Many incoming college freshmen women to the University of Arkansas will spend this summer preparing for the ever-nerve-wracking experience of sorority rush. Yet they don’t have to worry about men attempting to infiltrate their sorority houses–at least yet.
Historically, once you’re accepted to a sorority, there is at least one thing you shouldn’t have to worry about when in your house with your sisters. That one thing: a guy.
The same can’t be said for the sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Wyoming who now have a biological male roaming their halls and sharing their private spaces.
Earlier this year, against the wishes of the local chapter members, a biological male was admitted to Kappa. As a Kappa alumnus, attorney, and mother to a young daughter, the current legal case brought on behalf of the young women in Wyoming piqued my interest. The legal merits brought before the court are strong, given that the nonprofit’s board of directors has neither adhered to the organization’s own bylaws nor its corporate charter.
But regardless of the legal outcome of this case, the damage caused to the venerable sisterhoods across America is worth further examination.
What’s missing from the current conversation is the impact the decision to induct a male into a sorority has had on the safety and security of young women. By bending over for a biological male who chooses to present himself as a woman, Kappa has robbed the sisters of the very support system sororities were created to ensure.
So much of today’s news revolves around ensuring a welcoming and comforting community so all can feel that they belong. The logic is that trans people need additional safe spaces, but what about the safe spaces for biological girls who identify as girls? Where’s their safe space?
Some are wrongly suggesting that this is about being against trans people–nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, this is about protecting the sanctity of a sorority as a safe haven for young women free from men. Allowing a man into a sorority’s private residency upends the very mission and purpose of a sorority: creating a lifelong bond of sisterhood.
As someone who lived in a Kappa house my sophomore year of college, I understand firsthand the intimate, private nature afforded to the females living in “the house.” Reading the headlines of a man being allowed to sit and watch the girls undress in Wyoming is a far cry from the threat of being kicked out of the sorority if a boy was discovered on the third floor of our house.
Times change, as will the sisters in each chapter, but since 1871, the Kappa Kappa Gamma all-female fraternity stood the test of time and fostered a safe, nurturing environment for young women.
Single-sex spaces are about more than privacy and safety. They are created to bring out behaviors and authenticity–in men and women, or boys and girls, that don’t manifest in coed groups or spaces. Behind our house’s closed doors, we felt a sense of belonging you couldn’t easily find elsewhere.
As the brief on behalf of the defendants appropriately explains, “The Sorority provides a separate place where young women can speak for themselves; a place where young women do not have to constantly fight the social pressure of how men think women should behave.”
Privacy, safety, security–women deserve to have these rights protected just as much as the next individual. It’s unfortunate that one of the last places dedicated to ensuring this offering to young women in college is under attack in Wyoming and around our nation.
Rachael Seidenschnur Slobodien is the founder of Eberle Strategies and serves as the chapter leader of the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of Independent Women’s Network. Rachael previously served as chief of staff of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Donald J. Trump administration.