By senior year, that bubble hardened and I couldn’t pierce it. I realized the Jewish bubble I made for myself - the one I wanted - closed me off from seizing a golden opportunity to meet new people of all different backgrounds, religions, and cultures, arguably one of the greatest benefits of going away to college (because we all know it no longer guarantees you a job…). I thought a change of pace would open me up to more of what the 40,000 Indiana University student body had to offer, but it didn’t. Always the black sheep of my sorority, I opted to live with my best friends in AEPhi instead of my sisters. It’s everything I wanted, but it came with a price.Īfter two years of sleeping in the “cold dorm,” - a very dark, and very cold, room filled with bunk beds - my senior pledge class moved out of the SigDelt Mansion. I joined Greek Jewish Council, I gave speeches at Hillel during Palestinian-Israel conflicts, and I became an unofficial member of AEPi (if you know, you know). I met some incredible Jewish women who I remain friends with to this day. I wanted a Jewish community, and I got it. So why do I regret joining a Jewish sorority? For the exact reason I chose it: because it’s Jewish. Actually, it’s why several chapters at IU were eventually closed. I was disgusted that I was part of an organization that didn’t uphold my basic value of not being a total bitch.īut that criticism isn’t exclusive to Jewish sororities. I’ve seen sorority recruitment chairs send girls back to their rooms to straighten their hair or put on more makeup, lest they embarrass the Sigma Delta Tau name. We’re not only judging new members the active sorority sisters get judged, too. Active members critique PNMs (potential new members) harshly, but that’s not even the worst part. The sorority recruitment process was horrifying. In fact, it’s where my regret of joining a Jewish sorority stems from. As for being a “cliquey bitch” who “actively enjoys judging other girls for their worthiness and keeps a tight group of girls exactly like her,” there’s some merit to that scathing description, too. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dive in, shall we? I wear the slut badge proudly, and frankly, I do live for the tea (is that such a crime? What is life without a hot round of gossip?). This is the kind of girl who actively enjoys judging other girls for their worthiness and keeps a tight group of girls exactly like her.” Urban Dictionary nearly pins the definition of “sorority girl” on the nose: “A slutty, high-maintenance, cliquey bitch for whom drama is a kind of oxygen. Haters will say sororities are for shallow and materialistic girls, and they’re not totally wrong. (My pledge class and I tried to make “SigDelts” a thing because it was really hard not to say “STD,” but it didn’t catch.) Legend has it that Jewish girls who didn’t make the cut for the elite (non-Jewish) Delta Delta Delta - the Indiana chapter was suspended for five years in 2017 for alleged hazing - landed in AEPhi, and SDT - AKA Slutty Dumpy Trolls - was the house for AEPhi rejects, AKA me. When I was a freshman in 2013, there were two explicitly Jewish sororities: Alpha Epsilon Phi and Sigma Delta Tau.
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