"A group of women who exist to serve a fraternity chapter's members. Too often exploited and poorly respected. Outlawed by Pi Kappa Phi and most other national fraternities."
I was raised in a family where men and women were equals. Also, I was taught to be respectful to everyone at all times, especially women. When I first came to Southern Miss and looked at the fraternities, I was very disappointed about how they treated women. It was not until I met the members of my current fraternity that I came to respect what a fraternity could be. One of the main goals of my fraternity is to be "men of class."
The first time I visited the Pi Kapp house I was unintentionally introduced to their attitude towards women. It was a normal weekday afternoon and a few members of the fraternity were sitting around the common room talking to me. The door opened and in walked a girl. Without any hesitation every guy in the room stood up, except me. I had no idea what was going on but I followed along so I would not bring any attention to myself. Each of the guys acknowledged the girl with either a smile or simple "hey" and then sat back down. It was at that moment that my entire view about fraternities changed. A simple sign of respect made me realize that fraternities weren't all bad.
Anyways, to the point of this post. Instead of little sisters, my chapter has what we call Rose Court. It is composed of many different girls who have established themselves as friends of the fraternity--similar to how the guys establish themselves as brothers. Granted there is a very fine line between our Rose Court and other fraternity's little sisters, but it is a very distinct line. When some fraternities bring their little sisters in to the fraternity, they haze them. The severity of the hazing varies but, regardless, it is rarely respectful. We, on the other hand, pick up our Rose Court in a limousine, sing to them our song (The Rose of Pi Kappa Phi), take them to dinner and then bring them back to our house for a party. For both Rose Court and the members of the fraternity it is a fun night.
I have a female friend at Southern Miss who is in a sorority on campus. She has spent much of her time at a particular fraternity hoping to one day get picked up as a little sister. This week she got what she wanted. You would think she would be happy but when I talked to her the day it was to happen, she wasn't. She told me she was scared. Alcohol poisoning, accidentally getting hurt and "lots of other things they make [them] do" were reasons she gave me for being scared.
I really don't know what to think about the entire situation.
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