Oh em gee, did you hear about....

This past week, all sorority women in one of the councils at Ohio State had an incentive to study in Thompson Library.  All sorority women who wore their letters while studying in Thompson and were spotted by representatives from the council got a prize! Sounds like a fun treat, right?

While it may be true that the women got a fun treat of candy or a gift card for studying, this is also a sly public relations tactic.  Having sorority women wear their letters while studying in Thompson will give those sororities, and Greek life as a whole, an image boost.  It makes the women and organizations appear super studious.

All parties involved benefit from this tactic; the women study and therefore do well in their classes, while getting prizes, and Greek life is seen having an academic focus.  The sororities and Greek life can get free PR in a very positive way.

Most women who participated in this did not think twice, they just thought of it as getting prizes for wearing their letters.  If one thinks more in depth about this, the tactic can have positive and negative results.

The best case scenario is that the sorority women wear their letters, study quietly at the library, and make Greek life look great.  Everyone wins in this instance, sororities are well represented, and the women also study to do well in their classes.

However, there is another possible scenario.  Many sorority women like to go to the library together and sit together.  Sitting with friends at the library can be difficult, when you get bored the temptation to talk or gossip is sitting right in front of you in the form of some of your best friends.

While it is very important to tell your friends who did what and who made a fool of themselves at the date party the previous night, perhaps that talk is best left for a less public arena.  The hot gossip of who is mad at whom cause she ruined her dress or what new girl was seen flirting with the guy you are talking to can wait.  Others around you really do not care if your little made out with her date or not, they just want to study.

In this instance, wearing letters to the library may backfire, the women may be seen by others in a negative light, and give their sorority and Greek life as a whole a bad reputation.

Seeing as this PR tactic by the sororities could have gone either really well or really badly, I am interested to hear how it went.  I am a member of a sorority on campus, and I have been a part of and seen this scenario from all sides, the good and the bad, so I am curious to see how the women represented themselves.