Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

When I first joined my sorority, I really didn’t know anything about ritual, I did not even
know that ceremonies went on…the fact that there is this side of sororities has helped me
to mature. I am not saying that ritual has been a huge transition or a huge part of my life,
but it is definitely played a part.
One participant said, “some of our members are very immature and they just don’t get it.”
Several references were made to maturity and life: “In college, you mature and you decide who
you are going to be when you are an adult and ritual helps you to do that.”
Ritual is not only an introduction to the sorority, it is also a turning point in your life as
you become a woman. You are learning that you can choose what values you stand
for…it is also an introduction to life.
Some participants’ comments regarding maturity displayed disdain for other members and the
reasons that those members entered the sorority:
I think it’s what they went into the sorority system to find their future husbands and to
party throughout college or where the are going to find a group of close friends that they
would be able to carry with them throughout their life. And maybe they joined their
sorority as a way to become involved with the campus, to do philanthropies and it really
depends on what their ideas going into it are and what they want to get out of it. And then
as far as the maturity goes a lot of times it’s what year they are. You might have a
member that doesn’t give a flip her first three years and then all of a sudden at her senior
farewell she is crying hysterically. Their time in the sorority is going to fly by and I think
a lot of members don’t really appreciate what they have until it’s being taken away from
them.
This is, again, consistent with the fact that different women have different values that they seek
in a sorority. As stated earlier, many participants sought environments that had values and beliefs
that were similar to the ones they held. This comment indicates that these values are not always
the same for each person. It may not be the ethical standards and values expressed in ritual that
some women sought, but rather some type of other value, such as friendship, popularity, physical
attractiveness, or social opportunity. The comment also implies that those values may change
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