The CGE gives us another fantastic blog post, this week from from Holly Gwydir!
Like
most college freshman, I entered Lehigh feeling enormously overwhelmed. I had
no idea what I wanted to do or where to go, but I knew that I needed to find
two things: somewhere that I could feel comfortable to be myself, and somewhere
that I could pursue my many passions. I was fortunate enough to find both of
these things in more than one place on Lehigh’s campus. The first place I
discovered this was in my chapter during formal recruitment. In Alpha Phi, I
found women who were kind, intelligent, and fun-loving, somewhere that I felt
at home, and a structure that would allow me to pursue my goals and passions in
a way that had the potential to benefit a whole group of people. I had this
same discovery one year later in the Center for Gender Equity (formerly the
Women’s Center), and today I am lucky enough to still be a member of both
groups.
As
a freshman in Alpha Phi, I fell in love with Greek life. Don’t get me wrong, I
will not pretend that it doesn’t have its problems- Greek life is far from
perfect. It tends to be non-inclusive, sexist, and overly competitive. However,
it is also centered on the values of philanthropy and helping others, as well
as individual and group empowerment. It is a place where so many men and women
have found other people that they now call family, in an organization that
allows them to learn leadership skills and excel in any way that they desire.
It is my philosophy that you should never discount something just because it
has flaws, because if you do, you’ll end up overlooking all of the positives
and lose out on something that can be incredibly beneficial. Because of this, I
have been actively working towards reforming Greek life through my work in the
Center for Gender Equity.
The
Center for Gender Equity aims to create a more inclusive campus where members
from every gender will have the same opportunities and chances for success.
This goal is not far from that of Greek life, as sororities were originally
created to empower the first generation of college women and help them to
support one another against the hostility they experienced on male dominated
campuses. In the CGE, I found a place that recognized my anger at the gender
inequity that still exists on campus and in Greek life and challenged me to do
something about it. I found a space where I could think not only of myself and
my chapter, but of all women. When I started working towards empowerment and
reducing inequity in Greek life, I found that I was able to shift away from all
of the worst parts of Greek life- like the inter sorority competition and
emphasis on partying- and embrace the best parts- like mutual empowerment and
friendship. I became more aware of Panhellenic and campus climate issues, and
became more passionate about fixing them. Even more than that- through the CGE
and my role in Alpha Phi, I was given the opportunity to be a part of that
change. With the help of CGE staff and other Greek leaders, I hope that Lehigh
can continue to make changes that can benefit everyone and create a more equal
and inclusive campus for future generations of Lehigh students.