Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Sisterhood day unifies U. Missouri sororities
By Amentra Perry
The Maneater (U. Missouri)
02/07/2006

(U-WIRE) COLUMBIA, Mo. — Unity and understanding are the founding principles valued during the Delta Tau chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's annual Skee Week. The week-long celebration of this historically black sorority began Sunday with a meeting between the sororities of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Panhellenic Association at the University of Missouri.

"We really wanted to get all the sororities on campus to talk about different issues because NPHC and PHA are very different," said Alpha Kappa Alpha member Sharde Miller.

Skee Week 2006, themed Paint the Town Pink, will consist of seven days of events including three round-table discussions, an aerobics class, a fashion show and a presentation in celebration of the black male. The two highlights of the week will consist of the S.S. Prismatic Nascence Neophyte Show, a celebration of Alpha Kappa Alpha members who were inducted into the sorority in fall 2004, and the 20 Pearls Court Ceremony, a showcase of esteemed black undergraduates.

Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority members take part in fundraising activities and various community service activities throughout the semester and could be awarded at the ceremony a title according to their fundraising performance. The titles of Miss Ivy League, Miss Pink and Green, and Miss 110 Percent denote the first, second and third-place winners respectively. All fundraising proceeds are donated to the sorority's philanthropy fund that contributes money toward sickle-cell anemia research and treatment.

Approximately 50 representatives from 12 of the 13 PHA sororities on campus and Zeta Phi Beta sorority from NPHC attended "Sisterhood Sunday." After snacks, games and skits, the girls settled down to an open discussion moderated by Alpha Kappa Alpha members.

Identifying and understanding the differences between PHA and NPHC warranted the most questions from each group. The varying recruitment styles were discussed.

Alpha Kappa Alpha member Brittany Boone explained that NPHC prospects are expected to research each sorority, decide which organization they would like to join and then establish the proper connections to become a pledge. PHA recruits its pledges through a pool of applicants and matches applicants based on chapter preferences.

"In the NPHC, applicants go to the specific organization of their choice to be recruited and may be selected from there," Boone said.

The sororities also had a chance to bond over the similarities between the two organizations. Common topics such as the problem of unfair stereotyping within and outside of the Greek system, sorority standards and recruitment issues elicited debate. Many of the attendees said they found both sides of the discussion to be beneficial.

"I think this was a really good thing for the Greek community," said Alpha Delta Pi member Laura Guerdan. "The question-and-answer section was the best part because it gave us a chance to learn more about our chapters."

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