In response to Tuesday’s column by Michael Patrick, expert and pundit on all things UA, I sincerely appreciate his sage commentary on the sorority rush process at Alabama. Who better than a male non-greek to offer his opinion on how sorority recruitment can be improved?

But before we implement your ingenious reforms, I would like to make one comment. Joining a sorority is not about the way someone looks. It is about their confidence in themselves, grades from high school, involvement in extracurriculars and reputation throughout a community. The sorority GPA at the Capstone has been higher than the overall GPA for women every semester since 1927.

We pride ourselves on encouraging our members to be involved in every aspect on campus, including honor societies, intramural and club sports, theatre and anything else offered at UA. My sisters are the most encouraging friends I could ask for, and we all look out for each other and build each other up, not “tear them down.”

Finally, in response to your comment on sorority dues being purposefully high to exclude low-income UA women from participating, please stick to something you know. Dues directly pay for the 15 meals a week served at the house, food available to all members at night and on weekends, socials hosted by the sorority and a host of other expenses that you couldn’t possibly have imagined since you are not, in fact, a member of any sorority. Any member that is not able to pay works out a plan with our chapter because we care about our members and realize that not everyone is in the “acceptable tax bracket” that you speak of. So next time, before you blindly judge a group of people numbering more than 3,000, take the time to get to know the facts.

Merrit Cowden is a senior majoring in environmental science.