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Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

Exploring Culture Essay

Fact or Fiction: Inside Sororities at The University of Kentucky
Mitchell Schiller
University of Kentucky

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

Abstract
I decided to explore the culture of being in a sorority. I found that society has a negative
connotation for sororities. During my research and exploration I found that a lot of societys
view on sororities are either completely false, or exaggerated to a great extent. In my paper I
show how in my exploration I found what being in a sorority means to two women who are
currently in sororities at The University of Kentucky. I also explore and break down the facts and
fictions to being in a sorority; I ask my interviewees their inputs on what they think about typical
stereotypes for sororities, and in specific their particular sorority. I also explore what might
influence someone to join a sorority, whether it be family or just for the heck of it; and what
separates them from someone who decided not to join a sorority. The main point of my
exploration was to see what the truth about sororities are and not just what society thinks of
them.

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

Fact or Fiction: Inside Sororities at The University of Kentucky

The culture that I chose to study for this project has various opinions in society today.
There are numerous connotations that are brought up when you try to determine what the true
meaning of this culture is. The culture that I decided to explore among is the cryptic life-style of
being in a sorority. According to Greek Life Statistics, there are more than 9 million members of
Greek life nationally today. Of those 9 million, over 4 million belong to the group The National
Panhellenic Conference. This is the official leader group of all sororities. Throughout my
exploration I found that being in a sorority today is a very popular interest among women. There
are a few ways to look at being in a sorority through social media, books, movies and just about
any other thing you can get your hands on, but there is no definite, clear way of seeing them
unless you see and explore them in person. I have found out that sometimes sororities are not all
that society portrays of them. Society tends to think that sororities are just a bunch of dumb girls
who party their way through college. Although partying is involved in sororities as it is no
matter what in college- there is a lot more to sororities than just that. They are very involved in
their universitys campus, they make good grades, and they have a very strong friendship that
they will have for the rest of their life.
Ever since 1870 when the first sorority was assembled, there has been an ever-growing
popularity in the bond that the women -or sisters as they are sometimes referred to- have when
they are in college. I think that the main intention for sororities is to bond sisters that you can call
your best friends for the rest of your life. These sisters that you have will be all over nationally
and may help you in any way possible. I also think that the ways that the sisters contribute to
their society helps them build these relationships. When the girls pick the sorority that they want
to join for life, it impacts them from the moment they are initiated. I am so happy, I love it so

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

much, it is one of the best decisions I have made. There are just so many great girls in it and
everything about it is great. All the new people I have met and the events I get to attend. This
quote from Katie Koch, A member of Delta Delta Delta, or Tri-Delt is a great example of the
way her and women all across the nation feel when they join a sorority. The sisterhood lasts a
lifetime not just the 4 years of undergraduate school. During my interview with Catie Hance, a
member of Kappa Alpha Theta at The University of Kentucky stated, I have just joined a
sisterhood that I will be in forever. One of the many ways that women in sororities bond
together is simply by living together. Some chapter houses are so enthusiastic towards a
continuous growth and boundless sisterhood that they may require members to live in the house
at some point during their undergraduate studies. Most sororities have a house that is funded by
alumni and other donors. Just being in that house many things happen to help get the women
closer together. Obviously the simple act of just rooming with your sisters would enhance the
experience of building a close sisterhood, but there is more to it than that. There are meetings
once a week in houses that reflect on the past week, and set up an itinerary for the following
week. There might also be discussions on possible events that the sorority may be holding soon.
Most of the time there is a formal dinner previous to the meeting. The meetings help to make
sure that everyone is on the same page with all of the different events going on. Below is a
picture of the Alpha Delta Pi house at The University of Kentucky.

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

Events that sororities have vary, but one of the main events that they have are
philanthropy events; these are set up in various ways. Catie Hance explained some of things that
they do during my interview with her, We had an event this Friday called Cats At Bat and it is
going to raise money for our philanthropy. We also have different restaurant nights to raise
money. We also do stomp events. Catie went on and explained how the process worked with
events like restaurant night. She explained that a certain percentage of the total on your bill went
to the philanthropy. Personally, I think that when you are with the people you love, and you are
doing good for something (like philanthropy) the atmosphere is different than just doing good for
something with random people. This again backs my statement on how the sisterhood is built
through years of doing things together. There are more events that are done together than just
philanthropy. Sororities also host events such as date parties, which enrich their involvement
socially on campus. The social events such as the date parties are just one of the thoughts that
society misportray.
I asked both Katie and Catie what they thought society viewed sororities as and their
responses were similar to the research I did when I looked up what common stereotypes for
sororities on Google. Catie Hance responded with, They think that we try to hard to be someone

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

you are not and that everyone wears the exact same things. Although there is no statistical
information to attest to for this, Catie implied that was simply not the case. On The other hand, I
found Katie Kochs response very interesting. This is because when I was looking up stereotypes
for sororities online, various lists came up with unique inputs on the way society views them, but
the one quote that came up time after time was that when you join a sorority, you pay for your
friends. Coincidently, this is almost exactly what Katie Koch told me during my interview with
her, (Society) think we are rich white girls, and that is just not true, Its not paying for friends,
its not fake. Contrary to Catie Hances comment, which had no statistical input, I decided to
ask Katie Koch if there were any non-white women in her chapter of Delta Delta Delta and
indeed there was. Off the top of her head she could think of a Columbian, but she insisted that
she thinks there are more than just one person of different race/ethnicity. I continued to ask Katie
Koch and Catie Hance why they did not think, when you join a sorority, you are buying your
friends. Katie Kochs response could be summed into that she does not think that you are
paying for your friends rather, you are paying to be in a chapter of a sorority and making the
friends is completely up for you to do. Catie Hances response was similar but she thought that
after you pay your chapter dues, some of the money in used to host events that definitely enhance
the ability to be able to meet friends more easily.
One of the great things about joining a sorority is that it is completely up to you if you
want to join or not. You are not born into a sorority, although I found out that if you have
relatives in a particular sorority then you may be heavily influenced to join that sorority. Catie
Hance thought it would be a great way to meet new people quickly once she got to The
University of Kentucky. I asked her what influenced to join Kappa Alpha Theta, I joined Kappa
Alpha Theta because my mom was one, my sister was a Delta Delta Delta so it was kind of a

