Hello-Hello, happy Thursday!
There seems to be an awful lot going on this week, we are going to do a Bits & Bytes style post in order to at least share a bullet point or two.
We begin with the continuing drama regarding Greek life at Princeton: University President Shirly Tilghman has announced a ban on freshman joining sororities and fraternities. Additionally, freshman will not be allowed to participate in rush. Here is a portion of the letter explaining some of the reasoning behind the decision.
In some cases, they place an excessive emphasis on alcohol and engage in activities that encourage excessive and high-risk drinking. A major concern is that they select their members early in freshman year, when students are most vulnerable to pressures from peers to drink, and before they have had a full opportunity to explore a variety of interests and develop a diverse set of friendships.
For those unfamiliar with the situation in Princeton, Greek organizations have never been officially recognized by the University, but they have played a significant role for thousands of student since the 1800s. Forums and meetings and discussions were held to discuss proposed changes to the system, below you see one such gathering in May of this year.
Habin Chung/Princeton Alumni Weekly
Not all students are pleased with the decision, below we share part of a guest editorial by Josh Miller in the Daily Princetonian.
That is the worst part of this whole debacle. President Tilghman’s decision is hurting the members of the Greek community — no, the Princeton community — that are the most innocent. Banning rush will not encourage the reclusive elites to join the greater Princeton community.
But people like me — from urban public high schools that rarely send students to the “Ivies” — who cannot sing, make horrible jokes and do not want to write more than they already do in writing seminar, are left with fewer options when they arrive on campus.
One item of social interaction at this particular Ivy, the school’s eating clubs; students join a specific club and eat there daily, dining is not done in a dorm and the school feels this offers a level of interaction and camaraderie. Here is more on the ban from the Alumni Weekly.
A greater concern, however, is that fraternities and sororities have been associated with dangerous and demeaning hazing rituals and “irresponsible, excessive, dangerous, and in some cases, coerced” alcohol consumption, the report said.
This isn’t the first University to ban Greek activities on campus, far from it, there are hundreds of tales on the topic, our Twitter friend Girl Tuesday shared a link to a 1994 story in the Times about a Greek ban at Middlebury.
We asked a couple of friends who are grads for their perspective. Lisa from Privilege is sensitive to the complexity of the issue, saying that even as an “old hippie alumna” she has mixed feelings. Offering another perspective, Bumby Scott of The Preppy Chronicles:
” All that I will say as a member of Chi Phi, Shame on Shirley.”
This is not meant to be any kind of definitive take on the topic, but so many of our readers enjoyed sorority and fraternity activities when in school it merited a mention.
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This serves as the perfect segue to our other college life tidbit, word of a new book, Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie. Author Christie Mueller did a lot of legwork in researching material for the book. Here are a few tips via a story from AL.com:
- When it comes to tailgating, Mueller has seen some massive spreads. But fear not, first-timer, she has plenty of suggestions to keep you from showing up to your tailgate with a disaster dish. She suggests cookies with team-colored icing
- Show up early, bright-eyed and bushy tailed wearing your cutest team-themed sundress, know the basic rules of the game and honey, you’ll do just fine.
The book may be purchased here for $24.99. For those interested in learning more there is a Gridron Belles Facebook page, Twitter feed, Flickr photo pages and more.
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As fall draws closer we thought doing a little Pretty in Pink would be a nice diversion. We start with the good folks at Boden, both the Favorite Cardigan in Painterly Pink ($44) or the Spotted Cardigan in Pink and Plum look snuggly and fun. By the way, the latter is 100% wool ($88). ideal for crisp autumn nights.
Boden USA
The Young Miss at your palace might enjoy the pink and green Ribbed Tights 2-Pack ($24), or the Pink Wallpaper Backpack ($40), also at Boden.
Boden USA
Not for the shy and retiring young lady, DC’s Pure Skate shoe ($35-45 ), the Tsukihoshi Euro Fashion Sneaker ($56) is also very pink, both are at Endless.com.
Endless.com
If thinking of something smaller for the grownup girls, the Trax Shelley watch ($40) at Kohl’s is an option, the Big Dots Lunch Box ($21) works for any age.
Kohl's.com
There is always the Pink Princess phone (49.95) (if only to show the younger set what it was like in the “olden days”), or the more contemporary Digital Camcorder ($129.95), both at Kohl’s.
Kohls.com
If the Pretty in Pink Fairy wanted to sprinkle some pixie dust around the Prepatorium this would be a nice addition.
Kate Spade Malerie Jacket
That is the Malerie jacket ($495) by Kate Spade. Nor would we turn up our nose at the Cherie coat ($695) or the Bardot Sweater Dress ($355). Sigh.
Kate Spade
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We leave you with something fun, although it actually happened a few weeks ago. Frequent readers have suffered through incessant blathering seen us mention the recently launched Lilly Pulitzer fabric collection for Lee Jofa. (More here.)
Lee Jofa
It really is a marvelous collection of interior design fabrics, filled with the joie de vivre and vibrancy one would associate with a Lilly fabric line. Who recently popped into her local C. Orrico to see the fabric with her very own eyes?
Via Kravet "Inspired Talk"
That is Lilly with Lee Jofa rep Chris Zitelli, up above. Below we see her with some of the textiles, the C. Orrico staff and Mr. Zitelli.
Via Kravet 'Inspired Talk'
Does Lilly have any favorite fabrics from the collection? It turns out she does,the design is fond of Heritage Floral in the pink/salmon colorway and In a Twist.
Lilly Pulitzer for Lee Jofa
For those who haven’t seen the look book, click here.
Lilly Pulitzer for Lee Jofa
If interested in viewing the entire collection, click here to visit Lee Jofa online.
Until next time, may the sun be shining on your corner of the globe. 🙂
The Preppy Princess 