We asked Duke students if social status is #majorkey

Here’s a riddle to keep you occupied as you wait ever-so-patiently for the C5 bus on what must be the coldest morning in all of North Carolinian history: What’s whispered about in the furthest corners of Perkins, awkwardly alluded to by first-semester Freshmen, scoffed at by checked-out Seniors, can determine your social destiny for four years, and responsible for the utmost joy and misery all at the same time?

If you answered “Shooters,” I applaud your efforts, but the incredibly powerful yet intangible entity to which I’m referring this time is actually none other than social status.

While our favorite buzz words like “socially relevant,” “trending up,” “top tier,” and “social climber” serve as constant reminders of a social hierarchy whose archaic roots I won’t even attempt to trace, there’s no denying that status becomes particularly ~relevant~ when Spring Recruitment season rolls around (also known as Yik Yak founders’ early bonus).

Suddenly, even the most friendly and inclusive Blue Devils can’t escape from the rumors about which groups have most recently found their way to the top.

Before the madness of Spring Recruitment hit Duke’s campus like a ton of bricks, I had the privilege of attending a lecture from the director of CAPS, Dr. Gary Glass, an equally charming and hilarious individual whose work addressing mental issue health issues on Duke’s campus is no joke.

As his name would suggest, this campus leader isn’t afraid to cause a little discomfort in order to challenge unhealthy norms, like the all too familiar perception of – dare I say it – “effortless perfection.”

During his presentation, Dr. Glass asked audience members to rank a set of five values, which included, but were not limited to, connection, stability, approval, enjoyment, belonging, and status, that potential new members should consider and weigh as they go through the often brutal Recruitment process. Overwhelming, nearly ever audience member chose to place status at the very bottom of the list, determined to avoid it more than a three-hour lab on Thursday mornings.

Dr. Glass seemed confused as to why we were so quick to cast aside status, which he recognized as a legitimate value. When he inquired as to why we found ourselves so disgusted by status, each one of us was ready to pull the Mother Teresa card and vouch our apathy towards all things hierarchical — that is, until he pointed out the obvious: we all chose to attend an institution that ranks amongst the top ten in the nation.

A smattering of embarrassed chuckles filled the room as we realized the hypocrisy of our apparent distaste for status when we each benefit from it to some degree as members of a “brand name” school.

Furthermore, if we define status according to Dr. Glass’s definition, “belonging to a community that is recognized as important, impressive, and/or influential in social, academic, and/or professional arenas,” it doesn’t seem quite so bad anymore.

Let me be clear: It’s not that he advocates for us to suddenly splurge on YSL bags, start mobile uploading daily pics with star Duke athletes, and begin bragging about the umpteenth Caribbean island we’d visited over break as we claw our way to the peek of the social pyramid, but he did push us to ask: Why are we so afraid to admit to others, and more importantly, ourselves, that we’ve contemplated status at least once or twice or every day since the moment we officially joined the Cameron Crazy fam?

Baffled as ever, I took to the streets — or at least the semi-paved walkways in between scaffolding and more scaffolding — and asked what older Duke students from a wide variety of campus affiliations thought about the touchy subject of social status within the Recruitment process.

What I found was just as complex as Dr. Glass’s metaphor between hammers and human identity (don’t ask). To use the stereotypes that are commonly — and often callously — thrown around campus, here’s what a couple of Frat Stars, GDI’s, and Sratty Sisters had to say.

How has social ranking influenced the way in which your peers perceive you?

“As an Independent, I receive labels from people who are associated with different Greek or SLG organizations. However, I have a unique relationship with individuals in Greek community. [My organization] is ranked to some degree because of our activities with the Greek community. [Those activities] aren’t primarily where [my organization] derives their value however.” — Independent student

“You can also think about status in terms of where you sit in your sorority. I didn’t feel like a valuable member of the sorority especially after rush. The year after I got in, I could tell that I was one of the girls that wasn’t on the ‘ideal’ pledge list.” — Former Greek affiliate

“I think people definitely draw conclusions and I think it definitely builds into your reputation when you meet someone for the first time. I think the labels change which people will spend time with you socially. Whether you want it to or not, its going to factor into what you do, who you spend time with.” — IFC affiliate

Why do Duke students care about social status?

