Stereotypes about Sororities Are Getting Out of Hand

Corina Roman
Enc1102 Composition II
Professor Gomrad
March 27, 2015

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Abstract
This review looks into the stereotypes of sororities, such as Zeta Tau Alpha, and how it is
falsely representing everything a sorority stands for. With the amount of Greek chapters
expanding on campuses worldwide, it is interesting and important to learn how everyday
activities such as going out at night affect how people view a sorority. Through surveys
and interviews, stereotypes are found to be fueled by hear-say comments, most deriving
from 1990-2000s, when no punishment was enacted in regards to hazing. Some of these
research methods ask questions mainly about if it was caused by the action of one person
aligning with something that is typically negative, while others explore that stereotypes
develop because of dramatized movies. Though in some cases it is discovered that certain
types of personal issues may cause the start of a stereotype, it is conclusive that with the
growth of new Greek organizations on campuses, the creation of new stereotypes are
formed leading to increased negative effects on young women interested in recruitment.
The implications of these results are important to pay attention to because it is a growing
and relevant problem that has been identified but not remedied completely. Many
participants in the interviews discovered that they are connoting their stereotype to one
negative action they have seen by a member. While realizing one members action does
not represent the actions of every member, it is important to recognize this is how
stereotypes grow and a solution should be found because it is having negative effects on
the members of a chapter. Further research is needed to discover ways that can officially
remedy the problem or to find viable ways to understand and cope with how these
negative connotations can affect the growth of more chapters in the future that
stereotypes have introduced to the modern world of Greek life.

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Introduction
When womens Greek-lettered societies began forming, to protect all of its members, it
had all the attributes of the most modern day sororitiesan oath of secrecy, a badge,
mottos in Greek, an initiation and a handshake. As the popularity of these ideas of a
sisterhood of college women progressed, so did the amount of people among different
campuses interested in trying to start their own using the starting guidelines of the firsts.
Being in a sisterhood of college women most often meant you are connected with those
only in your group through secrets, your sisters. In 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded,
the object of this association was to intensify friendship, promote happiness among its
members, and in every way to create such sentiments; to perform such deeds, and to mold
such opinions as will conduce to the building up of a nobler and purer womanhood in the
world. As Greek life continues to grow so does conflicting opinions of what Greek life
promotes, or consists of. In this review, the negative stereotypes and degradation of Zeta
Tau Alphas sisterhood is investigated to determine how and why these stereotypes are
formed. Being a member of a sorority, you are judged upon meeting, myself included.
Before going through recruitment, I heard many negative things about sorority women,
once joining, I quickly learned none of what I had heard previously was true. Being a
member that is judged just by the letters I wear is what has concluded me to search for
the root of negative stereotypes to search for why they are formed and how they can stop.
Generally, people assume what they see on television is true, viewers assume the horror
depicted by the news with hazing scandals applies to every member of the chapter. These
news articles and news clips are then shared on social media or word of mouth and
subconsciously create a negative connotation associated with sororities.

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Background of Stereotypes
With the formation of Greek life dating back to the early 1800s, the findings of each
individual chapter continues to expand, even though the values of each chapter are one in
the same. But with the values of each PanHellenic chapter being so similar, the question
comes up of why women chose this specific house over another. Merriam-Webster
defines a sorority as:
A women's student organization formed chiefly for social purposes and having a
name consisting of Greek letters a sorority can be seen as solely founded for
social purposes.
Morgan Legel, Butler University columnist, makes reference to Merriam-Webster
describing a sorority as solely founded for social purposes. These purposes give rise to
stereotypes for each house and how they are perceived in the campus community. Part of
the reason stereotypes exist is because somebody sees a negative action performed by a
member that is usually connoted with something negative, they then continue to spread
the actions they have witnessed through hear-say and the stereotype grows. The average
chapter size of sororities at the University of Central Florida is more than 150; these
stereotypes should not be as important as they are. It is clear they do not describe an
entire house. They should not be thought of as fact, for there are far more principal issues
to deliberate upon (Legel). Pre-existing stereotypes can get in the way of a womens
perception of the sisterhood in a house. Historian of the Eta Kappa chapter of ZTA,
elaborated on why people have chosen to associate one members mistakes towards the
entire chapter:

