This week about one in five freshman girls will take part in the contested Sorority Rush, which the university administration adamantly opposes. The debate about Greek life at Princeton is fiercer than ever this academic year, after President Tilghman sent a letter this summer to the Class of 2008 discouraging them from joining Greek organizations on campus.
Whereas the university administration has focused almost exclusively on the social environment that sororities can create on campus, it should recognize the sororities for their important contribution to campus life through philanthropy. Sororities succeed in mobilizing their members, who are often otherwise uninterested in community service and philanthropy, to take part in the numerous sorority philanthropy projects. These projects raise thousands of dollars a year, and get sorority members directly involved in issues that affect the community around us.
The four sororities, Kappa Kappa Gamma (of which I am a member), Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Delta Delta, work with Princeton Against Cancer Together each academic year to organize the annual CRUSH project, which raised over $2,400 last year for CancerCare, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer research and care.
Other projects often raise money for the sororities' national charities. The annual all-sorority Powderpuff game raised about $300 last year for the winning sorority's national charity. Kappa Kappa Gamma's project, Kappa Kappacino, sold donated breakfast food outside of the Frist Campus Center and raised $387 for its national charity. Pi Beta Phi had a pizza and bake sale which raised $200 for its national charity.
The system of giving through national charities is a very effective one. National headquarters of sororities have full-time employees who can carefully select charities in need of assistance and make sure the money donated is used well; students often lack the knowledge and resources to do the same. Additionally, selecting different charities each year ensures that over time sororities serve a wide variety of needs in the community. Each carefully selected national charity is sure to receive ample assistance, since sorority chapters around the country will donate to it. Princeton should be proud to have its students take part in this national effort.
Sorority philanthropy does not only involve donating money. Sorority members participate in service projects that actively help the community, as well as get members personally involved in the community's needs. Kappa Kappa Gamma members cook dinner at the end of each month at the food party Lifegate Christian Assembly in Trenton. This is the only warm meal provided at the Lifegate Christian Assembly, and through cooking and serving it, members both help the community and get exposure to the problems plaguing it. Pi Beta Phi members volunteered last year at Martin House, which constructs and rehabilitates housing units for sale to low-income families in Trenton, and read to students at Riverside Elementary School in Princeton during October, National Links to Literacy Month. These projects are easily comparable to many service projects undertaken by the Student Volunteers Council. In fact, the SVC sends students to Martin House regularly.
The only other groups on campus whose mission is not community service which get their members involved in service to this extent are some of the religious organizations. A female student who is not part of a religious community and comes to campus not being interested in giving her time to service will probably never get involved in community service unless that student joins a sorority. By providing an organized outlet for community service, sororities play an extremely valuable role on campus.
The administration should give credit to the sororities for the positive work that they do and recognize them for what they are: social organizations with a strong philanthropic component. Instead of shunning them, it should embrace the ways in which it can help them to provide their members with more meaningful community service and philanthropy projects each year. Sororities already take part even in university-organized community outreach through Communiversity. Their contribution should be evident in the administration's rhetoric as well.
Karen Karniol-Tambour is a Wilson School major from Netanya, Israel. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. You can reach her at karenkt@princeton.edu.
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