Hear Her Harvard

In college, one of the many joys is being able to join a major, a club, a sport, or a group of some sort that makes you feel at home, loved, and empowered. What would you do if that was threatened to be taken away from you, or you were threatened to be punished if you continued to be a part of it?

This is currently happening at Harvard University. The school has recently issued sanctions against certain single-gendered social clubs; in the grand scheme of things they are threatening to eliminate the clubs altogether, but for now they are instead punishing all members of these clubs, banning them from holding leadership positions in other campus organizations such as being a captain on a sports team, and it also bans them from being recommended for academic fellowships such as the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships. So, what is their reasoning for doing all this? Harvard has struggled to deal with certain problems in their fraternities, such as exclusive attitudes, alcohol abuse, and sexual assault. They decided that punishing all the non co-ed clubs severely was the best course of action. 

Not surprisingly, this new policy has particularly caused the women of the sororities to do what they do best, rally together. They have decided to continue to recruit new members and operate as an organization on campus despite the punishment by the university. They have also sent letters to the university president, speaking out as to why they believe the punishment is unfair and defending the integrity of their organizations. They argued that alcohol is not even allowed at sorority functions, and that part of their educational programming in their organizations is to help teach women about alcohol abuse and sexual assault awareness and prevention. As a member of a sorority myself, I can attest that this is a huge part of our programming, and we have certain standards to help encourage healthy, safe behavior.  Part of the statement, put together by women of Harvard’s Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities, reads:

“These sanctions unfairly force women to choose between the opportunity to have supportive, empowering female-only spaces and external leadership opportunities,” (Bostonglobe.com)

Other women have sent in statements combatting the reasoning behind eliminating all the single-gendered clubs, when the problem is mainly with the fraternities. Much of the frustration stems from the fact that Harvard has been a very male-dominated institution for a very long time; it only began issuing degrees to women in 1963. The need for all-women environments at Harvard is imperative according to the sorority members. More women have written about this issue saying:  

“It is astonishingly paternalistic for Harvard to threaten the support groups of hundreds of women in the name of ridding the university of elite men’s clubs.” (Bostonglobe.com)

Me and some of my fellow sisters
got to be bridesmaids in my sorority
"big" sister's wedding!

How did I find out about this, you might ask? Instagram!

I am a member of Kappa Alpha Theta here at ONU, and all of a sudden a bunch of beautiful posts from my sisters about what their sorority means to them started popping up on my feed all at once, labeled with #herherharvard. This immediately caught my attention and I looked it up. When I found out was going on, I was appalled, and I completely agree with the women’s statements above.

This is my roommate!
She's a Theta and musical theatre
 major, and sisterhood only
brought us closer together.

I was one of those girls that never thought I would join a sorority. But I met the women in Kappa Alpha Theta, and I realized that they stood for and emulated everything that I wanted to surround myself with and grow to be. These women were (and are) leaders in every aspect, intelligent, generous, and lights of positivity. They were the first group of people I met in college that made me feel wanted for nothing more than exactly who I was. Becoming a sister was one of the best decisions I ever made. Kappa Alpha Theta has placed some of the most wonderful people into my life, who encourage me and empower me everyday. I also have many friends in other sororities, and we all lift each other up as "greek women." I couldn’t imagine having this gift taken away from me, let alone being punished so severely for staying true to the bonds of sisterhood.

Some of my fellow musical theatre majors that
are in other sororities. We love supporting each other!

I think it is great that people have spread the word about this unfair situation through social media, reaching out through other chapters. There has been thousands of posts with #hearherharvard, showing the supportiveness of our sisterhood across the United States. It has gotten a lot of attention, so hopefully this will be an example of how our generation can use social media support to fight for what they believe in.