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People choose to remember the negative so when word spreads they dont
remember that we have broken philanthropic records, they remember the bad
decisions made by one or two girls. These bad decisions are remembered for
years. Im in charge of social media and I really make an effort to portray our
chapter in the most positive light to rid of these negative stereotypes. Another
aspect of breaking these stereotypes is the attitude of the rest of the Greek
community. If they arent willing to recognize our efforts to rid of a negative
stereotype it will most likely stay, regardless of the good we do.
With social media being a big part of where people get their stereotypes from, it is
someones choice to form a negative connotation of something that may or may not have
happened. Holding members accountable for keeping their personal social media
accounts appropriate as possible is a huge contribution to how our sorority is perceived.
Stereotypes should not be seen as facts, they are far more important aspects about a
sorority to be concerned with.
The main pre-existing stereotype is connected with hazing. In movies and television,
hazing is depicted as the most self-esteem depleting action a young women could
possibly endure. Most campuses across the nation have implemented strict policies on
hazing and any chapter rumored of hazing will be investigated and have their charter
revoked. According to Colleen Murphy, columnist for The Signal, at least 59 students
have died in incidents involving fraternities since 2005, with six others getting paralyzed
(Bloomberg News). Despite statistics, people are joining in record numbers. UCF is a
campus that absolutely does not tolerate hazing in any form. Movies such as Dead On
Campus, depict pledges of a made up sorority enduring hazing after accepting their bid,

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creating the false interpretation that hazing is tolerated in secret. Juliana Herd, high
school junior hoping to go through recruitment upon joining college, explained:
I saw this movie on Lifetime showing girls in a bra and underwear sitting on a
washing machine, older members then started to circle the fat the moved with a
sharpie, while these girls were sitting on the washing machine. They then stated
they needed to get rid of the fat in the circled areas or they wouldnt become a
member because they werent skinny enough. I also saw that you guys just have a
projector showing all the girls that go through recruitment and you just look at
that picture and judge if they are pretty enough or not.
Potential new members do not want to be associated with the stereotypes depicted of
certain chapters in the public eye. The hierarchy associated with stereotypes is also
connoting negativity among Greek life. Jason Menayan, author of HubPages, states
common examples of how each chapter ranging from only accepting certain races, not
invested in philanthropy, and partiers, to where they fall on the tier charts depending on
each campus. Students who participated in recruitment and did not receive a bid from
their desired house, may choose not to continue in becoming a member of that house and
re-rush next year or lose faith in recruitment completely. However, one should be sorry
for having biased perceptions about Greek Life, the individual houses, and independent
students. Those who continue to judge an entire house by its perceived stereotype have no
place in the Greek system. This practice violates the principles of brotherhood/sisterhood
and campus community (Wyllie). An individual's Greek affiliation should be used as a
medium to improve the university. An affiliation has greater value for students who
intend to promote academic excellence, campus involvement, and leadership. The status,

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whether negative or positive, does not come from the letters one wears. Above all, the
content of an individual's character is more important than the house someone intends to
pledge (Wyllie).

Implicit Association Test

Greenwald, McGhee, and Schwartz (1998) developed an Implicit Association Test
(IAT) to unobtrusively measure people's implicit attitudes. Their research has shown that
stereotypes and prejudice can operate without conscious awareness, even among those
who explicitly renounce prejudice. The IAT has effectively measured implicit attitudes
based on topics ranging from race to sexual orientation (Jellison, McConnell, & Gabriel,
2004). The purpose of this study was to broaden the scope of the IAT by measuring
implicit attitudes towards members of social fraternities and sororities. The IAT is
perhaps the most widely accepted implicit measurement test and it works by measuring
the strength of associations between specific known groups and pleasant and unpleasant
attributes. The IAT demonstrates how stereotypes operate with some degree of
automaticity; participants had to exercise conscious control to override the implicit
association which added to response time.
To complete the test, participants must generate the same response (pressing an
assigned keyboard button) for groups and positive attributes during one block of trials,
and again with negative attributes for another block. Implicit attitudes can be inferred
from the different responses in the group-good and group-bad condition. Abrahamowicz
(1988) found that members of student organizations, such as athletic teams and social
fraternities and sororities, had significantly more positive perceptions of their

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relationships with other students and faculty as compared to students who did not belong
to such groups. Moreover, members of these groups had a more positive perception of
their feelings about learning and college in general. Overall, student organizations are
crucial for a healthy student development; however, participation in these groups can
have a segregating effect or serve as a convenient means for stereotype labels (Chang &
DeAngelo, 2002). When student groups have limited diversity, stereotypes about those
groups can easily develop.

