Stigmas

By: Colleen Rothner

“Oh, so you’re in a sorority that means you must be (fill in the blank)” I mean, we hear it all the time. And it would be awesome if the fill in the blanks were filled with something like, really smart, or really philanthropic. But I guess that is not the case.

Stigmas are certainly nothing new to me, after all when I tell people that I grew up in Beverly Hills, I get all kind of crazy looks. But in reality I know I am just the same as everyone else, no matter what my zip code is. Now, I know it is going to be impossible to change everyone’s stigmas about where I grew up or because I am in a sorority, but when I first talked to Rula and Hilary, they made me aware of the possibility to change the stigmas that have been associated with Greek life at ASU. As soon as I saw this was a way that I could change someone’s opinions of Greek life, I knew I wanted to be a part of Alpha Gamma Delta.

I knew that people had stigmas about us as sorority girls, but to be honest I kind of thought that it was only other college age people that felt that way. I didn’t really think many people out of college have an opinion. Unfortunately, last weekend I found out that I might have been quite naive in thinking that way. After a lovely brunch for International Reunion Day that was thrown for us by our AMAZING alumni. A group of about 15 of us walked onto the light rail to take it home. I take the light rail almost every day of the week, and have never had any problems. But when I went to sit down, I happened to be sitting next to a random person, she immediately asked why we were all dressed up and what we were doing, and I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I politely explained that we were part of a sorority and we were at a meet, she then went on to yell some profanities that if I was a sorority girls I must be (a bunch of things I would rather not repeat). After politely deciding to get up and walk away, she yelled some more about thankfully I moved because she didn’t want to sit next to me. Then some nice guy politely turned to her and said “you should treat people the way you want to be treated”. The rest of the ride was kind of uncomfortable, but because I decided to isolate myself from the situation I didn’t really think much of it. Then after the lady felt she had nothing better to do, she decided to heckle some others. It was then that somebody finally hit the emergency call button to the driver, and she was asked politely to leave the train.

Overall, I guess what that lady on the lightrail taught me is, that I can’t expect everyone to not judge me, but at the same time, although there might be a lot of stigmas about us, there are also a lot of good people out there willing to do the right thing. And maybe through education and Alpha Gamma Delta, if we can change just one doubter, our job is complete. To throw a little Kardiashian wisdom, I guess I would say, The Pit of my day was that lady and her close minded ways, but the Peak of my day was that I had my sisters by my side, and that even strangers stood up for me, so there are good people out there in the end.