Big-Little Week, Big Bucks

One of my closest friends, let’s call her Tiffany, is in a sorority at BU. Over dinner, she was explaining to me about “Big/Little Week,” when older members of the sorority pair up with new members to create families. Initially I thought this was a really nice, community building activity. However, over the course of the conversation, Tiffany began to tell me how stressful this was for her. She then explained to me that this was such a stressful week, because she was expected to spend approximately $400 of her own money on gifts for her “little.” This money is on top of the approximately $600 fees per semester to keep her membership to the sorority. The Greek System supposedly stands for camaraderie and sisterhood, but to me, this seems like another way to reinforce stereotypes about sorority girls who don’t understand the value of money.

I am not saying that these girls are dumb or even that they are irresponsible with money, but I don’t understand how these traditions are upheld. BU is a school that prides itself on diversity and inclusion, and yet it seems that to be that the Greek system, albeit unintentionally, polarizes the haves and have nots. I asked Tiffany what happens if girls cannot afford to pay for big/little week, they do not take on a little, but they have to do this after another girl the year before had spent an enormous amount of money on them. Also, girls may opt to take two littles, or twins, doubling the costs.

Fraternities have the same sort of big/little system without the whole showering with gifts ordeal. Why is it that the all-female groups still have to reinforce the ideology that the way to make a girl feel happy and comfortable in a social situation is by spending superfluous amounts of money on her? While sororities may do a lot of good for the greater community, and may create a sense of community in the often dauntingly large BU campus, it really disappoints me that so much of this has to do with how much money you have to spend.