will do anything to avoid that pitfall. According to a private investigation, on an early September evening, two California State University students, Kristin High and Kenitha Saafir, participated in an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority pledging activity with at least three AKA sisters and two other pledges. After running through sets of rigorous calisthenics on the sand at Dockweiler State Beach, Kristin and Kenitha, blindfolded and bound at the wrists, were led into fierce riptides and ten-foot waves, wearing all-black jogging clothes and sneakers. The girls, said their families, were already exhausted by the calisthenics and had lost sleep because they had performed chores for AKA sisters at late hours almost every night for the previous month. They had reportedly been locked out of their rooms, forced to act as “slaves” by braiding their sisters’ hair and other activities, and allowed sisters to throw paint over them. When police officers, summoned to the scene by a report of women screaming, arrived, they could see two bodies being pitched by the waves about fifty yards from the beach. They dragged Kristin and Kenitha to shore, but they were too late. The girls had pledged to their death.
Kristin’s family accused Alpha Kappa Alpha of engaging in “a cover-up” and filed a $100 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the organization, the country’s oldest African American sorority. The national AKA office claimed it had no chapter at that particular university; lawyers for Kristin’s family said that AKA has a citywide Los Angeles chapter. A preliminary Los Angeles Police Department investigation—the inquiry is ongoing—ruled the deaths accidental and unrelated to the sorority. The truth behind these conflicting details may never surface: when Kristin’s car was returned to her family, personal items, including a diary in which Kristin had recorded entries about the pledge period, were missing. But members of the Greek system have admitted both that forced calisthenics are a common ritual and that leading pledges blindfolded into the ocean, an activity that is intended to build trust as the new girls follow the sound of a leader’s voice, is a popular component of West Coast pledge periods.
Kristin’s mother, who, following Kristin’s death, founded the group Mothers Against Hazing, has asked Alpha Kappa Alpha to “stop these savage acts of passion in the name of sisterhood.” Whether these acts are out of passion or are seen within the sorority as a way to bind a set of girls motivated by a desperate desire to belong, the message of Kristin’s mother rings clear. Across the country, in hundreds of sorority chapters, thousands of girls are willing to do just about anything to fit in—and they do so, sometimes risking their lives, all in the name of sisterhood.
SEPTEMBER
The advantages of sorority life are not only immediate but can also reach far into your future. Who knows? You might meet your future husband on a blind date arranged by your big sister.
—Ready for Rush: The Must-Have Manual for Sorority Rushees!, 1999
Kappa Deltas should aspire to be popular with other groups, but never at the cost of personal reputation or group dignity. Note how many social invitations your chapter receives and how much fun your sisters have together!
—The Norman Shield of Kappa Delta, “the guidebook for all new members,” July 2003
SEPTEMBER 13
VICKI’S IM AWAY MESSAGE
dancing for boys. remind me why i’m doing this again?
IT WAS CLOSE TO 10 p.m. when the front doors to Beta Pi burst open and several dozen sisters, their hair loose down their backs, sashayed down the stairs into the glow of the streetlights. The ceiling inside the doorway was blanketed with balloons, and two vases of roses on the buffet bookended a poster reading Delta LambdaBeta Pi. About a third of the sisters—the sophomores, including Vicki—were in little black dresses and strappy sandals, while the rest wore nice jeans and
Kristin’s family accused Alpha Kappa Alpha of engaging in “a cover-up” and filed a $100 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the organization, the country’s oldest African American sorority. The national AKA office claimed it had no chapter at that particular university; lawyers for Kristin’s family said that AKA has a citywide Los Angeles chapter. A preliminary Los Angeles Police Department investigation—the inquiry is ongoing—ruled the deaths accidental and unrelated to the sorority. The truth behind these conflicting details may never surface: when Kristin’s car was returned to her family, personal items, including a diary in which Kristin had recorded entries about the pledge period, were missing. But members of the Greek system have admitted both that forced calisthenics are a common ritual and that leading pledges blindfolded into the ocean, an activity that is intended to build trust as the new girls follow the sound of a leader’s voice, is a popular component of West Coast pledge periods.
Kristin’s mother, who, following Kristin’s death, founded the group Mothers Against Hazing, has asked Alpha Kappa Alpha to “stop these savage acts of passion in the name of sisterhood.” Whether these acts are out of passion or are seen within the sorority as a way to bind a set of girls motivated by a desperate desire to belong, the message of Kristin’s mother rings clear. Across the country, in hundreds of sorority chapters, thousands of girls are willing to do just about anything to fit in—and they do so, sometimes risking their lives, all in the name of sisterhood.
SEPTEMBER
The advantages of sorority life are not only immediate but can also reach far into your future. Who knows? You might meet your future husband on a blind date arranged by your big sister.
—Ready for Rush: The Must-Have Manual for Sorority Rushees!, 1999
Kappa Deltas should aspire to be popular with other groups, but never at the cost of personal reputation or group dignity. Note how many social invitations your chapter receives and how much fun your sisters have together!
—The Norman Shield of Kappa Delta, “the guidebook for all new members,” July 2003
SEPTEMBER 13
VICKI’S IM AWAY MESSAGE
dancing for boys. remind me why i’m doing this again?
IT WAS CLOSE TO 10 p.m. when the front doors to Beta Pi burst open and several dozen sisters, their hair loose down their backs, sashayed down the stairs into the glow of the streetlights. The ceiling inside the doorway was blanketed with balloons, and two vases of roses on the buffet bookended a poster reading Delta LambdaBeta Pi. About a third of the sisters—the sophomores, including Vicki—were in little black dresses and strappy sandals, while the rest wore nice jeans and
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