the blurb says, alexandra robbins rips into the secret, sordid underbelly of sororities. for a graduate, not of a sorority, but of an old school post-colonial university hall in the far east, this book is surreal.
sororities have pledging. we had orientation.
they have hazing. we had ragging.
initiation. we even called it initiation too!
sorority songs. hall songs.
sorority songs. hall songs.
earning their letters. becoming a keviian.
administration crackdowns on hazing. and ragging.
booze and drugs. booze by the barrel.
elitism and exclusivity. hostelites as a breed apart.
intra-greek competition. inter-hall fights.
chapter meetings & events. hall meetings & events.
philanthropy chair. welfare secretary.
executive board. junior common room committee.
in the years since i have often wondered at the unthinking herd mentality that allows us to inflict unmentionable humiliations on each other, all in the name of cultivating an esprit de corp. pledged brings back too many bad memories of a deformed edifice upon which happily some better memories are built.
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