"It's funny. A year ago, I came here loathing the whole [sorority] system," a '14 female confessed, smirking a little as she looked out at the suddenly ubiquitous Greek letters adorning what seemed like every available article of clothing on Collis porch. "But look at me now! I'm all paid, all in."
She paused, laughing, aluding to her upcoming participation in women's rush.
"It's so wrong. Me. The sorority girl."
Her thoughts about the umbiquitous nature of Greek life and the rush process are echoed by Kurt Prescott '12, who is unaffiliated.
"At the time, [rush] feels like something you need to do," he said. "It feels like a big deal."
It's hard to argue otherwise. With over half of campus affiliated with the ancient alphabet that dominates both Webster Avenue and our social lives, it's easy to throw your hands up in the air and just do it.
Why? Being unaffiliated can be scary especially ahere, where people seem to collect as many exclusive group memberships as ironically neon hats and metallic leggings to wear to them. You just don't see any colorful T-shirts or Lilly Pulitzer prints proclaiming "Unaffiliated."
Maria Carolan '12, who is unaffiliated, experienced fear of exclusion her sophomore year. She said that it seemed like her social life would be over, "that everyone would be affiliated, and if you weren't going to be in the Greek system, you weren't going to have a life and you weren't going have any friends."
"I mean, I didn't really have any examples [of unaffiliated upperclassmen]," Carolan said. "There was no article in The D, and I didn't know any upperclassmen that were unaffiliated," Maria said.
An unaffiliated '13 female agrees. "As a sophomore, you still don't really understand that whatever stigma exists' about being unaffiliated really doesn't exist. I think it's a lot to expect, that you have your persona set [by sophomore year] that you do the right' things so you get into the right' house so that you have the right' friends."
And sometimes even having the "right" friends isn't good enough.
"Actually, I had a bunch of friends at the house I originally rushed," Prescott said. "When I didn't get in, it really made me question those friendships."
Carolan felt similarly.
"[After rushing], you want to be [in a house] with those people that you feel that connection with and feel comfortable with, but [because of how] the system is set up, that might not necessarily happen for you," she said.
For another unaffiliated '12 female, it was more about never feeling that connection in the first place.
"If I was the type of person who always wanted to be at tails, then maybe I would've rushed," she said. "But I'm just not that type of person."
But some unaffiliated students do enjoy tails and can easily do so. All of the students interviewed affirmed their ability to gain entrance into the events.
"If I ever want to go to an activity, I feel like people are very inclusive," an unaffiliated female '12 said of Greek-sponsored events. "And there are a lot of obligations [of Greek membership] I get to avoid."
"I like not having a label," Prescott said, citing another perk of being unaffiliated. "I like watching people try to figure out what house I'm in."
Despite not belonging to a Greek organization, there seems to be a consensus among the unaffiliated that it is important to experience the rush process to see if the system is right for you.
"If you like it, then you like it. If you don't, you don't," said an unaffiliated '12 female. "Whatever happens, you're gonna be fine."
Similarly, another unaffiliated female '12 stressed the importance of examining your motivation for joining a house in the first place.
"I would ask [those rushing] if they're going into it because they feel they have something to gain, or because they have something to lose," she said.
Because in the end, being affiliated or unaffiliated shouldn't mean "losing."
