The Greek system at Cornell encompasses approximately 33% of undergrads on campus. We include people of all races, socio-economic backgrounds, majors, hometowns, and ages among other traits. We consist of approximately 16 sororities, and over 30 fraternities. The social community that I wish to explore consists of more than the Greek community; it is the specific sorority I belong to, Kappa Delta.
As a member of a sorority, I was welcomes into the folds of a community with years of traditions, rituals and bonds. I live with, eat with, study with and spend most of my time throughout the school year with these girls. We have the required weekly meeting (known as chapter), but we also have various other bonding activities throughout the week. These activities range from social events to philanthropic events and can consist of a small group of girls to the entire house.
According to Haythornwaite (2007), a social community consists of three major things; a social network, common ground and reciprocity.
A social network is a social structure consisting of individuals or organizations that are tied together by one or more types of interdependencies.
My social community has a social network. There are strong ties that exist in a variety of ways. We have the obvious in that we all associate ourselves with the identity of being a member of Kappa Delta. This leads to similar social patterns, similar access to resources offered by the sorority and a bond that does not exist in any other type of relationship. We are all sisters. There are also strong ties to be found within the sorority ranks. We all have pearl, diamond and emerald sisters; sisters who we got close to during the recruitment and pledging process. These sisters are your mentors and are members of the upper pledge classes. They exist to guide you and help you in any way possible. The strongest tie has to be with your big sister; a person who you choose and who chooses you to be your closest related upperclassman in the sorority. Bigs and littles are usually as close as blood and family. Weak ties also exist; to the alumni that have graduated from our ranks, to Nationals that preside over us and to other chapters/colonies that are in existence throughout the country. These weak ties provide us with additional resources that might not be found within the on campus community.
There are various other metrics that exist as well such as betweenness; the ability of actors to be tied to others indirectly because of direct links, closeness; the degree to which an individual is near other actors and cohesion: how strong the bonds are. Betweenness exists in that I have direct links to approximately 115 girls, but then I am indirectly linked to the people they know through school, and from home. Closeness exists in that I live with 42 other members of the sorority but I also have others in my major, my clubs and I spend most of my waking hours with them. Cohesion exists in the fact that we all identify with a common identity that comes with its own language, rituals and secrets. This ties us closer together.
We also have common ground. First and foremost, all the members of my sorority are girls, between the ages of 18-22, and Cornell undergraduates. Beyond that, many of us share the same interests; may it be music, or hobbies or even as simple as a favorite food. We may each have distinct and individual personalities, however we all have one thing in common; the desire to be the best Kappa Delta's we can be. We hail from different towns, different backgrounds, yet when it comes down to it, we all have the same type of problems in life. All of us have had problems with boyfriends or friends as well as teachers and family. We all have the same values; striving for what is honest, highest, and most beautiful. These types of inherent similarities tie us together better than more superficial ones.
Lastly, we have reciprocity. My sisters and I all joined the sorority under one main purpose; to gain better friends, and to have access to resources and networks that span the world. When you enter the pledging process, you barely know the other members of your pledge class, but as time goes on, you help each other and in turn help yourself. The more you helps others in the pledge class, the more likely it is that you will become closer and that bond will be strengthened. Often we have philanthropic events that coincide with other obligations. Sisters are more than willing to "step up to the plate" and fill in for other sisters.
CMC and online/offline synergies also affect this social community. In the Ftf world, members of the sorority often see each other at social, and philanthropic events. These meetings could be as small as getting a cup of coffee to as big as chapter. We live on the same campus so running into each other occurs often.
In the CMC world, we have an online website complete with pictures, stories and an introduction to who this sorority truly is. We also have a Facebook group that allows us to send messages back and forth relating to a variety of topics. We also have minutes and announcements sent out by e-mail twice a week. We used to have an AIM screen name to inform girls about events taking place but now we have switched over to using Google groups.
Haythornwaite states that CMC communication is “a low-level connector among community members, particularly among those who might not otherwise come in contact.” This is true in that the aforementioned ways we communicate online help those who have busy schedules and cannot interact with the sorority that often in the Ftf world stay in touch with us. This also helps us maintain those weak ties with alumni, Nationals and other chapters. Since we may not come in direct contact with them often, CMC offers an easy way to communicate with them.
In conclusion, although my sorority has been around since 1897 (it started on October 23rd so it is actually our 110'th anniversary today), using only Ftf communication methods to keep in touch; CMC communication has helped strengthen the bonds that exist and broadened our horizons.
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4 comments:
Your post is clearly written and easy to understand. You do an excellent job of explaining the perspective and introducing what Hawthornthwaite requires of a community- especially in stating the three elements of a social network, reciprocity, and common ground. You mention how your sorority has many weak ties with alumni and nationals. How do these weak ties specifically benefit your sorority and the overall socail network? Hawthornthwaite mentions how it is necessary for weak ties to exist to strengthen a community because these weak ties bring in new ideas, unique insights etc. It's hard to imagine that alumni from the early 20th century had many less effective strategies for staying in touch with the organization. CMC, in my opinion, truly enhances the connection with weak ties.
Happy 110th!
I really enjoyed reading your post. Being in a sorority myself, I felt as though I could really relate to you. I have had a similar experience to you and must agree that my big sister and I are so close, best friends in fact. It’s a strange that you can get so close to someone in such a short period of time, but I guess since there is so much common ground, reciprocity and strong ties with one another, it facilitates such a relationship. It’s interesting to observe however; all members of a sorority do not share this closeness. Despite common ground, reciprocity and the various methods of keeping each other informed; some members are closer with certain members than they are with others. Why is this so, shouldn’t we all be equally close given that all the necessary factors are in place? The dynamic of a sorority is very interesting and complicated; it’s something that cannot simply be explained by one particular model.
Hey Radhika, very nice post. It was clear, precise, and easy to follow. I can relate to what you wrote very well. I'm not in a sorority, but i'm on the softball team here at cornell. all the girls on the team are very close, and we're always hanging with eachother and chatting ftf and online. the bonds we share are awesome.
I completely agree with your assessment of the greek community as it relates to the haythornwaite's models of networks and communities. I actually also chose to write about this topic for my post and it really struck me how well haythornwaite's ideas fit in with the model and culture of greek life. The idea that especially came to mind was the notion of generalized acts of reciprocity (more or less acts of altruism). The way in which members of a house help one another without requiring immediate or any payback. Most greek members just assume what goes around comes around and therefore their acts will be rewarded. I think haythornwaite definitely identified a key component of community when expressing this concept.
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