Shame on Delta Zeta Sorority

I was appalled when I read about Delta Zeta sorority at DePauw University in Indiana. For those of you not familiar, Delta Zeta is a sorority that was starting to have issues with a decline in membership. Folks from the national Delta Zeta organization visited on several occasions and discussed how the sorority could be more marketable and overcome an image that they perceived as "unfashionable and unpopular".

The first thing the national organization did was hold a two-day workshop for members on how to look on campus and how to present themselves. They emphasized that it was all about the chapter's image, not the individual's image, but members didn't feel that was the message at all. At the second visit, two alumni came in and gave members makeovers and showed them how to dress and wear makeup. They told members that there was no reason they should be out on campus without makeup! Michelle Stacey, one of the members, describes in her interview with Cosmopolitan that it was at this point when the girls subjected to this started to feel as if these sessions were personal and that this treatment started to eat away at their self-esteem.

On December 2, 2006, a letter went out to 23 sorority sisters--out of a total of 35 in the house--telling them they were out of the sorority. The official reason given was that the sisters hadn't helped enough with recruitement, but everyone could tell that the girls asked to leave had something in common, they didn't fit the "image" Delta Zeta had been trying to project.

This experience caused many girls to withdraw from classes. Michelle stated she was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. Others took incomplete grades in courses. One member had to postpone her graduation because she needed to take time off during her last semester to deal with the stress of this situation.

Not only did this organization shatter the self-esteem of many of these girls, they negatively affected their college experiences, their careers, and their lives.

Let's go back to what Dr. King said all those years ago...should we not judge based on the content of one's character? Having been judged based on outward looks for so many years, I can speak to the self-esteem erosion, the negative effect on one's life, career, and overall life experience. We continue to place so much emphasis on superficial factors that have nothing to do with making society better. Couldn't Delta Zeta have looked at their falling recruiting numbers and said..."we will build a better image by being the sorority filled with the most intelligent, high-achieving women on campus" vs. trying to create some Barbie Doll image by teaching members how to dress and wear makeup?

Sororities should be there to help women progress in society...not push them back.