Sororities: Not Compatible with Christianity?

This column was originally published in The Santa Clara on Jan. 27, 1977. Therese Suden argues that the Greek System traditions are “neither democratic nor imbued with Christian values.”

By Therese Suden

Volume 55 No. 14, Jan. 27, 1977

I was rather surprised to learn of the debut of Alphi Phi on Santa Clara 's campus because, after spending my freshman year at the University of Washington (U of W) as a Delta Gamma, I consider a sorority to be antithetical to the fundamental principles of a Catholic university. The inculcation of scholarship and Christian values is extremely incompatible with my experience as a "sorority sister."

First of all, the Greek system is discriminatory against those girls who cannot afford the pledge fee, corporation fee and $100 initiation fee; not to mention the monthly chapter dues and frequent contributions to the "refreshment" (liquor) fund. This social snobbery shows up even more pointedly in Rush. Rush is the process whereby the field of anxious prospects is carefully picked over and "pledges' are selected on the basis of appearance and the ability to smile and twitter inanely about the weather. Of course, it is possible to be "dinged'' (eliminated) if your father doesn't make enough money or if your family doesn't vacation at a summer lake home. In other words, the last thing that counts is the kind of person you are.

Furthermore, sororities have been oblivious to the progress made by the women's movement. The reception held the night the new pledges are accepted and at which they form the receiving line, is more commonly referred to as the "Cattle Show" by the parades of leering "frat boys." Gloria Steinem would have been appalled if she had heard Delta Gammas sing and dance to their favorite song which went like this:

Oh-h, when a Dee Gee girl walks down the street / She's got that bitchin' bod from head to feet / She's got that strut, that butt that winning way, / And when you see her you will recognize her and you'll say / Now, there's a girl I'd like to know I wonder just how far she'd re-e-eally go! About a million guys already know, / already know' / A Dee Gee gir-r-rl!

(This was relatively tame compared to other DG lyrics.) Sorority living introduces one to many girls, but "social swim" would be a more appropriate term than sisterhood in defining its principle thrust. Nightly keggers, dances and exchanges with fraternities dot the social calendar and midnight raids of drunken fratters and shrieking girls are not uncommon. Oh yes, one also goes to school. Once, when our Scholarship Chairman proudly announced that the house's GPA was 2.2, wild applause and cheers filled the air.

Delta Gamma's philanthropic undertaking, aiding the blind, was about its only redeeming value and unfortunately but not surprisingly, the girls had to be goaded into action.

Undoubtedly, since Alphi Phi is just starting, its members may not yet have encountered the particulars detailed above, but they were indigenous to the 17 sororities and 27 fraternities comprising the Greek system at the U of W and not unusually so. A sorority is, of course, reflective of its members but also tremendously overshadowed by traditions of the Greek system which are neither democratic nor imbued with Christian values. Alpha Phi's presence at Santa Clara seems not only incongruous but also unnecessary.