It's peculiar how chance can lead you in directions you never thought you'd go. As a transfer student at Chapman University, I was a loner from the day I stepped onto campus. I was an outsider because I lacked the connections every other student had an extra two years to develop. It was by chance that I would be assigned a group project with four other girls who were all in sororities. It was also by chance that two of those girls would be in Phi Sigma Sigma and would make enough of an impression on me that I, the little loner I was, would decide to rush Phi Sigma Sig.
People always like to take about that "a-ha" moment when they found their perfect chapter, and as much as I'd like to rebel, that's exactly what happened to me. I immediately felt like I fit into Phi Sig, and it was the women in the chapter who made me feel that way. I came to Chapman knowing nothing about the Greek system. Ranking, chapter size, reputation, none of that mattered to me. It was the women in Phi Sig who made me want to be there, and to this day I believe that if I hadn't found Phi Sig, I wouldn't have joined a sorority.
Recently, we were told our charter was being revoked. The reasoning behind their decision was clear to us, but it was devastating news. No one wants to see their chapter closed, especially not a senior with aspirations of finally taking a Little. But the fact remains that the Epsilon Delta chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma became my home, and I wouldn't change anything about my experience.
As we prepare to end our time as part of the Panhellenic community at Chapman, we want to leave a legacy of our twenty-seven years on campus. Phi Sigma Sigma was the first sorority to come to Chapman, and as this chapter of our book closes, we want to remember the ways we have impacted this community, and they have impacted us. If not for those two Phi Sigs in my class, one of whom became my Big, I would not have gone Greek. Because whether you are affiliated or not, we all impact each other.
We have created a video to thank the people of Chapman University who shared the last twenty-seven years with us and helped us to grow. We invite everyone to share the video along with the hashtag #OneMoreWoman so we see how much of an impact one more woman can make on the community.