<p>^^ Because they are exclusionary in a way designer clothes and fancy resorts aren’t. You have to be selected to wear the sorority logo.</p>
<p>clarification: the artsy house next door was a different sorority that attracted the artsy crowd, unlike my sorority which attracted the “regular” crowd… although I also had many artsy friends not the least interested in greek life.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean it is bad or worthy of scorn, but it is different than carrying a logo bag, which is available to anyone with enough cash. imho ymmv</p>
<p>But not all sororities are selective in a negative way. And anyway, how are expensive goods and experiences available to everyone? There is built-in exclusivity with all kinds of things. </p>
<p>I was in a sorority and I just don’t feel like wasting my energy to refute poorly-written articles such as this one. I met my best friends for life when I pledged, and thinking of my remaining years without them is just strange. These come out every fall, and the anecdotal evidence that the author states may not be quite as truthful as she thinks it is.</p>
<p>Sororities are all exclusionary. Some are members. Some are not. The sorority logo is evidence of belonging to a group that excludes. If you want to argue that about luxury logos, I am happy to go along for the ride. : ) Some can’t belong to sororities because they can’t afford them. Everyone who can afford one can’t necessarily belong. Though based on what I read about Alabama that may be not really true any longer.</p>
<p>Hey, I’d like to hoist a flag for SAHMs, teas, and crafts. And I went to a school with no sororities and wouldn’t have been likely to get into one if they existed. )</p>
<p>I sort of group elite colleges and sororities/fraternities as being exclusionary in the same ways. On one of the recent threads, someone posted Alabama or Ole Miss was the Harvard of sorority life and I thought, “exactly!”</p>
<p>So, how is it different wearing your college shirt and your sorority shirt? Were they judging the same sorts of things when they admitted you? I’ll confess right now I barely made the GPA cutoff for my sorority, so they definitely weren’t picking me for academics. Probably they thought I was sort of socially attractive, though you would never guess it from my posts on this board.</p>
<p>How is this different than Harvard by exclusionary, or the US Air Force, or a certain church, or the girl scouts, yet no one would think a grad or member shouldn’t wear a t-shirt with that name on it. Why would anyone who wasn’t a member of the sorority want to wear the sweatshirt (which, by the way, are available online and anyone can buy them)? And the girl who gave all the ‘lettered’ stuff back? They couldn’t make her. People sell badges all the time on ebay, so she could have just kept it and sold it all.</p>
<p>Four years of pomping? That’s for amateurs. I had 4 years of pomping homecoming floats in high school plus a few more years in my college sorority.</p>
<p>Seriously, this is just another “let’s bash sororities” article. Yawn.</p>
<p>Any group that has limits on the number of members or participants it can accept is by nature “exclusionary.” And contrary to popular belief not all Greek houses select members on the basis of superficial factors. Many look for a record of community service in high school, or passion for the arts, or a GPA above a certain threshold (hmmm…doesn’t that sound like college admissions?). And it IS true that membership in a chapter of a national Greek organization can pay dividends on the job market.</p>
<p>A few years after I graduated, my company was going back to campus to make another hire. I had a sorority sister who I thought would be perfect, so I called her, told her to get on the schedule, and thoroughly prepped her on what to say. She got the job and it started a very successful career for her. She was a real star and I have absolutely no regrets over doing this and would do it all over again. </p>
<p>Yes, PG. I don’t think my parents paid a dollar extra for me to live in the house. I would have heard about it from my dad, who still talks about my excessive college tuition to this day. :)</p>
<p>For me living in kept me from having to deal with renting an overpriced, roach-infested apartment and dealing with buying groceries, cleaning, etc. I figured I had the rest of my life to do that. </p>
<p>Why I joined in the first place: I felt like a fish out of water when I got to college. I was from another part of the country, was shy and socially awkward, and had gone to a very small, insular school. The house I joined was full of interesting, down-to-earth girls from a variety of backgrounds. It was a very positive experience overall.</p>
<p>The fine thing is a thing. But it’s because all the other girls are busy too. If you have to wait for people, it’s a pain. Oldest dropped because she was busy enough she just couldn’t make the meetings. </p>
<p>Look, you have to make choices in life. We all do. I, for example, never climbed mt. Everest. It was on my list when I was 20. It just didn’t happen. I also had to choose one career from several very promising options. I can’t have all three. </p>
<p>Also, there was a group of women I was good friends with when our kids were little. But work and other things got in the way and I could never make it to the girls nights out after a certain point. I still liked them and I never felt like they didn’t like me, but there wasn’t time. </p>
<p>If a girl doesn’t have time, she should drop. Life is going to present everyone with these choices. But that doesn’t mean 75 other girls who can be on time should be made to wait. Jmo</p>
<p>The charges are for fun. Many of the pledges enjoy the experience immensely. They have a great time, a number of them do, and that is what the money is for.</p>