“A lot of people chose Duke because its the best school they got into, not because it’s the school they liked the most. That in combination with the fact that there is a large pool of highly successful and driven individuals. A lot of the value in going to a school like this is the people you get to know. It wouldn’t make sense in some regards to not care about status.” — Former Panhel affiliate

“All people care about status. It’s not a problem unique to Duke. Most human beings want to be known and valued in whatever capacity and attaching Greek letters to your name can give you status. Even without Greek Life, humans our age will find a way to categorize themselves in order to say that they’re better or different than you. Always.” — NPHC affiliate

“People have this insane need at Duke to feel better relative to other people socially because its so cutthroat academically and socioeconomically, socially, romantically. I think people are really insecure on this campus for all of these reasons. I don’t care what group you’re in. I think we are all insecure. Duke forces us to make this arbitrary affiliations in which we judge each other in order to survive.” — Panhel affiliate

“I think there’s just so much change in college and you’re looking for validation when you come to college.” — SLG member and Panhel affiliate

If we seem to care about it so much, why are we so afraid to talk openly about social status?

“We all know other people care about it but nobody wants to be the first to admit that they care about it. You know that people do but to be the first one to admit it out loud, means that you care.” — Panhel affiliate

“Some people want to appear that they just happened to land exceptionally high on the social ladder and don’t really care. But based on the way that [certain people] act and treat other people, it’s obvious that [they] do care. For people that aren’t in a ‘top’ sorority or fraternity and say that they don’t care, there’s also a lot of pain associated with it. They want to appear as the group that genuinely is not concerned with [social status]. When it comes to rush, you never really know why you got it because it’s such a quick process…It leaves that lack of closure.” — Former Greek affiliate

It makes people feel shallow and no one likes feeling shallow and petty. But we definitely do all care about it.” — Panhel affiliate

“I think being a confident person who doesn’t show insecurity is very important. It goes along with the whole ‘effortless perfection’ thing. You have to be quirky but you have to be confident in your quirkiness.” — SLG member and Panhel affiliate

What would you say to a student who’s currently going through recruitment about social status?

“There are definitely chapters that I wanted to get into but I didn’t get past the first or second round so I just told myself  that it just wasn’t a good fit. If I ranked them high and they ranked me low, then why would I want to be in a sorority that obviously didn’t want me. I guess I didn’t see that as a barrier to speaking to the cool people I met so I just messaged them after. Why would I isolate myself from everyone else just because I didn’t make it into a sorority?” — Former Panhel affiliate

“I think it’s very important to look beyond the next few months. You don’t want to go through recruitment just to gain ‘a status’, you want to do it to meet new people and make connections. While it may seem important now to end up in one of the ‘top frat or sorority’, if you look beyond that, you will realize that it has no importance and that what will be important are the relationships you will have created because you ended up in a place that is good for you, and that is not necessarily at the top of the social ladder.” — Panhel Affiliate

“In general, social status at Duke is as important as each rushee decides it is. It’s not until long after freshmen year that one realizes a) how feasible it is to live without ties to specific social strata and b) how little the social hierarchy matters in developing one’s notions of self and personal values. I would hope students realize this going in, but of course, it’s a complicated lesson to learn, especially in a college setting. That being said it’s definitely one that I’m still solidifying and modifying myself.”  — Independent student

“That no matter how important they think social hierarchy is or will be they will certainly regret making decisions based solely on hierarchy and not where they feel most comfortable” — NPHC Affiliate

“By Junior or Senior year, you don’t really care, you just hang out with who you like. It’s not worth losing genuine connections you have from early on in Freshmen year. If you don’t find a Chapter you really click with, SLG’s can be better for minimizing insecurity and really building someone up.” — SLG member and Panhel affiliate

Translations of abbreviations and acronyms:

IFC: Interfraternity Council

NPHC: National Pan-Hellenic Council

Panhel: Panhellenic Association