Philanthropy
Not only do sororities focus on developing friendships and womanly character, but they
also focus heavily on Philanthropy. Each national sorority has a philanthropic cause that
all its members raise money for; including St. Jude Children's Cancer Research, Service
for Sight, The Painted Turtle camp, and Cardiac Care just to name a few. Sororities raise
millions for their various philanthropies every year. Zeta Tau Alphas national
philanthropy is Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. Philanthropy is the main focus
for many sororities. By participating in philanthropic events not only are young women
held responsible for themselves in raising a certain amount of money, but they are also
responsible for the cause they are raising money for. The outcome of philanthropy all
depends on how willing sororities are to help others. October is Breast Cancer Awareness
Month, and across the country, members of Zeta Tau Alpha hold special events to
increase awareness about early detection and to raise funds for education and research.
Throughout October, Zetas partner with the National Football League to distribute pink
awareness ribbons at NFL stadiums across the country. Also each year, Zeta Tau Alpha

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chapters across the country host Think Pink or Pink Out games with their university
athletic departments to raise awareness for breast cancer. Since 1992 Zetas have
distributed 10 million shower/breast health tip cards with instructions of the proper
method for breast self-examination (BSE) (Our philanthropy). Spreading the message of
early detection in campuses across the country as well as into communities both here and
abroad. In 2000, ZTA members began to distribute the BSE Calendar Reminder Stickers
as an added tool for promoting regular breast self-examination. Since then, more than
11.2 million BSE calendar reminder stickers have been distributed. New hot pink Think
Pink ribbons were added to the breast cancer education and awareness promotions in
1997 (Our philanthropy). Since that time, 14 million have been distributed. People wear
the ribbons to show awareness of and support those surviving breast cancer and
remember those who lost the fight against this disease (Our philanthropy). From survivor
recognition activities to pink-out games on campus, lemonade stands to golf tournaments,
ZTA collegiate and alumnae chapters hold over 500 events to raise funds for, and increase
awareness of, breast cancer (Our philanthropy). But with all of those examples being
said, women going through recruitment essentially do not see philanthropic achievements
as big of a deal as they see negative stereotypes (Legel).

What Can Be Done

As much research as there has been to discover why stereotypes form and continue to
grow, why has no one proposed a way of remedying the problem?
Murphy states, I certainly dont think we would have this many people joining and
committing so much of their time and energy if it were a bad experience, or if people

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were buying friends, or were all very shallow or whatever else. There has to be some
deeper root piece to this.
Specific chapters have made efforts to focus on strictly advertising positivity of their
chapter, but changes can only be made within yourself. Students need to do their own
research on each house, talk to each organization they plan to pursue and form their own
opinions on all of the facts. Realizing, their own mistakes they make in public does not
represent their entire friend group, just themselves as one action of one member of a
chapter does not represent an entire house, just one member. ZTA chapters nationwide,
continuously makes efforts to diminish negative connotations and emulate the positives.
Every chapter uses the quote, You are Always Wearing Your Letters, and heavily
implies it during the new member process to ensure we are making positive opinions into
the future new member classes of our chapter, the future of Greek life. Implying that you
are always wearing your letters is a way to remind students that every action you decide
to partake represents something bigger than just yourself. Our responsibility as a member
of a sorority is to take pride in the letters you represent, the people in your chapter you
represent, Greek life as a whole, and most importantly, the foundation that your founders
built your chapter upon. Everyone is accountable for their actions, but there can be
mistakes that happen, that can affect not only your future but the future of Greek life.
Despite all the negativity involved in Greek life, chapters continue to flourish on
campuses nationwide. The more research done by an individual, the more positivity seen.
As fast as negative stereotypes can grow, positive stereotypes can grow just as fast if the
effort is put in. People with different levels of self-esteem will look at recruitment with
different reasons. It seems that for the time being, negative stereotypes continue to exist,

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until more research is done, there has not been a specific solution found to this problem
other than simply not judging and forming your own opinions, which some may find
inexplicable.
As Legel states, ask not what your sorority can do for you through how outsiders see it;
ask what you can do for your sorority by how it is seen through your own eyes.

