Why I quit my sorority
Sororities are advertised all over college campuses around the word, as a way of creating lifelong friendships, great academic standings, job connections, leadership opportunities, campus involvement, community service, non-discriminant groups, and many more things that attract girls to them.
Reality check:
I found myself in a reality check at the one year mark of joining a sorority. I was not getting lifelong friends. When we were not having meetings, they wanted nothing to do with the new girls that had joined in the last year. At that point, it just became obvious to myself I was interacting with a bunch of girls, that wanted nothing to do with me and I know longer wanted to try interacting with them I had tried the past year and got nowhere with the girls that were still there.
I concluded from the interactions within sorority meetings, social events, and the unpleasant interactions:
Academic standings are a personal achievement and having a learning disability puts you apart from the rest of your sisters. They judged me because I was not “working hard enough to be there,” when the reality is every night, I was putting in another 4-5 hours of homework and studying. While some of my sisters that did not have a learning, disability did not get any judgment, and they were borderline failing out of school.
Job connections rely on prospective, supportive alumni that followed their career path. Pursuing a degree in a helping profession you have no use for sorority connections to find a job. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO SHOW THAT YOU HAVE THE QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS TO DO THAT JOB!
Leadership opportunities rely on the rest of your sisters and when the chair of a position on your sorority board is stepping down or graduating. No support in you taking one of the open positions when another sister running has better qualifications of doing the position. In end equals running a sorority into the ground.
Campus involvement depends on the sorority you are involved in. Local sororities often commit more time then social sororities do, by almost 35 hours every semester; social sororities are also the sororities receiving more funding through the school as well as their alumni’s.
Community service through a local sorority means committing to either the sorority completely or committing to your school work. I picked my school work, the sorority I was involved thought that the sorority and our service hours should come first when the reality is we are at college for an education. WE ARE NOT LEARNING HOW TO WORK IN OUR COMMUNITY FOR FREE. Doing community service is great but committing to do minimum 40 hours a semester when you’re supposed to study minimum three hours every night for every hour that you’re in class; I was enrolled in 4-5 classes each semester that was almost 2 hours long and 2 or 3 times every week.
Sororities are supposed to be non-discriminant this was the main reason I left because after a year the sorority. They were having issues with another group I was involved in through campus that I had joined way before joining the sorority. The group was a religious group which I was been president of, and at a university activity fair I was at the religious organizations booth and wearing my letters which I HAD gotten permission to do so (sororities are supposed to show their diversity I was doing such) the president of my sorority had asked me to take off my letters. Wearing my letters was against “our policy” to affiliate with any religious organizations which are bad to even ask because of our university policy says you cannot ask or question religious affiliation. as well as the constitutional right to freedom of religion and freedom ofexpression. Asking me to remove my letters was also against the sororities policy which I had asked the advisor and the faculty in charge of all sororities on campus.
With everything that happened at the activity fair that was what broke me. I could not let them insult my organization and my religion and if they felt uncomfortable oh well, its college it is going to be uncomfortable. College is a time for self-expression which I had been restricted of since joining the sorority. That’s when I had made my decision to be done with the sorority. Ever since I left my life has just been getting better and I’ve had more amazing opportunities because of leaving. I do not ever regret making that decision to leave.