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

struggle. They were fighting for me to go to there sorority. I just felt really comfortable at Theta
and I just fell in love. She went on and told me that by the end of rush week she was split
between Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Alpha Theta. Katie Koch had a similar response relating to
family in the past being apart of different sororities, My mom was a Tri-Delt, and my older
cousin Amanda was a Tri-Delt. It has always been something I wanted to do. Ive always
wanted to have a sisterhood and participate in philanthropy and other great events like
that, it is a really great opportunity. It is also commonly known that if you have a relative
that is an alumna that you also may have an advantage to getting into that sorority. Joining
the sorority that you feel most comfortable in is the most important thing to keep in mind,
according to Katie Koch.
Since both Katie and Catie decided to join a sorority and are fully involved in them, I
decided to ask them what might be different 3 months into their college life. Since I joined
a sorority I have met a lot of different girls that did not go to my high school, I have made
some new friends, I have met new boys. I have gotten really involved in service and
philanthropy said Katie Koch. Catie Hance told me that her life has not significantly
changed yet, but she thinks it will soon because of her decision to join a sorority. I also
asked them what separates them from someone who decided not to join a sorority. Katie
Kochs response was very bold but she felt that is was true, Joining a sorority when you
come to UK is a good way to meet friends right off the bat. In opposition to someone who
did not join a sorority, who probably does not know anyone still. Personally, I found this
hard to believe because according to The University of Kentucky there are just above 5,000
students in fraternities and sororities combined. With over 40,000 students and many,
many different clubs and organizations I find the statement somewhat ignorant. I believe

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

that there are many women at The University of Kentucky who did not join a sorority and
have plenty of new people that they have met. Again, I have no statistics to prove this point
but I am simply thinking logically. I do believe that being in a sorority enriches the social
aspect of campus in a sense that you meet a lot of people in the Greek life. That being said, I
do completely disagree that if you are not involved in a sorority then you will not be
meeting anyone.
I wanted to explore more into the media aspect of sorority life. Unfortunately I am
not a Netflix customer, and since blockbuster is now a thing of the past I had to do a little
more research in this part of my exploration. Simple typing in movie with sorority on
Google, I found a television-movie titled Sorority Wars. The rating on IMBD did not even get
6 stars (out of 10). This was not promising for me not only to the fact that its plot summary
was mind numbing, but based off of one short clip I watched off of the internet, It was very
unrelated to the life of being in a sorority and more of the drama that two girls who were
best friends in high school share, being in two different sororities. I also looked for songs
that were related to sororities. I could not find any songs that were directly related; I only
found songs that had a slight reference to sororities. There really are no direct media
relations to sororities. What I assume happens with media and how society portrays
sororities are popular clothing and apparel companies that have magazines and websites. I
went even further by looking at sorority videos on YouTube and found dozens of
recruitment videos for chapters all over the nation. These videos gave a quick glimpse on
what their sorority is about. They give the viewer a look at their house, and explain all the
different things that they are involved in on campus. I am not sure if the videos are played
for the recruits during rush week, or if the videos are on there just incase someone wanted

Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

to check it out on their own time. A lot of the recruitment videos were very good and
looked professionally edited. I think that society gets a visual representation rather than a
verbal explanation a lot of the time and this is why we see stereotypical photos like this:

Above there are seven girls who are dressed very similar and who appear to wearing expensive
popular clothing. This is the visual perception that I believe society has on sororities.
Sororities are a very interesting organization and depending on whom you ask, they will
have an opinion for or against them. For me, before exploring them, I was all for them. After
looking into the life of sororities though, I find that it actually may not be all it is hyped up to be.
Between my interview and my research I found some of the things said to be hypocritical. Media
tend to only focus on a small glimpse of what sororities do. They focus way too much on the
social aspect and not the real work. I do believe that there is some good that comes into joining a
sorority; You do get involved on campus and around the community which no one can argue that
is a bad thing to do. It would be a very hard decision for me to choose whether to join a sorority
or not (if I was a girl, of course). In this paper I explained ways the sisterhood is formed, what

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Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

they do together, how the society gets their view on them, and some of the stereotypes that label
them. Sororities are in love with themselves. No matter what sorority a woman is in, they believe
that theirs in particular is the absolute best and they will try to prove that in anyway possible.
Sororities play a relatively minor role at The University of Kentucky, but at some universities
they do play a major role. The common trend is that the further south you go, the more sororities
there are at a university. I had a good time exploring into the life a sorority member and hope to
keep an open mind about them throughout the future.

References

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Fact or Fiction: Inside on Sororities

Fraternity & Sorority Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2014.

Frequently Asked Questions. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2014.
Greek Life Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014.
Nation's First Greek-Letter Sorority Founded in Greencastle. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2014.
Ng, E. (n.d.). 7 Stereotypes about Sorority Girls That Aren't True ... Retrieved October 14, 2014.
Meet NPC. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014.
Images
http://greeklifeuk.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/get-to-know-university-of-kentucky-greek-life/
https://encryptedtbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQT9toKnE2hFNt6zskikBMy5OYH6j8
pNP8X05bSTNnAJ1ebKoLo