Granted I am not a part of the Greek family here at GVSU, I have always been very interested and curious about sororities. I have many friends involved in the Greek Life and always here so many stories. Some good, some bad. Most of you will remember MTV’s Sorority Life & Fraternity Life. Although the reality shows only lasted a season or two, many people had a lot to say about them, including some of my Greek friends. Most said that the Greek life that was televised was totally out of control and did not highlight the true Greek life that they all know and love. Anyways…like I was saying I’ve always been slightly interested in joining a sorority. So I picked up a hot pink covered book called “Hazing Meri Sugarman” by M. Apostolina. Apostolina himself describes “Hazing…” on his MySpace page as a
comic novel about Cindy Bixby, a mousy first year college student who believes she can change her life, meet new friends, and help her future by joining Alpha Beta Delta, an exclusive sorority house headed by Meri Sugarman, the glamorous house president! And then, uh oh, Cindy comes to realize that Meri is a dangerous psychopath! It’s up to Cindy and her new sorority friends to bring Meri down.
So I sat down to read the book and was presently surprised with it. I enjoyed it-but makes me wonder how sororities (outsideof GVSU) are like. I then went around searching for articles online and came across one from the NY Times. In the article titled” Sorority Evictions Raise Issue of Looks and Bias” by Sa Dillon, sororities are still getting bad reviews:
Worried that a negative stereotype of the sorority was contributing to a decline in membership that had left its Greek-columned house here half empty, Delta Zeta’s national officers interviewed 35 DePauw members in November, quizzing them about their dedication to recruitment. They judged 23 of the women insufficiently committed and later told them to vacate the sorority house.
The 23 members included every woman who was overweight. They also included the only Korean and Vietnamese members. The dozen students allowed to stay were slender and popular with fraternity men — conventionally pretty women the sorority hoped could attract new recruits. Six of the 12 were so infuriated they quit.
“Virtually everyone who didn’t fit a certain sorority member archetype was told to leave,” said Kate Holloway, a senior who withdrew from the chapter during its reorganization.
From this I get the impression that you must fit a particular stereotype in order to fit into a sorority…which I know is definitely NOT true here at GV. But–this article goes along nicely with the reality shows…image is everything and sometimes in order to be a part of something you have to fit a particular mold.
I’m just hoping those YA readers who engross themselves into “Hazing…” and Apostolina’s two other novels in a series of three, will not get bad impressions of things that can go wrong and then eventually hold back from joining an organization or club, Greek or not.
March 13, 2007 at 4:22 am
Hi –
This is M. Apostolina, the author of “Hazing Meri Sugarman.” I found you very post interesting, but distressing, too. Like you, I hope my books don’t discourage anyone from joining a sorority or a fraternity, or at least from checking them out. Clearly, my books are VERY broad satirical comedies, and I hope enjoyable ones, too!
That said, I also posted the NYT’s article on my MySpace page, and I think it speaks for itself. And yes, the majority of sororities and fraternities offer good friends – sometimes friends for life – possible career contacts in the future, and yeah, just plain fun. But I would advice anyone checking out a prospective sorority or fraternity to do so carefully, and with their eyes wide open.
March 13, 2007 at 4:25 am
Uch! I meant …”your post very interesting…” See? Even authors make typos!
April 7, 2007 at 2:20 am
This is so neat! The author of the book that you reference has left two comments in response to your entry. Way to go.
Regarding Greek societies as GVSU, I have been wondering if they might not serve as tools to help the university achieve the student diversity that it has so desperately been seeking for so long. Conversations with two non-WASP college graduates prompt me to consider this.
The one fellow was Mexican American and the other was black. In two separate conversations, we were discussing college opportunities for minority seniors at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holland. When each asked me about GVSU, I told them that it, frankly, struck me as a lily-white middle and upper middle class school that very much wants to diversify, but so far has not. “Perhaps,” I said, “minority students are uncomfortable in such an environment.” To my great surprise, each responding by saying, in effect, “That’s weird. I had a blast at GVSU.” They were both GVSU graduates!
I remarked to both that certainly they must have felt out of place. Both replied that that might have been the case had they not been members of a fraternity. Going Greek made all the difference for these guys. If it did for them, might it also make the difference for other minority students?
April 7, 2007 at 2:41 am
[...] http://murphkel2003.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/review-hazing-meri-sugarman-sorority-life/ [...]
April 30, 2007 at 6:56 pm
read about the shitty side of sorority life from a real life college girl http://collegecandy.com/2007/04/30/the-shitty-side-of-sorority-life/
July 29, 2009 at 8:10 am
Hey whats up M.Apostolina?? Thanks for writing that book `Meri Strikes Back` it was awesome! Actually sadly I started the book `Meri Strikes Back` FIRST!!! Aahhhhh ya so I didn`t know what happened to `Hazing Meri Sugarman`. I am very sorry but I get the story though. Anyway thanks for everything!!!! Bye