Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sign Up for Courageous Conversations

 
 
 
 
Several chapters have reached out on their own to schedule Courageous Conversations for the Spring '14 semester, but we wanted to pass along the opportunity to all as we're now taking schedule requests for January thru April. 


WHAT: Courageous Conversations
Courageous Conversations is a two-part workshop series where participants learn and apply a framework for engaging with others despite having differences in opinions and perspectives.  Much of the series is conversation-based, focusing on topics such as heterosexism, genderism, racism, and other systems of oppression.   


The program is broken into two parts, each part taking place on a separate date and with a run time of 2-3 hours per part.  In total, its a six hour commitment scheduled over the course of 1-2 weeks. 

WHEN: Spring '14
We're currently scheduling dates for Spring 2014.  
The program will only be scheduled Monday through Thursday in the 4:10-7PM time slot with few exceptions. 

WHO: 15-25 chapter members 
Participants must attend both parts - no tagging in and out, no illegal substitutions.  Any less than 15 makes it difficult to do some of the activities and any more than 25 prevents us from having more intimate discussion where everyone participates.   

HOW: 
Reply to Ash Baudouin at amb512@lehigh.edu indicating your chapter's interest in participating.  Workshops will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.    

Let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more. 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

What It Means to Be a Greek President by Julie Stomel


What it means to be a Greek President

 

In January 2013, when I first took over the role of President, I was excited to lead the chapter. I knew I could be the face of my organization and lead both chapter meetings and exec meetings. I could make hard decisions. I knew I could be a role model for younger women. I knew I would be able to do all this, and I knew I would be able to do it well.

But being a Greek president, as I soon learned, was much more than this. Being a Greek President means I was not only acting as myself, I was now the main face of my chapter. If I did something, it was a reflection on my chapter more-so than if I were any other member. I became the contact person on all issues. I became a source of knowledge, an email forwarder, a delegator, and a manager. I became responsible for 100 women. I became a spokesperson for 100 women. I became a therapist to 100 women. I also became the decision maker for 100 women. I was making decisions that would benefit the chapter as a whole while sometimes being largely detrimental to myself or my time. I made decisions that benefited the chapter that also caused my best friends to stop talking to me. There were days that I couldn’t believe what I had gotten myself into and there were days that I was so stressed that I just wanted to quit.  There were also days that I was amazed with myself and my chapter. I am amazed with all the positive change that we make on campus, and that we are continuously striving to do more.

Some days I absolutely loved my chapter and other days I hated Greek life as a whole. I love the support I get from my sisterhood, the bonds we share, the traditions we have, what we stand for and how we strive to live up to that. I get so incredibly frustrated by the social scene and by recruitment. I know personally, sorority recruitment is the point in my life that my self-esteem was at its lowest. I absolutely hate that a community that I am so involved in can do that to a person, and that it did that to me. I will be the first to admit that the Greek system is far from perfect. But the leaders of the Greek community are working at every meeting on improving what it means to be Greek at Lehigh. I will also be the first to admit that the Greek community can be very supportive. When one of our members passed away, we received sympathy cards and flowers from every single Greek chapter. It was an outreach of support that I never would have imagined.

Being a Greek president has taught me how to truly live my values. I can recite pieces from our ritual and apply it to my life. The younger members are amazed when I do this, but its now so ingrained in me that it’s second nature. I can truly say that I live up to my founder’s expectations and that I live my ritual. I actually look forward to rituals and enjoyed leading them, because it are these ritual ceremonies that remind us why we joined and what we should strive for. I share that with the younger members and hope that they too will start to see that when they act to reach their fullest potential, they are being the best Greeks we can ask for.

Being a Greek president overall has been an amazing and transformative experience. While it, like Greek life in general, is not for everyone, it was definitely an experience that I am grateful for. I have made great friends in the other sorority presidents and I am proud of the progress we have made. I am proud of the change I have made in my own chapter and how new initiatives are now ingrained in chapter culture. Now as my term comes to an end it is bittersweet. In the past 10 months, I have learned so much about my sisters, Lehigh, Greek Life, myself, and how they all fit together.

So what does it mean to be a Greek president? It means knowing when you are right and when you are wrong. It means making your chapter the best it can be, while allowing your chapter members to show that to the community. It means communicating your strengths and weaknesses to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and realizing how many resources there are available. It means truly living your values and ritual. It means endlessly giving your thoughts, your time, your mental capacity, and your self to your sisters.


Julie Stomel, 2014
Kappa Alpha Theta President

Monday, November 11, 2013

Meet Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated!


Do You Have What It Takes?

Calling all ladies of Lehigh University! Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated will be having a table on display on the 2nd floor of the University Center on Thursday November 14th from 10am to 2pm. Who is Sigma Gamma Rho you ask? Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was founded on November 12th 1922 by 7 young educators.  Founded on the principles of Scholarship, Sisterhood and Service, the founders sought to positively and proactively serve the community.  Our legacy continues to flourish by the distinguished women of Sigma Gamma Rho.  So I ask you, do you have what it takes to be a woman of Sigma?  Come find out!
There will also be a "Chat and Chew" event with alumnae members on Friday, November 15th at 7:22 pm in Maginnes 101.
 
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated website: http://www.sgrho1922.org