you look marvelous?

I've been reading about this sorority that was gutted by their national chapter.

It all started with a harmless enough survey about image. Students catorgorized sororities on campus by their perceptions of their members. Apparently, the girls of Delta Zeta at DePauw university are seen as "socially awkward."

So, the national leaders swooped down, "interviewed" the members, and "promoted" the vast majority of the members to "alumna" status and ordered them to leave the house. The only women asked to stay were what the NY Times called "conventionally pretty." Half of the women asked to stay quit in protest.

Here's what I think is interesting about this story.

a) in a time when sororities, beauty pagents, etc are trying to justify themselves by focusing on the empowering, academic, and service aspects of their programs, Delta Zeta has refocused the spotlight on exactly what all the other groups pretend doesn't exist - the fact that many of these girls are just there to be easy dates for frat guys.

b) the national organization claimed they were trying to bolster the recruitment of this small chapter located at a small school - so they gutted the majority of the membership, created a national controversy, and are recruiting even fewer members than ever before -- GOOD JOB!!!! They wanted to build the chapter from 35 members to 100 -- now, they have 6 and only three recruits.

c) the women who were asked to leave were diverse, smart, supportive of each other, and all the things we want of young women in college today. However, apparently, DZ just wants barbie dolls. I wonder if DZ is going to take care of these girls when their frat boy husbands dump them for younger models in 20 years?