To those at Harvard whom it may concern:
I first heard the story of the #HearHerHarvard movement when I was attending the National Panhellenic Conference's College Panhellenic Academy in early January. Becca Ramos, a speaker at the conference, is a former president of the Zeta Phi chapter of Delta Gamma at Harvard. She spoke about the beginning of the sanctions and the efforts of the sorority community at Harvard to protest them. To hear that this issue had been going on for sometime was disappointing to me.
She told us that Harvard had passed sanctions against unrecognized single-gender organizations that would prohibit members of sorority life from holding leadership positions and receiving the most prestigious fellowships and scholarships. These sanctions went into effect in the Fall of 2017, but the first Panhellenic recruitment since then starts this semester. The sanctions will undoubtedly affect the recruitment process, scaring away a number of women who would otherwise find their homes in Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, or Kappa Alpha Theta.
Harvard, your administrators have claimed that "gender discrimination has no place on Harvard's campus." I must ask you to reconsider your position, because your actions do not reflect it. In the typically male-dominated world of post-secondary academia, especially at institutions of higher learning that are similar to Harvard, women need a place to gather and feel supported.
Speaking from my own experience, my sorority is a place where I feel that I am the best version of myself. Even outside of my sorority, in the Panhellenic community, I feel supported and loved. Sorority women, no matter their letters, share a special bond. We have taken to being part of a cause greater than ourselves, working to contribute to philanthropic and community service efforts, and empowering other women to achieve their greatest potential. We recognize the beauty of being bonded by ritual practices, and cherish those practices in the most loyal of manners. The entire purpose of sororities is to set ourselves apart from our male counterparts. We come from a foundation of discrimination from men's organizations, and have set ourselves toward a path of inclusion. Because of these reasons, we are a diverse group of leaders with the highest tenacity.
So this I ask of you, Harvard: why wouldn't you want such leaders to actually have the ability to lead? Perhaps because I am a "naïve" student, I don't understand your logic. Sororities give women the tools they need to be the best leaders possible. By forcing them to choose between sorority and leadership, you are impairing the culture of not only Greek life, but of your University as well.
Signed,
An impassioned sorority woman
