, one really eye-opening and fundamental insight is to realize that the machine is never broken. What I mean by this is, when observing the outcomes of a particular system or institution, it’s very useful to start from the assumption that the outputs or impacts of that system are precisely what it was designed to do — whether we find those results to be good, bad or mixed."
https://www.anildash.com/2024/05/29/systems-the-purpose-of-a-system/
Your first sentence continues to raise the question for me of what happens to all of these kids after college- in other words, how much of Alabama's politicians are from top tier frats/sororities, etc.?
Yes, I had the same thought. I assume most? I occasionally dip my toe into reading extreme qanon/maga telegram posts, just to get a feel for what the ultra "other side" is talking about, and there are often conspiracy theory posts in there about how everything is controlled by secret societies / fraternities, including at the local & state level. This article, plus the preceding one on The Machine, makes it clear they're maybe not wrong?!
Also: I think I should've said something like "gone on to achieve what he wanted for himself" rather than "incredible things". Really hope that Jared has managed to forge his own path in some way.
Your question got me to do some googling and: Jared Hunter resigned from the SGA presidency after a DUI (https://thecrimsonwhite.com/42495/news/sga-president-jared-hunter-resigns/).
Also, according to his LinkedIn profile, he graduated from law school (Washington and Lee University School of Law) two months ago.
The contrast between the cis white male pledge experience and literally everyone else is mind blowing.
To some extent I think it reflects the differences between modern male and female friendships- not that sorority rush is a good thing, but if men spent more time actually talking to each other about things that matter and not so much resting on vibes, drinking, and sports, we might have less toxic masculinity.
Such a good point. And I know there’s a lot of cringe about sorority rush, but there’s also a lot of joy, connection and maybe satisfaction that comes from their shared experience and actually working together on something. The guys, mehhhhh
I tell people all the time that I have never once been intimidated by a job interview, because I did rush from both sides! That alone was worth it.
I tell people I could hold a conversation with a brick wall because of rush! I absolutely did not have that skill before it, and I have needed it many times in my adult life.
Yes! I can talk to ANYONE for half an hour.
Excellent series. I will say that an important factor in getting a bid from the top tier fraternities at Alabama is where you come from (zip code, high school)—just like with sorority rush. The brothers in certain top fraternities are much more likely to give a bid to a guy from their high school in Birmingham, for example, than to a random guy from, say, Ohio. So it’s definitely more than being chill and cool, at least with respect to the top tier fraternities. (Second hand info from my husband—out of state student who ended up in bottom tier fraternity, my sister—top tier sorority, brother—top tier fraternity, and ex brother in law—top tier fraternity. All at Alabama, where I also attended grad school. Growing up in Birmingham, I intentionally chose a small liberal arts college out of state that had just gone coed and didn’t have sororities at the time. Ironically they decided to add sororities my freshman year, so I pledged the one that was tops in Tuscaloosa. You can take the girl out of Alabama…)
I should add something that your readers may find interesting/horrifying. Growing up in Mountain Brook (ritzy suburb of Birmingham) in the late 80s, we had local high school sororities and fraternities. All of the sorority charters stated that potential members must be white, unmarried, and Christian. My public high school was all white so we were not excluding potential Black members at that time. But there was a decent-sized contingent of Jewish students, who were excluded. When I was a member, some of us tried to change the language to include our Jewish friends, and, shockingly, older alumni in the community were vehemently opposed. To put this craziness in context, my family belonged to a country club. My friend’s family joined the same club, but apparently it was an issue that my friend’s mom was of Lebanese descent. Fortunately her dad had played football for Bear Bryant, so that outweighed the Lebanese “issue,” and they were able to join. Long way of saying that I don’t live in AL anymore and not sure I could because I’m not sure a lot has changed since then!
In my high school in California there were “sororities”. It all came out when one girl murdered another and it made national news (and a made-for-tv-movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kirsten_Costas).
It's very much like this at UGA and Auburn, too (the only ones I can speak on besides UA). You could look at the "top" fraternities and sororities and pick out the patterns and it wasn't always money or legacy. One of my best friends from HS was solidly middle class, but she went to probably what would be considered the top sorority at UGA because she was a debutante and her cousin, also a debutante, was a member. Another friend of mine pledged a top tier sorority because a lot of her friends from HS were already members.
One thing I haven't seen discussed, and it may be more common in Georgia because it has so many more colleges than Alabama, is how some people who were worried they wouldn't go top tier at their ultimate school of choice (so in Georgia usually UGA) would go to a smaller school for a year or two and pledge the house they wanted to be in so they could automatically be in their preferred sorority when they transferred.
I really hope this series discusses how debutantes are tied in. I think the debutante article she did a few years ago was what made me a paying subscriber.
