Laura Kell, a founder of Alpha Pi Phi sorority, comments on what it means to be in a sorority. Note: to be read as a sorority affirmation.
My experience with Greek life at Carleton is a bit different than most. I am a founding mother of Alpha Pi Phi sorority, meaning that less than a year ago, five close friends and I decided to create a new Carleton-based sorority.
We wrote a constitution, bylaws and policies, along with a ritual. We designed pins, chose our official philanthropy (the Alzheimer Society of Canada) and discussed the goals of our newly-founded organization. This incredibly difficult, yet rewarding experience, recently led me to the following conclusion: the experience of being in a sorority cannot accurately be described using the word “I.”
We created our sorority based on the values of love, loyalty and friendship; principles, which we feel, should make up a true sisterhood.
Our philanthropy was chosen because members of our community, our neighbors, our relatives — our grandparents — suffered from the horrible and incurable disease. Through our hard work we created opportunities to better our community and secondly ourselves.
We are so much more than just a support system. We are a family. We laugh together; we cry together; we have fun together. Every day we exemplify qualities of leadership — if we did not, we would not exist. The onus of self-government rests on our shoulders.
We are a sincere group of young women, who felt the need to create a niche at Carleton University for other like-minded, female undergraduates. For us, exceeding expectation is simply not enough. The sky is our limit and we continue to spread our wings and soar above any drama or pettiness.
We are privileged to wear our colours. We are honored to wear our pins. Our Greek letters do not make us — we make our letters. And this is why we’ve chosen to be sisters of Alpha Pi Phi sorority.