A sorority perspective: Response to "My big, frat, Greek life"

Inemesit Etokudo
The Silhouette

To begin, I want to make sure that the argument of this article is not misconstrued. This article is not seeking to debate the issue of sexism that may have arisen from the original article, "My big, frat, Greek Life," or even trying to bash a positive article that I agree with over many points. Rather, I am going to try to tackle the incomplete portrayal of Greek Life here on campus as a direct result of the exclusion of sororities from this conversation.

Not once did this article say the word “sorority”, or even allude to the fact that they are a real entity on campus fighting for many of the same issues as fraternities. In order to discuss Greek Life, both sides need to be discussed in unison to paint the entire story.

To even begin discussing such a controversial issue, both sides of the topic needed to have been explored fully. Negative opinions of Greek Life, and more specifically sororities, stem from lack of knowledge about the deeply embedded tradition and community they inherently posses.

The fact that no sororities were so much as mentioned in this article only goes on to perpetuate this fact, providing the general public - who are very unaware of Greek Life here at McMaster and in the Hamilton Area - an incomplete synopsis of the larger issue.

This frustration is emanated across members of diverse sororities, as expressed by Brittany Collura, a fourth year Religious Studies and philosophy student and member of Delta Pi who comments that, “We’re a part of Greek Life just as much as the fraternities. We offer the same opportunities and bonding that the boys have and we too suffer from the lack of school recognition. It’d be nice if we were at least seen by the public as active members of the Greek community.”

Yosra Musa, a fourth-year English Literature student and Membership and Recruitment Executive of Nu Omega Zeta, perfectly summed up this fact when she expressed that, “Sororities create safe social spaces, and by excluding them you are excluding the work they do.”

The bottom line is this: it is all about fair representation. The original article definitely highlights some very important points about Greek Life here on campus and will undoubtedly go strides in spreading the positivity and richness that Greek Life order cialis canada does in fact bring to a campus; however, these conclusions were reached without consulting an integral part of this system.

I want to conclude by saying that as a heavily invested member of McMaster Greek Life, I am not in opposition to this article. The fact that an article about Greek Life has been published is a huge positive and will truly open up the arena for a more in depth discussion to be had, and for that I am beyond ecstatic; however, sororities exist too.

It is understood “that when McMaster’s policy was implemented, fraternities were the only form of Greek Life on campus but times have changed and there are quite a few sororities on campus today” – Hilary Chase, a recent graduate of McMaster, and one of the earliest supporters of Greek Life on Campus through her work with Tau Sigma Phi.

So here is my ode to my Greek Life sisters here on campus. I appreciate the hard work and dedication you put into breaking the Hollywood-manufactured stereotypes and being an influential part of our community. Your hard work does not go unnoticed and I hope this is just the first part of a discussion that needs to be had.