Understanding class stratification and inequality through the Greek social system at Duke University

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to show that the Greek social system at an elite university is based upon a social class hierarchy and attempt to explain how this class-based system is enforced and perpetuated by students across social classes to maintain class stratification on campus. Through surveys of students in historically white sororities and low-incomes students at Duke University, this thesis finds that the interplay of Greek membership and social class influence the formation of economically homogenous friend groups. Selective inclusion processes, mainly through dirty rush, by high-status, historically white sororities are used to differentially place middle- and high-income students within the Greek social system while self-exclusion by low-incomes students, due to their negative feelings towards Greek life, places them out of the system before they could potentially be excluded from or given a lower place in it by higher-income groups. These two processes prevent the integration of social classes, resulting in the formation of economically homogenous friend groups among both high-income and low-income students, maintaining class stratification and inequality on campus.