The anger and vitriol from the Columbia Panhellenic community comes because sisters of all of the organizations feel like they are being attacked unfairly for "misrepresentations" of their personal experiences. I do not believe that this is the best response, but I can understand where the response is coming from.

I think the word personal is key in this debate. Even as a member of a greek organization on campus I can only speak to my experience. When I joined my sorority was not popular with the fraternities (we had traditionally taken on less attractive members), so when I joined I knew I was actually probably going to do worse socially than if I remained a disaffiliated freshman. So why did I personally join?

I had freshman friends on my floor, had dabbled in one major, left it behind, and was seeking fellow women as mentors. That is the first thing I found in my organization and the ongoing reason I have put up with some of the rules that seem designed to make the members of sororities on campus fulfill their stereotypes. I cannot think of a single sister who likes the way in which recruitment is squeezed into three days on our campus. I have said time and again that I would prefer to conduct recruitment like the fraternities do, but the policies of the University (we cannot use our brownstones for recruiting, nor can we casually get drinks with girls) prevent us from what seems like an approach that would foster closer (if more alcohol-tinted) relationships.

Because we recruit according to national and campus rules, we are forced into the strange speed-dating like process that we would love to break out of. I do know, however, that other members of my organization and I myself do our best to have meaningful conversations with PNMs. No we're not just looking to see if you are pretty, if you cannot hold an intellectual conversation or tell us one thing you are ardently pursing, then you do not fit our membership criteria even if you do look like a young Lindsay Lohan.

Beyond recruitment there are issues that the community should address, I agree. Diversity in Greek life should be discussed. As much as conversations about sexual assault and bystander intervention have become common practice, at least in my organization, we can always stand to continue to add lectures from our campus resources to discuss the issues facing all of our members. Perhaps it is because I served on the Judiciary committee of my organization and worried about keeping sisters safe and observant of national and legal policies that I feel like my experience in Greek life has done a lot to strengthen my sense of moral, contractual and legal justice.

Beyond sisterhood (which I cherish), fraternity men (who have their own issues and merits), and formal (which I planned 4 times as a member) I have learned so much about what it means to stick up for what I believe is just and act as a role model for my peers. My personal experience has been nothing but positive. I could only hope that any sister anywhere could feel the same, and if the underlying causes are systemic or if they come from a lack of conversation about inclusion of diversity, then those feelings should be addressed.

TL;DR: I loved my Greek experience at Columbia, we should work to make all feel the same regardless of racial or socio-economic background.