1. "People in sororities pay for their friends."

There is this cliche saying that “If I pay for my friends, then I am surely not paying enough.” While this may be true, I find that it is hard to put a price on friendship and argue over the cost of a network and system of support. Yes, we pay dues to our national headquarters and to our local chapters. As financially responsible young adults, I can tell you that most chapters have a system in place to vote on approving chapter finances and a budget at the beginning of each semester. Our financial leadership team members present a budget for chapter members to vote upon and you can hardly find a student organization that is more financially stable and tightly run than a fraternity or sorority. No where in the budget statement is there a line for “friendship” or funds allocated for our friends. Yes, we pay dues and those dues help to support the many events, awareness campaigns, development programming and leadership trainings that our organization provides. We are investing in ourselves and in each other as young professionals, scholars, and national leaders. The thousands of dollars we raise for our national non-profit partners are not possible without the money that we set aside to help off-set the costs of our philanthropy events. I’ve traveled to Indianapolis on four different occasions to join Greek leaders from across the nation in tackling the biggest and most threatening issues that our community faces. By simply being a Panhellenic woman, I’ve been connected with leadership opportunities on campus and have started conversations with professionals in the field that I hope to purse. I’ll admit that sorority isn’t the cheapest thing and it would be ridiculous to spend these sums of money to only receive the benefit of “friendship” as others claim. I can tell you that I’m investing in more than just my friends. I am investing in myself and the woman that I want to become.

2. "You have to be a certain type of girl to be in a sorority. You have to look a certain way."

For this, I realize that I can only speak to my own personal experiences at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO). Here at UNO, this statement befuddles me. Friends that I’ve encouraged to consider sorority life have told me “Well I would, but I’m just not the type” and I have family and close friends alike that are surprised to discover that I am a sorority woman because I just “don’t look like the type.” I’ve grappled with the idea of this stereotypical sorority girl image and how society likes to remind me that I don’t seem to fit. Why? Is it because I’m a short, Asian-American with freckles and glasses? I’m usually shy and reserved. I value my intelligence and I carry myself with confidence. I am ambitious and passionate and I have big plans for the future. What part of me does not fit with the characteristics of this magical “ideal sorority woman”? The student population at UNO is a uniquely diverse one and the Panhellenic community directly reflects that. When I think about the women surrounding me at chapter meetings or at Greek events, I can’t pick out a single characteristic that defines us all. Sure, there are different traits or values that tie us together. For example, many of the sorority women that I admire are some of the most ambitious and hard-working individuals that I know. But there is no such thing as a typical sorority woman. That’s one of the most beautiful things about sororities, in my honest opinion. Sororities can bring together women from all walks of life. Strong and empowered women with different opinions, experiences, and ideas can all come together in this one shared experience. We are all united under a set of common values and a combination of Greek letters, whatever combination that may be. Sorority is a place where you can be completely and unapologetically “you.” Our organizations produce future teachers, doctors, lawyers, speech pathologists, artists, business women and more. We embrace diversity because it makes our chapters stronger and because we care about our sisters, not about how they look.

3. "Sororities haze their members."

I’m cutting straight to the chase on this one. No. UNO’s Panhellenic sororities do not haze. Our Fraternity & Sorority Life (FSL) office has a strict no-hazing policy, our national organizations’ strictly prohibit all forms of hazing, and hazing is illegal in the state of Nebraska. We can not and will not do anything to make members uncomfortable and hazing does not align with any of the founding value or principles that our organizations were built upon. End of story.

4. "The recruitment process is shallow and a waste of time."

I’ll be one of the first to admit the formal recruitment process isn’t built for everyone and I say this as an introverted individual who usually shies away from things like this. It’s a fast-paced, loud environment and you are essentially trying to form your impression of a chapter in the space of short conversations while the chapter is trying to determine if you’d be a good fit with them. When I went through recruitment, I honestly felt a little overwhelmed the first few rounds or events but I slowly found myself opening up and beginning to enjoy myself. Through sorority life, I am not the woman that I was three years ago. My chapter has supported me and equipped me with leadership opportunities so that I grow more comfortable and confident in expressing myself in front of groups both large and small. The girl who would go out of her way to avoid conversations with strangers and had to be coaxed out of her shell is know a woman who confident displays and writes “exemplary communication skills” on every resume and job application. Yes, recruitment week is a huge commitment for potential new members. It is both a time commitment and a commitment that you make to yourself to grow as a person and develop as a young professional. Someone once described sorority recruitment to me by comparing it to a job fair or networking event and, as a frequenter of both, I was shocked at the similarities. At job fairs, you have five minutes to sell yourself to the company representative. During recruitment, you get the whole week to explore different chapters and familiarize yourself with each chapter in return. It is without a doubt that sorority recruitment and sorority life, in general, has prepared me for networking situations and similar events that I may encounter in the years following my graduation from UNO. Recruitment isn’t for everyone and that is okay. But you can’t deny that, if anything, it’s good practice for the real-world situations that we find ourselves in after three or four years so what do you have to lose by signing up for formal recruitment?

5. "Sorority women are airheads and self-absorbed."

Out of all the stereotypes or myths surrounding sororities, this one really sets me on edge for some reason. It’s the image that I’ve been fighting for three years now on the chapter and on the Panhellenic level. Like many other situations in life, people take the Greek letters on my chest as an invitation to make assumptions and judgements about me. There are times that I haven’t been taken seriously in classrooms because I chose to wear my letters that day. I see confusion in people’s eyes when I show up to volunteer work sites wearing a sorority shirt. How’s this for proving stereotypes wrong? This December, I’ll be graduating early with a 3.95 GPA and a double-major (plus a teaching certification and a minor that I picked up because I had the time and it interested me). I’ve worked in the office of Civic & Social Responsibility for the past two years because community engagement and service is a passion of mine. I want to go to law school. I was the inaugural recipient of the Women’s Fund of Omaha’s Marion Ivers Community Service Leadership Award. I work two jobs. Instead of sleeping in on weekends, I go to volunteer at the Joslyn Museum in downtown Omaha.

Aside from the tens of thousands of dollars we raise each year and the awareness efforts that we contribute to in partnership with our national philanthropies, sorority women are engaged contributors to society. Campaigns like It’s On Us and Spread the Word to End the Word have been introduced to me through women in my chapter who were passionate enough to advocate for it during chapter meetings. Sisters have fueled efforts for chapter members to write to state legislators concerning bills and each chapter meeting brings about an open forum that is dominated by different community events and volunteer opportunities for us to consider and contribute to.

Our sororities pride ourselves in our high academic standards. We encourage and require study hours in the library, make GPA goals that we work to meet, and take our academics very seriously. After all, we are first and foremost university students before we are anything else—be that a sister, a company employee or intern, Student Government representative, or student athlete. There are times that we all struggle academically or stumble in our coursework (college is meant to challenge the mind, after all) but that’s where we have the benefit of one of the greatest support systems on campus, academically and otherwise. We celebrate our academic achievements and the incredible things that our sisters are accomplishing. Someone got an “A” on their tear-inducingly difficult A&P class. Another brought a midnight snack to a sister that was up all night in the library studying for their midterm. A sister received a coveted internship position or was accepted into medical school. Each and every accomplishment of the people around me fills me with a sense of pride and the confidence that we truly are a new generation of intelligent and engaged university women.