I have been wondering about what would happen if someone transferred from a school with a chapter of one of these sororities, particularly since the sorority I was in (Phi Mu) is one of those Old Row-ish ones. (My chapter was VERY different.) So they would just automatically get to join if they transfer? It seems like with the plethora of written and unwritten rules there would be some kind of guardrails around doing this. (Although I suppose if you *are* the sort of ambitious person who would go to such lengths maybe you're prepared to navigate that situation?)
I had the reverse happen--we had a girl transfer from a school where our org was vastly different (and I think more "old row-ish"). At least at the time, we had to accept transfers--no if or buts. She was definitely not pleased with the differences between her original chapter and ours, and ended up going inactive after a year.
I'm pretty sure that, for my org at least, whether the chapter the member wants to transfer to has 'room' (has not met the total set by the campus panhellenic) is a factor on whether she'd be able to become an active member at the new school. Otherwise she'd be early alum status (once a member always a member, unless you specifically request to 'drop' or are kicked out). But that would mean, no events, etc
I went to college in the northeast, so definitely the Greek system was important but definitely not Bama levels of important, and my ~tOp TiEr~ sorority had a girl transfer in as a sophomore when I was a junior. She is someone who probably wouldn't have gotten a bid through our school's rush process, but nationals basically told the chapter tough luck, once you're in, you're in. I would be really interested to know if the outcome at Bama would have been different. For all my chapter's prestige on our campus, (almost?) none of us were Bama KKG material, especially me
Hello, sister! I can still remember my grandmother (an ADPi, livid her house cut me) being SHOCKED when I went Kappa. I definitely wouldn't have been UGA or Bama Kappa material! It was a... middle tier house at UF when I was there. Part of what non-Greeks usually don't understand is that the experience, and the constituency of the house, varies so much from campus to campus and decade to decade.
Yeah, I have no idea how it works, I just know it was something people did (but it could be more rare now; I graduated college >20 years ago). It's interesting, though, especially among schools that are close in geography (UGA, UA, and Auburn are all within 3 hours of each other). Some of the top tier sororities at one school are inverted at the others and I know several people who transferred between those 3. Only one of them was in a sorority, though, and she went from top tier at UGA to top tier at Auburn by going through rush.
Also, I know there's a KKG discussion going on on Instagram right now and the girls I know who are KKG at UA are a great example of connections and schools. Neither of them were UA legacies, but they went to a K-12 private school with girls who were. Both are from comfortable families, but not any kind of obscene wealth (definitely not the Mercedes G Wagon level).
This is so weird and fascinating and honestly helps to explain so much about U.S. politics and culture. This whole twisted system not only props up the patriarchy, but demonstrates how “educated” people can still have such retro and damaging attitudes about power, race, gender, on and on. As a Canadian who graduated from university in the 1990s, the idea of sororities and fraternities seemed such a quaint tradition from the States, but this series is helping me realize how much darker and more damaging it is. Seeing so many young people twist themselves into somebody’s idea of worthy, rather than focusing on the privilege of education, is just painful to watch.
It's important to note that this reporting is about ALABAMA, and cannot be extrapolated to apply to all Greek chapters. Sororities and fraternities exist all over the country, and most sororities have had organizational bans on hazing for decades. My sorority experience involved NO bullying or hazing, nor did that of the girls I knew in other chapters (and this was at an SEC school 20 years ago!)
While I love the work that AHP is doing here, I don't think it's fair or constructive to take a view this generalist--that the whole system is rotten and should be dismantled. My Greek experience got me low cost campus housing, study assistance, connections to alums in my career field, etc in addition to the social benefits. Sororities, unlike the frats, have national governing bodies which do a LOT of regulating and oversight, which keeps pledges and sisters safer. Obviously that has roots in purity policing, but it means you don't see girls dying. The frat nationals have historically taken a hands off approach; how could having groups of 100+ 18-22 year old boys with easy access to alcohol and no adult supervision police themselves go wrong?
Fortune Magazine, in the 1920s, noted that colleges in Europe had graduates, but colleges in the US had alumni. Of course, the French had L’Ecole Polytechnique and Japan had Tokyo University, so it isn’t just the US. Oxbridge anyone?
I've found myself gravitating toward the RushTok videos by the Black rushees because they seem so much more poised and confident in their self identity than the white rushees, and they don't appear to toe the line on the popular clothing and jewelry brands. I love that, but I also worry that the mere distinctiveness of their clothing and jewelry will be enough for some chapters to drop them. I hope I'm wrong, but I also feel in my gut there will be plenty of actives who write them off because they're not wearing the right brands without ever realizing how race may underscore both the decisions of what to wear and what the "right" brands are.
Yes totally agree. Will they be penalized for being too much themselves and not fitting the narrow mold?
Agree. The ones I’m watching have true style and seem so much cooler/more confident.
Were the national organizations of these groups not being hounded on this question in, I don’t know, 2012? How on earth could they have avoided it given that they have chapters at Big 10 schools, Ivies, UCs, etc. etc.? Seems like anyone who was in national leadership in 2010 should face questions about that basically for the rest of their lives?
