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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                        Robyn Morrow             Chris Elliott                  John Arterbury       
                                                          Caitlin Cuppernull

Sorority's bad behavior ruins it for everybody 

Sororities often symbolize popularity and beauty, even if they do not intend to. So when a sorority featuring diverse, intelligent women denounces members solely based on their looks, it only reinforces an unfair stereotype. 

DePauw University's chapter of Delta Zeta is under fire after evicting 23 sisters from their sorority house, all of whom were overweight, according to the New York Times. 

Moreover, of those asked to leave were the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members in the sorority, the New York Times also reported. Out of the 12 girls left in the house, six resigned after the dismissal of their sisters.

Claims that the evicted girls lacked commitment fall flat when the only girls asked to stay were thin, and, as a former member stated, some of the least involved.

Delta Zeta had been having problems with membership and faced closure if a certain number of members was not achieved. Kicking out dedicated girls is no way to achieve more members.

Sororities were not created to be popularity contests, and the pressure Delta Zeta put on its members to "look their best" for interviews, as the New York Times reported, is unfair and unnecessary. 

Delta Zeta should have stayed true to sororities' foundations of sisterhood and mutual respect; one's looks should not matter. It is hard to believe, especially with the hurt reactions of the evicted women -- including some withdrawing from classes, that these 23 members were guilty of not showing dedication. 

Perhaps if Delta Zeta held respectable standards for its members they would be truly dedicated. Instead of living up to the commendable ideals that sororities were intended to stand for, Delta Zeta aimed to become a ridiculous stereotype, hurting the self-esteem of 23 women in the process.