Conclusion
This review looked into the subject of stereotypes related to why they form and how we
can try to stop them from occurring. Using a variety of different research methods such as
interviews and anonymous surveys, much evidence is found that stereotypes are formed
by false representation. Various aspects of sororities such as social media photographs,
movies and television were discovered to have had an enormous impact in creating a
negative stereotype. Most studies propose that further research must be done before any
solutions can be addressed, and the only solution may be upon ourselves and how we
perceive judgment. There is underdeveloped research pertaining to why negative
stereotypes spread infinitely faster than positive stereotypes. If researchers can address
why negative spreads faster than positive, negative stereotypes would be minimal and be
of the past. Advanced research can be made in regards with IAT testing in order to seek
information about why negative stereotypes last longer than positive stereotypes.
Chapters will continue to flourish on campuses nationwide, despite the negativity
perceived by some. The more research done by an individual, the more positivity seen. As
fast as negative stereotypes can grow, positive stereotypes can grow just as fast if the
effort is put in. This subject is relevant and important among campuses and should

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certainly be addressed. Greek life being so heavily involved with different philanthropic
societies, has changed so many lives and will continue to as each chapter grows. Given
that Greek life is becomingly increasingly popular on campuses with new chapters
forming among different universities, it should be viewed as a problem that all students
involved in Greek life or notwould benefit from solving.

Sorority Stereotypes: Why They Form and How We Can Stop Them

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An Annotated Bibliography

Corts, Daniel P., and Brett Wells. "Measuring attitudes towards sorority and fraternity
members: indication of implicit, ingroup favoritism." College Student Journal 42.3 (2008): 842+.
Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
This scholarly article explores implicit attitudes towards members of social fraternities and
sororities. The results suggest that many independent students harbor ill feelings towards sorority
and fraternity members, and it is possible that the attitudes are stronger than reported on typical.
This explanation would be consistent with IAT measures of racial and ethnic stereotyping.
Implications are discussed along with potential ideas to replicate and extend the current findings.
This article is imperative to my argument because it is a step in research in understanding why
negative stereotypes are correlated with sororities and fraternities despite what is true or false.
Legel, Morgan. "Recruitment Woes and Wisdom: Sorority Stereotypes Hinder Greek
Commitment." UWIRE Text 22 Jan. 2014: 1. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Morgan is a student involved with Greek life at Butler University, her scholarly article is
focused on stereotypes actually hindering Greek commitment. Legel makes a reference to
Merriam-Webster describing a sorority as solely founded for social purposes. These purposes
give rise to stereotypes for each house and how they are perceived in the campus community.
She also states how philanthropy and sisterhood are essential to each chapter but is ignored due
to stereotypes. This article is in support of my argument of stereotypes hindering a womans
Greek commitment and is written from the eyes of a Panhellenic woman at her university. Her
emphasis on how your sorority is perceived through your own eyes leaves room to influence how
your sorority is seen from outsiders.

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Lemas, Matt. "The ROW: More than stereotypes?" UWIRE Text 14 Apr. 2014: 1. Expanded
Academic ASAP. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Lemas is a columnist for the Daily Trojan, his article focuses on the set backs on Greek life
reputation at the University of South Carolina. He provides an example of a non-USC student
sustaining life-threatening injuries at a fraternity party after falling off a table, and that same
weekend four people were medically transported for alcohol-related reasons from The Row.
Following what Student Affairs characterized as the worst weekend of the semester, campus
administrators put the fraternity on social probation and placed harsh sanctions on all of campus
Greek life. He explains how incidents like the above stated take a substantial amount of time to
repair in the view of the community and how comical philanthropy is seen in Greek life. This
article is essential because it explains that incidents have happened in the past but chapters get
repaired and work to better the future of their chapters, the members do not have the same
mentality as they did when said incident occurred.
Menayan, Jason. Sorority Reputations. HubPages.com. HubPages, 15 Apr. 2012: Web. 17
Mar. 2015
HubPages author Jason, provides a list of the ten largest national sororities that are members of
the National Panhellenic Conference. For each chapter he provides a description of the most
common stereotypes associated with the chapter. He speaks little about their philanthropy and
how successful they are. This article is in opposition of my argument providing base line
stereotypes that women believe about these chapters. This article serves as a public document
young women going through recruitment may come across and it may resonate with them upon
entering each house.