So I obviously don't have any reporting on this but from all I know I imagine what happened was something like this: nationals may or may not have pressured them [for what it's worth, many of these groups were founded in the South with explicit Confederate ties like KD, so nationals may or may not have actually cared]. But then the Bama chapter would say something like "none of the dudes want to rush, we can't control it" or "they all go to Black houses" or some other bullshit excuse.
KA, not KD, correct?
I can say that at least at my major public Southern university in the early aughts, there were verrrrryyy few non-white students who even tried to rush IFC/Panhellenic (the historically white greek councils). Like, it was startling (in a good way!) when they came through. But really, I can't blame them for not trying because who wants to be the token Black guy/girl their whole college experience?
So tomorrow’s installment covers hazing. I am hoping Friday might cover binge drinking, sexual abuse/assault and eating disorders. Because those are endemic to Greek life as well.
That was my fear when my son pledged, the forced binge drinking. I know it sounds naive, but when my son pledged his fraternity a few years ago, it was only a few years old and they were trying to build their reputation, so they ran a ‘clean’ pledging with no drinking. I swear! Did they have to stay up late after parties cleaning up, or being sent over to brothers’ apartments to clean their bathrooms ? Yes. Did they have to wake up early for workouts led by a brother whose grandfather was allegedly in the Ukrainian army? Also yes. But they also held the top GPA of all Greek houses for at least a few semesters, so I’m counting it as successful.
Exactly, I was also wondering when the sexualized hazing would be discussed. The fact that men who join fraternities and the military are more likely to be raped then other men -- and by their own "brothers"/colleagues -- is horrifying.
I know the frats did stuff like make pledges eat dog food and do other degrading things, but it never occurred to me that sex abuse could have been involved too. We didn’t hear about that 30 years ago, and now I’m wondering. Good lord.
Unfortunately, it is common.
Sports teams, specifically high school hockey teams, also engage in brutal sexualized hazing that coaches and communities prefer to ignore . . . Until a teenage boy ends up in the hospital for internal injuries.
In the 1960s, Mad Magazine offered its take on frat life with its fun little pranks and games, during war time, called “atrocities”.
Yep. My FIL's fraternity was kicked off campus (UGA) sometime in the 80s (years after he'd graduated) because of hazing allegations. Notably, the school came down hard on fraternities that had hazing allegations--one student died after falling out of the back of a truck while drunk during my freshman year--but NOT the houses that had allegations or blatant displays of racism. The KA house in Athens is right up the road from some public housing and one year the brothers went to the public housing and paid children to pretend to pick cotton in their front yard during one of their events. Still a very active, "top tier" fraternity.
When I was in college, there was always a rumor that KAs at University of Texas did some cotton picking bullshit too. On MLK Day no less! I just googled and couldn’t find anything, but also wouldn’t be surprised if they were able to keep it out of the news.
Sad to say I’m not surprised. Like I said in reply to yesterday’s thread, I didn’t like the frats. A significant number of my sisters married into one, and the only ones I still keep in touch with are single/divorced. Back in the day, one of my sisters was hospitalized after a party where Jungle Juice was the beverage of choice. A guy friend of mine from high school got dropped as a pledge and died by suicide my first year. I made it three years because I graduated early. Had I gone on the four year plan, I’m not sure I would have stayed in another year. I personally would love to see the Greek system abolished, but I fear something worse would fill the void.
I am very much enjoying this series. Excellent reporting!
One distinction I think it's important to make is that by and large it's the FRATERNITIES that were founded for exclusionary racial reasons. In contrast, women's fraternities/sororities were generally founded 1) by the earliest female collegians, for the purpose of support while proving women were entitled to higher education and 2) not in the South, because Southern universities weren't really letting women in then. While the Panhellenic sororities absolutely adopted exclusionary racial practices as integration was forced on Southern universities, that wasn't the original reason they were founded. They needed backup while being bullied by men who didn't think they deserved to be there. (Excluding ADPi and Phi Mu, since they were founded at a women's college in the South).
Did anyone here listen to “Scamanda” during its height of popularity a year or two ago? This series (! BRILLIANTLY, Anne Helen!) is giving me the same, immersive, chills on my arms, no-fucking-way while simultaneously of-fucking-course, experience that I had listening to that series. I am gripped. I also am sort of wrestling with an existential dread of “I sort of thought conspiracy theories couldn’t possibly be real because that many people can’t keep a secret” and yet here is what very much sounds like a conspiracy theory on paper that is very much real and has been for a century and that feels… destabilizing.
Exceptional journalism and storytelling and a tremendous thank you to all the sources who have contributed. Wow wow wow.
Ooh it makes me SO angry that the boys just get to "hang out and chill between classes" with no discernable personality or contributing traits other than not rocking the boat it seems, and the women have to be scrutinized and labor and painted and coiffed and spend thousands of dollars. It's almost like, a reflection of societal expectations? Eff all this.
Okay, I actually watched the Pike video, "hangout and chill" 🤣💀🤣