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

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Individual and Group Interviews Table 1 Index Individual Interview Group Interview Campus Ramapo College 1 University of Alabama at Birmingham 2 1 University of Dayton 2 1 University of Southern Mississippi 2 University of South Alabama 3 1 Louisiana State University 3 1 Florida State University 6 1 Tulane University 5 Loyola University 2 1 Total # of Interviews 23 9 The sorority women were asked to volunteer to participate in the study either by a chapter officer, the Greek advisor, or me. This study included both private and public institutions with enrollments ranging from 1,200 to 35,000 graduate and undergraduate students. Chapter size ranges in membership from 10 members to 210 members. Some participants lived in sorority facilities such as houses or residence halls, and others were commuter students. I planned interviews with this criteria established in order to create a range of various sorority experiences. The criteria included sorority women from various size campuses from different parts of the country, various size chapters, as well as residential and commuter campuses. Some of the chapters were older, more traditional chapters, while some will be young and growing. Some of 68
the chapters were part of large national/international sororities while others were part of smaller national/international sororities. The sorority women ranged from sophomores to seniors. They were officers, committee members, and regular members who do not hold positions in the chapters. Some of them were older members while others were newly initiated members. The demographic information concerning these women and their campuses are included in Chapter 4 of this study. Interview Structure The participants in the study were asked to volunteer to be interviewed on an individual basis. The participants, as well as their national organizations, were assured of complete confidentiality and that no questions were directed at anything that is specific to the actions, symbols, or scripts of their individual rituals. Each participant was asked to sign a consent form as well as to complete a demographic sheet to assure confidentiality and to track the demographics of those being interviewed. Questions were designed to discuss the impact that their sorority rituals have had on the values and behaviors of them as individuals and their belief of the effects on their chapter members as a whole. Interview Questions Ritual and its effects on an individual are very personal and can best be discussed through face to face individual and focus group interviews. Each interview was conducted and tape- recorded, then transcribed and coded for common themes. The interview questions were designed to challenge the participants to reflect on what ritual means to them and to the members of their chapters. The questions were designed to focus on the research question: Do sorority rituals have an impact on the behavior and values of contemporary sorority women? (See Appendix C) The interview questions, as well as 69
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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
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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 and 76: not an option. Actual observance of
Page 77: Role of the NPC Research Committee
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
Page 127 and 128: 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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