By Katie O’Neill and Alison Ewing

The Greek social scene is often the only part of Greek life in which non-Greeks participate. When the only place Panhellenic women are spotted is at fraternity parties it’s easy to see where stereotypes originate. Our social lives are only the tip of the iceberg; the unseen lives of sorority women include raising thousands of dollars for philanthropy, leading Girl Scout troops, tutoring elementary school children, studying with sisters in the library, editing campus publications, running huge student organizations and governing ourselves.

The Greek community at Cornell is unique in the way that we govern ourselves. Some of our rules have been unanimously agreed upon by our national organizations that have the professional insight and experience needed to make important decisions. Many of our rules are voted on by our local chapters so that they fit the needs of our campus. At any point individual chapters can challenge the guidelines we have made for ourselves and offer up suggestions on how we could do it better in the future.

We use our self-governance to constantly evolve. This year, the chapter presidents unanimously agreed that their chapters would not participate in social events with themes that are derogatory towards women. We streamlined our elections process. We shortened strict silence so that sorority women could continue to discuss sorority life with potential new members over winter break. We’ve unanimously agreed to make major changes in our new member education periods, reducing the amount of alcohol involved and placing the focus on sister-sister bonding. The incoming Panhellenic executive board will certainly build off these successes and work to correct our shortcomings.

Following in this theme of self-governance, each year sororities decide to follow national policies and guidelines in how we conduct recruitment. We make the unanimous agreement to leave alcohol out and structure it based on national and campus-designed processes so that our process reflects those across the country. We center our process around educating potential new members and ensuring they make their decisions based on the women in the chapter rather than other factors. In the not-so-distant past, our recruitment involved elaborate parties where chapters spent thousands of dollars on decorations, costumes, food and gifts to try to attract women based on the chapter’s financial strength. This put chapters which lacked financial resources at a disadvantage and made potential new members who were not as wealthy feel excluded by our system. Our recruitment process has rules to ensure that chapters are presenting their founding values and the individuality of their women and provide every woman going through recruitment the chance to evaluate each chapter. It may seem unnecessary that each chapter serve the same cookies during preference round but the line has to be drawn somewhere.

Even our recruitment dress code has a purpose. During preference round each chapter allows potential new members to experience one of its rituals. Rituals are an integral part of sorority life and every sorority requires a formal dress code for its rituals to show respect for its founders and values. When inviting potential new members to share in this ritual we are not only asking them to share our dress code but also to share in an integral part of our sisterhood.

While there are rules that direct Panhellenic recruitment, the two most important rules are unwritten and apply primarily to potential new members. First, be yourself. Potential new members who are true to themselves match with chapters that are the best fit for them. Potential new members who pretend to be someone they’re not may end up in a chapter where they don’t fit in, which will hinder their ability to enjoy all that Greek life has to offer.

Second, ask questions. Every sorority at Cornell is different. We support different philanthropies, volunteer with different community organizations, have different relationships with our national organizations, and interact with our house parents differently. We have different judicial systems, elections processes, sister-sister bonding events, academic support systems, and different majors represented in our chapters. Asking a chapter questions such as “What happens if I have to miss a mandatory event?” or “What kinds of academic resources can you provide for me?” helps potential new members compare chapters on more than the women and the facility. Recruitment is the chance for a potential new member to find out what those strengths and processes are, and sorority women look forward to answering all of these questions and helping new members make the best decision for themselves.

Sorority life at Cornell is more than attending fraternity parties. Every day, Panhellenic women across campus are reaping the benefits of their experience. We form study groups to deal with challenging classes. We make a measurable impact on the Ithaca community, raising thousands of dollars for local organizations and volunteering our time. We lead the Cornell Community as presidents of student organizations, captains of Varsity teams, researchers in laboratories, and student activists. We work on life skills through resume critiques, healthy cooking classes and stress management programs. We support each other, attending each other’s a capella concerts and tutoring sisters in need. We look out for each other, providing an extensive network of emotional support. Through every day activities like eating dinner at our chapter houses, watching TV or studying together and simply talking, we become sisters.

Katie O’Neill ’09 and Alison Ewing ’10 are president and president-elect of Cornell’s Panhellenic Association, which governs sororities on campus.