Thousands of women on every campus around the U.S. are familiar with the term, “Throw What You Know,” and the pictures of sorority women doing their hand sign in front of a beautiful sunset or a landmark while studying abroad. These pictures go on sorority Tumblr sites, Instagram, and even some sorority websites. They are beautiful visuals that are fun to take and awesome to look at. This trend has been going on for years now, and of course, it is a harmless way of showing your pride in the house you belong to. Kappa Kappa Gamma Nationals on the other hand, do not agree.
On Jan. 13, 2015, an article was posted on Total Sorority Move entitled “Kappa Kappa Gamma Nationals Ban 'Throw What You Know' Pictures, Deem Them Gang-Like and Offensive.” The first thought that came to my mind was, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I read the article, the comments people had left on it and the official post from Kelly Matyas Magyarics, Fraternity Public Relations Chairman, saying that they would no longer post pictures of their hand sign on official social media sites.
I tried to see both sides of the story. Her argument was that social media is not just about intention - it’s also about interpretation. We all know that’s true especially today since it is drilled into our head to, “only post things you would want Grandma to see.” Honestly, I don’t really care if Grandma sees me throwing up my sorority sign and I do not believe she’d be offended by it. She’d probably be proud that I am involved and making the most out of my college experience. But to further Magyarics’s opinion, she sent a photo she found online to a family member who investigates gangs and hate groups, asking for his thoughts on the concept. This was his response:
“Do they resemble gang signs? Sure they do. That’s what members of such gangs do to represent their crew by throwing up their sign. So I guess it’s not too surprising members of sororities and/or fraternities, who see themselves as close-knit groups (just like gangs do), may adopt a similar display of representation.”
In reaction to the statement, not only Kappa women, but also women affiliated with other sororities around the country are signing a petition for Nationals to reconsider the decision. One main issue that Nationals have with their sign is that it is similar to an actual gang sign and that it might even be misunderstood as a symbol of white supremacy. One commenter, in relation to the gang sign, said, “It is sad that they are empowering this group by allowing them to have ownership of the handsign.”
Sorority women around the country, whether they are members of Kappa Kappa Gamma or not, planned to post pictures “throwing what they know” in reference to this situation on Jan. 15, 2015. I believe that women around the country would agree that these pictures of sisters doing their hand signs are meant to highlight the love, unity, sisterhood, friendship and pride in their letters. It saddens me that in this day in age, sorority women have to have the rules of their sorority changed because of the chance of them being wrongly interpreted as gang members.
I’m really not sure when the negative opinions of greek life will stop, or if they ever will, but I will always be proud to be greek. Sorority women are strong, confident, and friendly women who do so much to help our communities, universities, their sisters and fellow students. In the attempts to be politically correct, we continue to limit the innocent majority. If someone wants to put a negative connotation on them, then so be it. Sorority women will still stand tall and represent their house well despite what others think.
If you want to read more into the situation, here are the links to the TSM article and the official statement: http://totalsororitymove.com/kappa-kappa-gamma-nat... https://www.kappakappagamma.org/kappa/KKGBlogConte...
