<p>I believe that there are very few student groups–or any other type of organizatio, really–that ensure that they have a member “from every race that exists on this planet,” as you so eloquently put it. Do the organizations you belong to succeed in this endeavor? Have you ever, in fact, encountered an organization that can even try to claim this sort of membership–except for possibly the UN? (And even that, I think, may not necessarily include representatives from every indigenous group in the world!)</p>
<p>And as for racial segregation–the Asian American Student Association, which I belong to, is composed entirely of Asian American students. When we have events, they are always coordinated to have an Asian American theme, whether it be a social event like “bubble tea night” or a cultural awareness program. Since only about 24% of my campus is Asian American, this group clearly promotes racial self-segregation among Asian American students–and by your standards, does that mean it should deserves to be condemned and disbanded? Does it, as you so poetically state it, put Asian American students on a “walk of death” because it encourages them to socialize among a group that contains only other Asian Americans?</p>
<p>I agree that not every girl who rushes gets a bid from the sorority of choice, and perhaps you can call this discriminating in that the sororities choose their members from the rush pool, but if you choose to use the word “discriminate” in that sense, you must also acknowledge that sports teams discriminate based on athletic abilities, engineering honors societies discriminate based on major and GPA, and the debate team discriminates based on oratory and argumentative skills. If this is the sort of “discrimination” that you object to, why not extend your condemnation to these groups as well? Why not be furious at the pre-business group that places 30 students in finance internships in year–after subjecting the initial pool of more than 200 students to a rigorous financial interview process that eliminates the majority of applicants?</p>
<p>(I mean honestly… You say that “what sororities effectively do is to group a large number of girls interested in rushing, and then grouping them further into sororities.” Subsitute “Stanford” for "sororities, “rushing” for “obtaining a Stanford education,” and “majors” for the second "sororities, and you in fact are describing the main goal and purpose of my university. Should my entire school be condemned for its “discriminatory” policies?)</p>
<p>You say that “sororities promote segregation racially and socially through excluding rushees who do not qualify to join the sorority,” but your statement can only be true if you implicitly assume that race is a determining factor in whether a sorority chooses to accept a girl. And perhaps this may be a factor in some campuses, especially in the south (where you seem to be attending school), but I have never been at a recruitment meeting where the rushees’ race or cultural background came up. We don’t look for white girls or rich girls; what we do look for are strong, confident personalities who demonstrate passion and leadership on campus through their activities and involvement. We don’t recruit “token minorities” to maintain a facade of diversity, as you seem to suggest–we recruit the best class of girls we can in terms of these qualities, regardless of race, which usually provides us with a fairly diverse group of girls on its own. </p>
<p>PS: Your argument might be stronger if it contained fewer unsubstantiated statements–such as the assertion that sororities lead girls onto a “walk of death”!</p>