Girl Dinner

Nina is a sophomore at The University and, against her sister Jasleen’s protests, is rushing The House, the school’s most prestigious sorority. Jasleen, who is majoring in comparative literature and minoring in gender studies at another university in Ohio, objects to the entire Greek system because of its elitism and, she argues, its white supremacy. The two girls had gone to a majority-white high school, and most of Nina’s friends have always been white. She does not think about race much, but when she does she doesn’t necessarily place as much importance on being “brown” as her sister does. Nina cares more about her life’s trajectory than identity politics. She wants to attend a top-tier law school and then secure a position at a prestigious firm. She is sure that pledging The University’s most exclusive sorority is the way to achieve those goals.

Sloane drops Isla off at The University’s daycare and contemplates her life. She had a tenure-track position at a small liberal arts college, but Max was then offered a prestigious position at The University. If they moved, Sloane would have to become an adjunct, a part-time position without benefits or job security. After some discussion, they decided that Max’s offer was too good to pass up and that his job security would make up for Sloane’s effective demotion. 

In their first year at The University, there hadn’t even been a single course for Sloane to teach, so she used the time to stay at home with Isla. Most of her peers don’t have children, and Sloane has struggled to acclimate to both the idea of being a mother (even though she wanted a child) and being an adjunct. Being a stay-at-home mother made her feel like a bad feminist, but now returning to work makes her feel like a bad parent. 

On campus, Sloane delivers her first lecture and meets her teaching assistant (TA), Arya. She is unnerved by how handsome he is and has to force herself to remember how handsome her own husband is.

During that day’s rush events, Nina makes a new friend. Dalil Serrano is charismatic and irreverent, and Nina sees their new friendship as an auspicious sign of good things to come in her Greek journey. Together, the girls snicker over the “lesser” houses and note the way that the girls from the less prestigious sororities tout the value of finding the “right” house rather than the one with the most clout. 

Nina’s sights are set on The House, and when she tours it she falls in love. She observes the effortless chic of the girls’ outfits and is sure that each of them will go on to run board rooms and raise countless dollars for worthy causes. Leonie, Alina, and Fawn are The House’s most popular girls, and after meeting them Nina is determined on pledging The House rather than one of its less prestigious, less attractive alternatives.

Sloane’s officemate is a “squirrely” art history professor whom she finds over-eager and slightly irritating. Their office’s AC is broken and unlikely to be fixed. Sloane tries not to fixate on these minor details, but in combination with how bereft Isla is to be dropped off at daycare each day, they make going to work difficult. 

Sloane still cannot strike a balance between mothering and her career. She knows that Max loves Isla too, but he finds it so much easier to compartmentalize, and Sloane knows that he doesn’t spend his workdays fretting about Isla or about his parenting choices. Sloane constantly scrolls through social media, fixating on “trad wife” accounts and other mothers who have made the choice to work at home rather than pursue careers. While Sloane understands that these accounts are heavily sponsored by conservative donors and that middle-class and upper-class women have historically had to make the best of working at home because they were offered few other options, the picture-perfect images of beautiful women effortlessly raising children while running their households make her question her own choices. 

On her fifth morning back to work, Sloane meets another mother, Alex, outside of the daycare center. Alex is poised, intelligent, and beautiful. After meeting her, Sloane begins to wonder if it will be possible to be both a successful professor and a “good” mother.

On the third day of recruitment, Nina is exhausted. Her roommate has been explaining to her the intricacies of the recruitment process, and Nina has done her best to remain pleasant, positive, and poised at all times: Anywhere she goes on campus, she might run into a potential sister who is, under a veneer of cheeriness, evaluating her every move. 

Nina remains hopeful about her chances of pledging The House, especially after her meeting there. Most houses initially set Nina up with their (usually) one girl of color to chat with. Nina cannot help but feel pigeonholed. The House, on the other hand, initially arranges for her to talk with a series of blonde girls. It is only after she has already met a few different house members that she is steered toward Tessa, another member of color. She asks Tessa if it is strange to be the only girl of color at The House, at which point Tessa shocks her by inviting over Fawn, the sorority’s president. Fawn introduces herself as “half,” although Nina is unsure which race she means. 

After a conversation that appears casual, but which Nina realizes is actually much more akin to a tightwire act, she is hopeful about her chances of becoming a member of The House. She is also more hopeful about her sophomore year in general (her freshman year was terrible) after attending her first philosophy lecture: She finds Dr. Villanueva very attractive.

Sloane and Alex hit it off. Sloane learns that Alex is a human rights lawyer who has recently done some work on campus. She is also affiliated with The House, the University’s most elite sorority. When she recommends Sloane as The House’s new faculty advisor, Sloane wonders if she should accept. She was in a sorority as an undergraduate, but she just doesn’t see herself in the role. Still, it would be nice to be around women her own age more, and Max points out that it wouldn’t hurt her to get more involved on campus. Perhaps, he remarks casually, it would help her get back onto the tenure track if she is still interested in the idea of full-time work. 



Sloane tries to put aside her hurt at his tone during this exchange. She has stalled her career for him to take this position, and she is somewhat baffled that he doesn’t understand how important her work as a professor is to her. She’s been slightly resentful of him ever since they had Isla: He doesn’t do as much as she does for their daughter, and he has an easier time compartmentalizing than she does. Sloane tries to put her anger aside. She realizes that she has also been a less-than-perfect wife since becoming a mother. She resolves to try to reconnect and suggests sex later that night.

Nina agonizes over every moment of her conversation with Tess and Fawn and relates the story of the recruitment process to her sister Jasleen over the phone. She is sure that everything went well, but ultimately there is no way to tell what the girls thought of her. 

Suddenly, she gets a strange text from Tess, and The House girls call her. They want to know if she’s gotten any bad vibes from Dalil, and Nina adamantly denies finding anything “off” about Dalil. She assures the girls that Dalil has been completely cool so far. Fawn acknowledges that they’re breaking Panhellenic rules by calling Nina, but explains that they found out something strange about Dalil. She also explains that Nina is in—-she will be offered an official spot in The House. Just then, the call goes dead. 

Moments later, Nina gets a text from Tess: Alex walked into the room looking for the girls’ bid list, and they had to hang up. Nina is thrilled to know that she is officially going to be a House member.

Sloane meets with Britt, Alex, and another alumna named Priscilla who is also involved in The House. Britt is the head of a PR firm. She and her husband, Finn (who is infinitely more interested in his children than Max is in Isla), have twins, and their home is gorgeous. Sloane reflects that Britt’s entire life could be a VidStar account with millions of followers, and cannot help compare her own household to Britt’s unfavorably. Still, Britt is warm and charming, and Sloane feels the first real sense of community she’s had in years. 

Priscilla, who runs a publishing imprint, is direct and forthright. She knows Sloane’s book and asks if she will be seeking tenure. She too seems intelligent and interesting, and Sloane basks in the glow of these women’s attention. She learns that The House doesn’t accept legacy pledges and that Alex, Britt, and Priscilla make sure that the girls are selective during the bidding process.