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

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Appendix E). I submitted the interview questions to the Chairperson of the Research Committee, and they were then distributed to each of the 26 National Panhellenic sororities. I discussed this research with many of the national presidents, officers and delegates prior to this study to make certain that they feel confident in my ability to keep my ethical responsibility. Ritual is a very sensitive topic, and the National Panhellenic Conference sororities' confidence in my ethical behavior is very important to my ability as a researcher to have access to their members. NPC Sororities Only Included in the Study The sorority world includes several types of sororities that could have been included in this study. Those groups include historically black, local, Latino, and Asian sororities, which all exist on college campuses today. Having worked within the NPC structure, the most important reasons that I have chosen to limit this study to the NPC member groups are access and purpose. The National Pan-Hellenic sororities (historically black sororities) are even more protective than the NPC organizations. Latino and Asian sororities are similar to the historically black sororities. In addition to the national sororities, some campuses have local sororities, groups that have only one chapter and no national structure. In most cases, it has been my experience that local sororities are not rooted in ritual as much as they are in tradition. Many of those organizations have stayed local because of their desire to self govern and to perpetuate hazing activities that are restricted by National sororities. Many local groups have affiliated with national organizations because of the mandates by their campus. The liability of local sororities is much greater for colleges and universities because they are not held accountable by a national organization. Working within the confines of NPC did create some limitations for me as a researcher. I do feel however that I have been able to gather information that will enhance the research information concerning sororities and ritual. 66
Role of the NPC Research Committee Areas of concern that arose at the beginning of the study included that of secrecy by the national organizations. A copy of the dissertation proposal in its final form was sent to the Research Committee of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC). The Research Committee of NPC informed me as to any concerns that they believed to be in conflict with the ethical standards as it relates to National Panhellenic Conference prior to the interview process (Appendix E). They reviewed a synopsis of my research concept and offered several suggestions, which I have incorporated into this study. Participants Method The participants for this study were sorority women at four-year colleges and universities from various colleges and universities within the United States. The interviews were conducted as individual interviews and in focus group interviews. I conducted nine focus groups on eight different campuses. The campuses were from various parts of the United States. I conducted 23 individual interviews. I conducted the 23 individual interviews on seven different campuses. The campuses were chosen based upon their geographic location, the type of institution (whether public or private, large or small), the type of sorority community that was on that campus, as well as my ability as a researcher to travel to that institution. The descriptions of the campuses are included in Chapter 4 of this study. The same questions were used for the individual and focus group interviews. The focus groups were comprised of 2 to 8 sorority women either from the same chapter or different chapters on the same campus. Table 1 provides a listing of the campuses and the number of interviews and what type of interview was conducted. 67
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SORORITY RITUALS: RITES OF PASSAGE
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful
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for teaching me that a group of peo
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TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ......
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CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, REC
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Each year th
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The member groups of the National P
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hopes of the founders rather than t
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ceremony is complete, that person i
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80,000 women join sororities. On mo
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issues, and topics …that formerly
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when do we use it? How do we use it
Page 25 and 26: the sorority experience has on the
Page 27 and 28: The lack of information concerning
Page 29 and 30: of the NPC member groups, and to co
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Thi
Page 33 and 34: Ritual Ceremonies and Symbolism in
Page 35 and 36: Robson writes further: In a world c
Page 37 and 38: strengthened by encountering differ
Page 39 and 40: student initiated and created to au
Page 41 and 42: Gradually, however, they took over
Page 43 and 44: Following the founding of Kappa Alp
Page 45 and 46: efer to themselves as "service" org
Page 47 and 48: Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity Lombard C
Page 49 and 50: What Is Ritual? In order to explain
Page 51 and 52: theorist/researcher in the area of
Page 53 and 54: Ritual as a Rite of Passage Underst
Page 55 and 56: we are and giving meaning to us wit
Page 57 and 58: am I? Well, as I see it, I am a per
Page 59 and 60: Value Congruence Research conducted
Page 61 and 62: the majority of authors . . . have
Page 63 and 64: To better understand Gilligan’s F
Page 65 and 66: only women, all with varying opinio
Page 67 and 68: member transitions to a leader/role
Page 69 and 70: development. The isolation period a
Page 71 and 72: Gilligan’s point that sex differe
Page 73 and 74: undergraduate members. Understandin
Page 75: not an option. Actual observance of
Page 79 and 80: the chapters were part of large nat
Page 81 and 82: where I was able to travel based up
Page 83 and 84: a whole. I piloted the interview qu
Page 85 and 86: These categories were reflective of
Page 87 and 88: participated in my sorority ritual,
Page 89 and 90: sorority women was a cognitive asse
Page 91 and 92: In addition, only one participant w
Page 93 and 94: school. Sixteen (31%) sophomore par
Page 95 and 96: itual among themselves outside of t
Page 97 and 98: was founded in 1978. Their average
Page 99 and 100: chapters ranging in size from 150 t
Page 101 and 102: participants’ feelings about the
Page 103 and 104: A few of the participants expressed
Page 105 and 106: Several of the participants related
Page 107 and 108: One of the participants explained w
Page 109 and 110: During new member education, you le
Page 111 and 112: Women’s Development within the So
Page 113 and 114: Comments from several of the partic
Page 115 and 116: When I first joined my sorority, I
Page 117 and 118: the participants referred to other
Page 119 and 120: I think that ritual has made me a b
Page 121 and 122: The reasons that the participants g
Page 123 and 124: This study included both private an
Page 125 and 126: internal value system or they know
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sorority women’s length of member
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when an 18-year old woman joins a s
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ehavior of sorority women, it must
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* The level of responsibility and /
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to evaluate sorority women and the
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they are and what role ritual has i
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numbers vary from chapter to chapte
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that those ceremonies can bring to
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Butler, E. R. (1990). Initiations r
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Kuh, G. D., & Arnold, J. C. (1992).
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Pennington, D., Zvonkovic, A. C., W
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Taylor, S.E., Peplau, L.A., C Sears
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APPENDIX A CONSENT FORM 141
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APPENDIX B PROFILE QUESTIONS 143
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APPENDIX C INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 145
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general? What would you say that th
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APPENDIX D (LETTER TO THE GREEK ADV
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APPENDIX E NATIONAL PANHELLENIC CON
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six months doing literature researc
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common knowledge similarities--the
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Correspondence II To: Shelia Barnes
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I truly appreciate your guidance an
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Application for Exemption from IRB
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VITA Mari Ann Callais was born in 1
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