Feedback

After reflecting on the interviews I gave members of the Greek community, I was not at all surprised to find  that most people did not enjoy the interviews or really know how to answer the questions. Had the questions been about partying or TG themes, I am sure they would have been all over that but no one really wants to or even knows how to for that matter, answer questions about ritual.

People did however, know how to answer questions about their values. These values however, I did not feel were real for each chapter. Regardless of the chapter each interviewee was in, they had the same basic set of answers. Answers that my chapter members would also claim to be our values. However, these values are really the values of Nationals, the ones we are all told to memorize from day one. Values, if real, should differ from national organization to national organization and within each organization from chapter to chapter. People can all say that they value scholarship and sisterhood and I am sure to an extent that is true, but there are definitely other things that they value, as those two are extremely general and broad and can be broken down further. I do not blame them however because I remember when I was asked to reflect on my values in class, it was hard for me to pinpoint them exactly.

As expected,  I found that executive members were much more enlightened than the general members (probably because they constantly have to attend workshops where values and ritual are drilled into their heads.) It is only natural that not all members of every Chapter are going to feel the same sense of dedication to that Chapter's values or even that Chapter in general. Some people really are only a part of Greek life for the social aspect but hey, there are social sororities and fraternities after all.

signing off

nicole