Lesley Davis
- Lesley Davis says the leadership of many national sororities have fallen prey to the same woke politics that is causing many college students to head south.
A recent article, “Sorry, Harvard. Everyone Wants to Go to College in the South Now,” noted that the number of Northerners heading South for college increased 84% over the past 20 years. What has prompted that change?
Students were searching for fun and school spirit and not, in one student’s words, “a super political environment.” The article also pointed to vibrant fraternity and sorority systems, like those often found in Southern states, as a draw for northern students.
Unfortunately, the leadership of many national sororities have fallen prey to the same woke mind virus that is causing so many college students to head south.
For instance, there was a wide disparity in how sororities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to fraternities. While many sororities virtually closed their doors during the pandemic, fraternities often doubled down in their efforts to keep their members connected. That may explain the increase of 0.9% in fraternity membership in the spring of 2024 compared to pre-COVID, while sororities experienced a 7.8% drop over the same period.
But that isn’t the most concerning discrepancy.
Many sororities’ national organizations are chasing the latest radical political cause of the moment—while fraternities, in contrast, focus on brotherhood and building community. According to recent surveys, active sorority members think that their sorority should stay out of politics. And yet, sororities‘ national leadership seems consumed with making left-wing “position statements” regarding issues from trans rights to abortion.
Kappa Delta initially committed the unforgivable sin of congratulating their own Amy Coney Barrett upon her appointment to the Supreme Court. But they promptly, and weakly, issued a public apology in response to progressives who complained the announcement was “disappointing and hurtful.” One does not have to agree with Justice Barrett’s judicial philosophy to congratulate a sister who has reached the pinnacle of her profession. There was no similar backlash or forced apology when Vice President Kamala Harris’ sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, congratulated her on becoming vice president.
Most sorority members also believe that women’s sororities should be limited to, well, females. Sororities were founded to provide a single-sex space for women. Yet, every National Sorority Leadership Council has policies to encourage acceptance of “trans women” —that is, men who “identify” as women—in violation of Bylaws and National Panhellenic Council Unanimous Agreements.
And yet groups like Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Mu discipline and even litigate against active and long-time alumni members who disagree with their highly unpopular policies that ignore basic biology and disregard governing documents.
As Independent Women’s Forum has pointed out, sororities do not appear to know what a woman is anymore. Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Bylaws state that a “new member shall be a woman.” This makes sense to most people. But the organization has become so deeply infiltrated by gender ideologues that Kappa leadership now says that if a man claims to “identify” as a woman, then for purposes of membership, he is a woman.
In fact, Kappa Kappa Gamma has allowed at least two biological men to become members. One is a 6-foot-2, 260-pound student whom female sorority members claim has had a visible erection while watching them at the sorority house. Another male member was elected to National Office in 2022 when the Sorority Leadership allegedly hid his biological sex and membership in a men’s fraternity from the Nominating Committee. Despite this apparent deception, sorority leadership allowed him to serve as a national officer.
Kappa’s own attorney recently claimed that, “[the word] ‘women’ is unquestionably not defined … and unquestionably has multiple meanings.”
No, it doesn’t. What Orwellian nonsense.
We know that, particularly in the South, Greek life leans conservative. But it’s more than just ideology. While fraternities focus on leadership development, career networking, and lifelong friendships in their brotherhood, sororities are engaging in divisive political battles, imposing policies on chapters that most of their members oppose.
Being in a sorority during college is something that I will always cherish. Those women mentored me, guided me, and molded me. They gave me the support and confidence I needed to pursue positions and goals I thought were far out of my reach.
Being in a sorority didn’t make me a conservative, but it gave me the courage to stand up for my beliefs. Many of my sisters stood by my side on my wedding day, supported my basketball games at Mississippi State and then my career advancements. They rejoiced when my three boys were born, walked through difficult cancer treatments with me, and remain my closest friends. We formed these lifelong bonds in the sacred, single-sex spaces that sororities were created to provide, where we loved and supported each other, no matter the divisive political issues of the day.
That is why I am heartbroken over the path sororities’ national leaders have chosen. If the very purpose of sororities is stripped away, they will cease to exist. Sadly, that appears to be precisely what the national leadership of many sororities want.
But I don’t.
One of the clear takeaways from the recent presidential election was the outright repudiation of the wokeness that has inundated our culture. Voters had a clear choice and they voted for the candidate who could decisively define what a woman is and who plainly stated that said men shouldn’t play women’s sports.
Hopefully sororities will soon learn that lesson.
As men’s fraternities enjoy membership growth while sorority numbers decline, perhaps it’s time for sororities’ national leadership to think twice about divisive political agendas and return their focus to lifelong and deeply-connected sisterhood.
Lesley Davis
