Virtual Greek Life: A New Panhellenic Normal
This worldwide pandemic has brought about much change to panhellenic organizations, however, not all of them have been negative ones.
In a normal year, you would see adolescent women dressed in their best clothes on a sweltering August day going through formal recruitment the floral scent of perfume heavy in the air. The normal imagery is glitter and excitement filled bid days, bonding nights in the house, visits to children’s hospitals, and tables with cheerful sorority sisters proudly raising awareness of their philanthropies.
This worldwide pandemic has brought about much change to panhellenic organizations, however, not all of them being negative ones.
The primary concern faced by many panhellenic chapters throughout the country has been how to maintain proper social distancing while still having formal recruitment.
Abigail Holtzhouser, the Consultant Leadership Specialist for the Phi Mu Fraternity national headquarters in Macon, Georgia, stated that “Rush can be an incredibly intimidating and daunting process. Girls may feel as if they are being judged harshly, so to meet the members virtually, where all that is seen is the potential new members faces, takes away the pressure and the stigma that you will only be judged on money and appearance.”
This therefore incentivized girls who normally would not wish to go through formal recruitment to do so and have stayed throughout the initiation process.
Holtzhouser also mentioned how girls from many different chapters on campus were brought together in ways that they would not not have been in normal circumstances.
“Girls in different chapters normally receive philanthropy hours for attending other organizations’ philanthropy events - the easiest of which being giveback nights at restaurants. However, all events have now been virtual.”
Due to philanthropy events being virtual, this creates a platform for girls from different chapters to socialize in a more meaningful and communicative way. This, in turn, brings girls from other sororities closer together in ways they could not have imagined before the pandemic.
How Have Sororities Adapted to Change?
Sororities had to face many changes in the way that normal activities were carried out. During this pandemic, it is vital to keep the health of the student body of High Point a priority.
The chapters on campus have been innovative in finding different ways to mitigate the social distancing concerns but also making sure to still properly fundraise for their philanthropies and to ensure that their sisterhoods remain strong and that each member can still stay involved during these trying times.
Halle Devins, a sister and member on the philanthropy committee of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority at High Point states that it has been problematic not being able to have their usual philanthropy tables in Slane Student Center on campus to stay connected with as much of the student body as possible, so girls in her chapter have been innovative in raising awareness by means such as digitally creating attractive new flyers about events through popular social media platforms and primarily relying on those to spread the word not only to sisters about upcoming events on Zoom but also to provide adequate outreach to the rest of the students about how they can support their friends organizations and their philanthropic work.
According to Halle, the virtual walk for domestic violence (Alpha Chi Omega’s philanthropy) that it was “an unexpected huge turn-out because everyone was bored on campus and all of their friends were doing the walk so they joined and ultimately helped to support a philanthropy that means so much to our chapter.”
To Halle, who actually had to stay at home this semester due to health concerns, said that she was surprisingly pleased with her involvement in the chapter and said that platforms such as Zoom and utilizing flyers has helped her chapter “reach a broader audience and bring people together during this difficult time.”
What New Opportunities Have Come About?
With virtual events becoming the new reality for Greek Life, many girls are surprisingly not opposed to having to having movie nights or congregating for weekly chapter meetings through a screen. For some, it provides an opportunity to break out of their shell and maybe even talk to people who they may have never spoken to before.
Megan Rosen, a current junior and member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority on campus, states that before the pandemic, she was an introvert and felt a bit intimidated by group gatherings.
She says that through virtual meetings and sisterhood events, it helps take the pressure off and she has been able to talk with girls she had never really spoken to and connect well with the new pledge class in the sorority.
Megan also states that virtual gatherings have also helped her academics as well, saying that it is now common practice for girls in her sorority to create virtual study groups from the comfort and safety of their own dorm rooms and that she is now in contact with girls who share the same major as her and taken classes that she has. For Megan, it is helped her network better academically and socially.
“I really think that the pandemic has been something that all of our sisters have in common and it gives us the opportunity to better understand not only our fellow sisters and how it is affecting them individually but also how we can adapt to this new normal in a way that also supports others.”
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