By GINNIE GRAHAM News Columnist on Mar 4, 2013, at 11:28 AM Updated on 3/04 at 11:28 AM
GINNIE GRAHAM
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Once a year, thousands of women dig out their badges.
It may seem silly, but I like getting out my old sorority pin for a day.
It brings back so many memories of my youth.
My dearest friends are those I met and lived with during my college days.
They helped me pass statistics and Spanish classes.
They were my buddies on road trips and offered me comfort when a boy broke my heart.
They were there at my wedding, gave me reassurance when having babies and continue to be my confidantes.
The National Panhellenic Council set aside March 4 as International Badge Day, which asks alumnae and active sorority members to wear their pins.
My sorority experience was not much like that on television or in movies.
That’s the superficial Hollywood version.
Living on your own can be tough on an 18-year-old.
Being a member of a larger community of like-minded women helped ease my way into full-fledged adulthood.
Sororities were founded by women to create networks and support systems to gain equal rights.
As a reminder of the origin stories, National Panhellenic Council chairwoman Jane Sutton wrote a letter describing the 1913 Parade for Women’s Suffrage in Washington, D.C.
Thousands of women linked arms as they marched for a right to vote.
They were assaulted, spat upon and brutalized.
More than 100 marchers were taken to hospitals and the police asked for federal assistance to help in crowd control.
“In the same tumultuous period for women, sororities were created and founded,” Sutton stated. “No surprise that women needed a place of respite and camaraderie to band together.
“And it should also come as no surprise that the parade was organized by a 28-year-old woman who was exposed to the movement while working on her graduate studies in social work.”
Sutton stated that CNN declared last year’s election “the year of the woman” and a record of 20 women now serve as U.S. senators.
We’ve come a pretty long way in 100 years.
“From time to time, let’s not forget that we need to dust off the grainy and creased photos of the women who marched for us – and ahead of us,” Sutton stated.
Fortunately, my sorority experience didn’t have the brutal lessons the suffragists lived through.
Wearing my pin is not just for awareness, it’s in honor of all the women who fought for the rights I and my daughter enjoy today.
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