tiers and how they work

Welcome to the master post you never knew you needed.

Let me first preface by saying I went through recruitment my sophomore year, knowing many girls in top houses. Every girl on my floor freshman year went to the big 5, and I respect those women with everything I have. I, a girl in a "bottom" tier house, have maintained friendships with nearly all these women. But why would they give a bottom house girl the time of day?

Let me present a hot take: the only people who care about the tier system are people who aren't in greek life.

So where is the disconnect? When you're not a member of greek life, you truly have no idea how the process works. I was a pnm who had done hours of research. I thought I knew everything about all the houses, but obviously, I was incorrect. No one knows where they belong. Sure, most pnms go through recruitment determined to get a "top" house, but thats not right for everyone. There is nothing wrong with this mindset, whats wrong is the aftermath. When pnms don't get the houses back that they want, they drop rather than being in what they deem a house thats not good enough for them.

I've been there. I've sat and thought about if its even worth being part of a house if its a bottom tier chapter. My friends are in top tier houses, and I've partied with them. Its amazing, and I worried about missing out on that. What I didn't expect was to find out that I wouldn't miss out on that at all. Sure, the houses I pair with aren't the houses everyone thinks of when they think of a house that throws down, but the parties are equally as fun as any of the times I've been to pi kapps or beta. It all comes down to how open you are to your experience. The fun part of the partying isn't that you're just existing at pi kapps. The fun part is when you connect with the guys, and feel comfortable enough around them to wild out. From top to bottom, if you connect with the guys, you'll have a good time.

The same is true for your sisterhood. If you're going to focus on the girl in your house you can't relate to or connect with, you're not going to fit in any house. But if you give the chapters you get back a chance instead of dropping them without even trying, then you'll never know. You don't have to be friends with every girl in your chapter, but you should respect them. Even if its not your house, you should respect the other panhellenic women on campus, regardless of chapter.

Here's what I've noticed. When I wear my letters around campus, very few people who give me dirty looks are also in chapters. Those of us already in greek life know that if you're in any house, we're all basically getting the same experience. And the women and men in greek life know this. Most respect that everyone has a different experience they enjoy.

Let's make a difference.

Stop spreading rumors about other chapters. When someone asks you about a certain chapter, give them your opinion of the people you know, personally, in that chapter. If you don't know anyone in that chapter personally, don't just regurgitate the stereotypes you've heard, tell them you're not sure. We're never going to make the changes and change the system until needs stop spreading the rumors they've heard to other geeds. Don't talk about what you don't know. If you know someone in a chapter personally, sure, tell your friends about them. But don't help further incorrect stereotypes by spreading rumors. Be the change you wanna see.

Sound off below!!