Get your facts straight: Sorority girls are not dumb

There is an unfortunate stereotype that all women in a sorority are unintelligent, this is far from the truth.  Some of the most successful women in society are sorority girls.

I bet you didn’t know that Elizabeth Banks, Sheryl Crow, Kate Spade and even Condoleezza Rice were all in sororities. Every sorority is great but people do not realize how dedicated sororities are to their academics. There are GPA requirements, a little known fact to many, that each member must maintain in order to be an active member of its chapter.

Many call the University of Miami a resort, vacation spot or ‘Suntan U.’ We have a beautiful campus, a city always partying and an awesome Greek life community. We have eight sororities on campus and no one truly realizes how strict the academic side of it can be.

The media portrays sororities girls as the pretty girls who always have fun, never do work and party all the time. This is not the case.

Every sorority has not only an image to uphold but a GPA too.

When a member of the sorority does not uphold the academic requirement they are then placed on academic probation. When a sister is on academic probation they are prohibited from going to any social events, voting on anything the chapter has to vote on and cannot run for an officer position.

This is a different case for Kappa Kappa Gamma. They believe in not asking “individual members to maintain a certain GPA due to the variances in course loads, but each member is expected to contribute to the overall GPA of the chapter.” This is just one way a sorority helps out its members. This sorority knows how difficult maintaining a good GPA is in college and helps their sisters in every way possible to provide opportunities to take advantage of the many opportunities it has to offer.

Although GPAs can become difficult to maintain, having sisters who are either in the same class or were in the class at some point can be helpful. Maxine Gimbel of Chi Omega says, “It’s easy to get a great GPA when you have your sisters by your side, not only are they there for you when you are having fun, but they are in your classes with you, studying with you, and motivating you to be the best you can be.” Although this may sound cheesy it’s so true. Having people that are close to you that have been in a similar situation is a great advantage to have in life.

Not only do your sisters support you, a women in the Greek society has the support of everyone within the Panhellenic community as well. Currently, the Panhellenic community has the highest GPA on campus and holds several leadership positions not only in their respected organization but all over campus. The Panhellenic community on campus beats literally every GPA on campus as shown below.

This chart shows how hard sorority girls work to maintain such a high GPA

Meredith Sloan of Alpha Delta Pi told The Tab, “The GPA requirement for the Panhellenic Community at the University of Miami is something to be proud of. Members of Greek Life hold 80 percent of leadership positions on campus. I have academically benefitted from Alpha Delta Pi because of the guidance and support I have received from my sisters.”

Whether it’s an organic chemistry or an intro to dance test, keeping up your GPA is important. There are several women in the Panhellenic community that have difficult majors or even double majors but still know how to have fun. The idea of sorority women being dumb is far fetch and is honestly getting old. We make it a point to maintain GPAs and set minimums in order for girls to do well academically as well as take advantage of the opportunities provided within the Greek society.

Next time you see a sorority girl on TV think how she could be majoring in marine science, biology and Spanish with a minor in chemistry, interning at a coral genetics lab, working at a restaurant and getting all A’s in her classes like my sister Elana Rusnak. Grades are important people!

Not everything the media stereotypes sorority girls are true, the truth can sometimes surprise you.