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Murphy, Colleen., and Courtney Wirths. "Despite rumors, growth in Greeks." UWIRE Text 25
Mar. 2014: 1. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Murphy, columnist for The Signal, emphasizes all the growth Greek life is continuing to make
despite growing rumors. Murphy provides facts about why Greek life should not grow but still
continue to. She states how the stereotypes of the frat bro and the sorority girl are well
known to several students. But still, people are joining in record numbers. She interviews with
the Director of Greek life at her university to provide insight on why people continue to be
interested in Greek life despite all the negative things they hear or see on the television. This
article is essential to my research because it shows statistics about the good and the bad of Greek
life.
Smith, Lauren. "Don't let rumors skew opinions of Greek life." UWIRE Text 27 Aug. 2014: 1.
Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
This article describes the influence that social media has on how people depict a day in the life
of a sorority or fraternity member. Lauren describes how she was a student that was not
interested in Greek life at first because of what she had heard or seen on television to then realize
all her premeditated opinions of recruitment were shattered. She describes the goals of not only
her chapter but every Panhellenic chapter were the same, to strive to do the best they can in all
our endeavors [] not to be a carbon copy of one particular mold, but to instill the values of
each organization into our everyday lives. Greek life is not for everyone but she emphasizes that
you should not let rumors skew your opinion before stepping foot in a chapters house. This
article is essential to my research because it provides an example of a young woman that lets
rumors skew her opinion of Greek life then once proceeding with recruitment, realized
everything she thought was true, was false.

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Unknown. "8 Fraternities and Sororities Announce and End to Hazing." nytimes.com The New
York Times. 19 Feb 1990. Web. 6 Dec 2012.
This article describes a resolution made by the leaders of eight national black fraternities and
sororities to eliminate hazing by banning the pledging process. The resolution declared that each
organization should develop its own initiation process limited to ceremonial rituals, stemming
from concern about excesses of hazing at some colleges in recent years that led to serious
injuries and deaths. This article provides proof that chapters nationwide are implementing
changes in order to reduce the risk of hazing to continue, in favor of my argument that hazing is
a thing of the past and is no longer tolerated or accepted.
Villalobos, Laura. "Sorority Stereotypes Documentary." YouTube. 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 Mar.
2015. Https://youtu.be/pagsBaY1VW8.
This video is a student made documentary created to prove negative stereotypes to be false.
This video interviews groups of women associated with different chapters and their opinions of
Greek life or how it is perceived. One student sits for an interview to answer questions about
why people may form the stereotypes they do and what stereotypes she has heard while being
involved in Greek life. This video provides an example of interview questions I will be
conducting during my own research.

Wyllie, Julian. "Recruitment Woes and Wisdom - Are the Letters Worth It?" UWIRE Text 22
Jan. 2014: 1. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Wyllies schorlarly article offers honest advice on the nature of going through recruitment or
not at Butler University. She states excerpts from students willing to get involved with sorority

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recruitment and students who wish to stay independent to find their own place. Wyllie briefly
states some positive and negatives of being involved with a sorority, such as avoidance of a
stressful week of recruitment or disappointment of not receiving a bid from a desired house.
Excerpts from this text can be helpful for advancing research in reducing opposing stereotypes.
Students can find Wyllies article as a guide to deciding whether recruitment is right for them or
if it is better for them to stay an independent student.
Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity. Seek the Noblest. Zeta Tau Alpha, 2015. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
This is Zeta Tau Alphas national website. The site serves as the authentic model of what Zeta
Tau Alpha represents. On this site you can find information ranging from history, to
philanthropic events held nationwide, as well as alumnae chapters. This website is essential to
my argument because it emulates the most positive of our sorority, it includes a tab about all the
programs we have implemented to make sure our chapter is going in a positive direction for the
future members such as hazing prevention. If a student is deciding to go through recruitment they
can use this site as an informative guide on why Zeta Tau Alpha is or is not the house they would
be interested in joining.

Attatchment 1: Survey
(survey generated through surveymonkey.com, yes/no/maybe answer descriptor)
What grade level are you?
What is your gender?
Did the presence of fraternities or sororities have an impact on which university you chose?

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Are you a member affiliated with an organization under the National PanHellenic Council?
If you are not affiliated with a fraternity or sorority, are you interested in Greek life?
Do you think being a member of a fraternity or sorority is beneficial to ones future?
If you found a sorority that was truly about intellectual excellence, high standards of moral
conduct, and responsible citizenship, would you be interested in joining?
Has your estimated cost per year of participating in Greek life affected your decision whether to
participate?
Do you think students involved in Greek life have a higher GPA?
Do you think students in Greek life go out more than non-Greek life students?

Attatchment 2: Interview

What are your views of your universitys Greek system?

What was your main reason for/for not seeking out fraternity or sorority life?
What positive impacts do you feel fraternities and sororities create in the community?
What negative impacts do you feel fraternities and sororities create in the community?
Where do you base your opinion of Greek life from?