THIS PAST week marked another round of frantic basket deliveries, dinner and dessert dates, hotel slumber parties and revelations in front of the Rotunda. Big Sis Week was once again in full force for several of the University's sororities. Behind all of the cheery surprises, hugs and friendship that take place, however, lie some of the unfortunate realities of Big Sis Week. In addition to elevated financial costs, Big Sis Week also places an incredible amount of pressure on sisters to plan and execute the "perfect week."
The memories of Big Sis Week will last a lifetime for many, and bonding among sisters undoubtedly does take place, but the money and stress involved with Big Sis Week is simply too high. The Inter-Sorority Council should continue to work toward lowering the cost and length of Big Sis Week as well as reaffirming the focus of the week on bonding and camaraderie and not simply who gets what.
Earlier this year, the ISC, the University's governing body for sororities, recommended a $350 cap for every "big sister" on the amount of money to be spent over the four days of Big Sis Week on their "little sister." The rationale was that $75 per day was a realistic estimate of the cost associated with a daily gift and activity plus a $50 cushion. One problem with this spending cap is there is no enforcement policy. Any woman who desired to spend more could theoretically do so and there would be no recompense, let alone any way of knowing the spending cap was broken. Another problem with the spending limit is that for many, instead of seeing the $350 as a cap, they see it as a spending recommendation. One sorority member noted that while she didn't want to spend $350, she felt she had to, lest her "little" think she wasn't worth the full $350.
Materialism is always going to creep into the picture whenever a large amount of money is spent, and Big Sis Week is no exception. The University currently has 16 sororities, and the average spring pledge class of a sorority is 25 women. With the $350 spending cap, assuming most sisters spend close to that amount, the collective amount spent is roughly $140,000. How exactly does spending $140,000 on gifts and activities contribute any more than half that amount would to the bonding Big Sis Week is supposed to embody? Inter-Sorority Council President Cahill Zoeller noted that she "definitely saw no need to spend that large a sum [$350 per sister] for four days."
The Greek system here at the University is not cheap; there's usually a tacit advertisement at the beginning of rush that testifies as such. The fact remains, though, that $350 is a substantial amount of money; for a sister who takes on "twins," the cost, $700, is almost staggering for a student.
In addition to financial costs, the length of Big Sis Week is also a wear on many sisters. Coordinating basket deliveries, purchasing the myriad of gifts for said baskets, early mornings, all the while maintaining the secrecy of the big sister's identity, are just some of the things sorority members must do during the four-day period. Needless to say, Big Sis Week is an extremely tiring and stressful ordeal.
The aforementioned financial and physical burden of Big Sis Week demonstrates that changes are necessary. One problem with altering the overarching concept or the specific details of Big Sis Week is that it is an institution. Just as this year's pledge classes received gifts and fun activities, next year many of them will be in the role of "big sister." Simply saying that next year everything will be different won't sit well with many sorority members who this year had to spend a substantial amount of time and money planning and executing a week for their "littles." However, the system does need to be fixed. A two-day series of gifts and activities with, say, a $150 spending cap would do just as well as the current weeklong period. A shorter and less financially burdensome Big Sis period would remove some of the stress and fatigue associated with the current weeklong odyssey and allow sisters to enjoy the friendship and bonding Big Sis Week is supposed to embody.
Joe Schilling's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at jschilling@cavalierdaily.com.
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