The women of Zeta Phi Beta sorority will be having a forum and panel discussion about VH1’s controversial show “Sorority Sisters” at 7:20 p.m. Monday in Lumpkin Hall Auditorium.

“Sorority Sisters” was a VH1 reality TV series that featured post-collegiate women who were members of the four historically black female Greek organizations: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.

Because of the controversy and backlash from some of the Greek national headquarters of these sororities, as well as community outcry from black Greeks, the show was canceled with many of the members on the series being expelled or suspended from their organizations.

Laia Hill, the events coordinator for Zeta Phi Beta, said a member from each of the four organizations will be on the panel as well as older members to discuss how they felt about the show and if it represented the women on the panel accurately.

Hill said she did not watch the show too much because it did not interest her, but it was similar to other reality shows on VH1 representing black women. She said because of the show’s title and the fact that the women represented Greek letters was one of the many reasons it had such controversy.

Hill said the series was essentially a VH1 version of Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club” but with Greek an affiliation, which is why it had such a bad response from those who watched it.

Hill said the series showed the women in a negative light, which could have made those who are non-Greek look at the members of Greek organizations in a negative way.

She said even though students in Greek organizations are just like any other students, some hold them to a higher standard.

The goal of the discussion is to inform people who may have watched the show that not all Greeks are like what was represented on the show.

She said this is an important aspect because they do not want everyone to perceive all Greeks like that.

“At the end of the day, we all stand for the same thing—scholarship, service, sisterhood/brotherhood,” Hill said.

Roberto Hodge can be reached at 581-2812 or rlhodge@eiu.edu.