Good afternoon and welcome to the University of Pennsylvania’s presentation of Intercultural great Council a spotlight on black and latinx fraternities and sororities my name is Manisha oraca vanray and I’m a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated I came in through gamma Epsilon the chapter that is a Citywide chapter that
Includes the University of Pennsylvania although this has been a virtual event we still like to give honor to the Lenape the limit onabe people whose land that Penn occupies and occupies the traditional homelands of the lane will not be tenant acknowledges and expresses gratitude to the indigenous people of this land past
And present for the opportunity to live and learn on Lenape Hogan land of Lenape and with that just some housekeeping I’d like to remind everyone not to record this event um there is closed captioning available at the bottom the program is open and if you have any
Questions please put it in the Q a box I’d like to introduce my colleague and our moderator for tonight Janae Tucker she’s the associate director for diversity and co-curricular programs at the office of Eternity and sorority life here at the University of Pennsylvania we also have student and advisor panelists
From many different organizations tonight we have a student from alpha by Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Kappa Alpha Psi Delta Sigma Theta zeta phi beta La Unidad Latina Lambda oopsalon Lambda Fraternity Incorporated as well as stigma Lambda oopsilon Senoritas Latinas unidas sorority and with that Janae you can take us away
Hello everyone thank you marwanisha I appreciate it again my name is Janae Tucker I am the associate director for diversity and co-curricular programs and more so I have the pleasure of uh advising our Intercultural Greek Council that consists currently of our nine organizations that we have on campus
Um so it is very important that we recognize that today as you can see in our pictures we are a family we uh Fellowship a lot together um and we have the privilege of doing a lot of different types of events when you think about fraternity and sorority
Life some of our major events include our Triple S are step scroll salute uh uh big pen relays Weekend Step show um that we host every April during the Penn relays weekend we host in the fall are meet the Greeks uh big event again over 300 people in attendance where our
Students get to Showcase their letters get to Showcase their history and it is a very exciting time in the fall to get to know all of our groups on campus that are in the Intercultural Greek Council so throughout today’s presentation you will hear the acronym igc that is just
The acronym for our Council where all of our nine organizations are represented so I do have the privilege and would love for our groups to really introduce themselves because that is the awesomeness of most of our organizations that we have in igc that they uh all become public speakers in some way shape
Or form so I will start with our Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated representative if he’ll introduce himself that’ll be fantastic hey what’s going on everybody I hope y’all having a good day my name is Ethan Moses I am a rising Junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying history with the world concentration I’m
Also a spring 23 initiate of alpha alpha Fraternity Incorporated by way of side chapter I’m excited to be here speaking with you all and to give you some insight into Greek life at Penn thank you Ethan I will have our representative for Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated
Hi everyone my name is Tara Paul I’m a rising senior studying graphic design and minor in consumer psychology I’m also fall 21 initiate of the gamma Epsilon chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated but thank you I will have our representative if he is still with us I believe gate uh
For a Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated good afternoon everyone my name is Gabriel Wright and I’m a rising senior at Penn I study political science on the pre-law track I was referring 23 initiate of the Delta chapter of capital cyber attorney Incorporated and excited to be here today
Next up I will have our representative for Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated hi everyone good afternoon my name is shario Nadi and I’m a rising senior in the College of Arts and Sciences studying criminology and minor in law and society and psychology and I am a spring 22 initiative a glorious gamma
Chapter of Delta Sigma theaters writing Incorporated I’m really excited to speak to you guys all today and I hope you guys learned a lot from this webinar thank you next up I will have our representative for Zeke so Phi Beta sorority Incorporated hi my name is Kelsey Canty I actually
Became a member of each puppets of sorority Incorporated at Temple University in 2016. I am now serving as the advisor for the Miu Iota chapter here at Penn thank you next up our representative for Lambda up salon Lambda Fraternity Incorporated good afternoon my name is Santiago mumbusita and I’m currently a rising
Junior at the Wharton School currently concentrating in finance and marketing and with that being said I’m also the current president of the devastating Delta chapter Incorporated and very excited to be here today thank you and last but certainly not least we have our representative for Lambda Theta Alpha land sorority Incorporated
Hi everyone I’m very excited to meet you all my name is Kaylee Mooney and I’m a rising Junior in the College of Arts and Sciences studying psychology with a minor in sociology I am a fall 22 initiative and I’m the current chapter president of the beta Epsilon chapter of
Linda Theta Alpha that is already Incorporated thank you all thank you all very much uh for introducing yourselves um and once again we just want to thank everyone for joining us today and you know and celebrating um the greatness that is of our Intercultural Greek chapters um so our council is very special
Because it makes it is made up of our mphc organizations so those are our National panhellenic Council uh historically black d divine nine organizations um you will see the pictures that are around on this slide are very actually very very current um shows some of our newest members to
Our Intercultural Greek Council also um our graduation retention rate is a hundred percent um we are very happy to uh celebrate that um and make sure that folks do know that being a part of our organizations um we we carry that weight of making sure we all graduate and Academia is first
Um you will see here that some of our mphc D9 organizations are historic are very historic here at the University of Pennsylvania as some of them are our single letter chapters that is very important because that is a very long history we have the privilege of making sure that
Um that we reiterate to many of the people that come to our campus that our groups are over are becoming and celebrating their Centennial years so that’s over a hundred years just here at the University of Pennsylvania so we love to celebrate that with our historically black organizations here on
Campus it is very cool to also point out that not only are our chapters most of them single letter how or some of them are in close proximity to our other Philadelphia schools so we take pride in knowing that our Council does uh does combine not only with University of
Pennsylvania but some of our chapters also are hosted by Villanova Drexel um you guys can help me out Temple University um who else do we have um all of as a city-wide kind of vibe that we do have but those are our predominant chapters that are that we
Call Citywide or they are chartered which you all see here on the date meaning not just at the University of Pennsylvania but also at another institution this chapter also exists um so we are very special in that note because it does boost up our numbers it
Does help our Council Thrive when we are able to uh collaborate and um have different relationships across the city um in different universities um and I’m proud that our colleague my colleagues at those universities also take pride in these chapters that do exist as well so that’s like a special
Fun fact not everyone knows that when they are coming to the University of Pennsylvania that we do have a close-knit relationship with the other schools nearby and some of our chapters are actually deeply rooted in those universities as well so I wanted to point that out about our mphc
Um and as you can see we definitely have those groups represented here today on the other end of our igc we do have our historically Latino and Latina organizations they are make up more of our robust system that we have we work as one one big unit one big family and
We have lymph Theta Alpha which is currently not in the now faux umbrella but they are represented here at Penn not only here but also at Temple University their Charter of beta Epsilon we do have La Unida Latina fraternity as well here chartered at the University of
Pennsylvania and our third now Folk and our third group that is also in Alpha is our Sigma Lambda oopsalon sorority which is also the gamma chapter here so they are um one of the oldest chapters as well um and they are on uh on the cusp of returning to to our campus
Um so it’s a very exciting time for all of our uh Latino and Latina groups um as we celebrate their Rich history here at a predominantly white institution um too because of the journey that they’ve had to go through as um that their history provides the journey that
They’ve had to do to get on college campuses as well has also been very similar um to you know being noticed and being visible um so it’s it’s always exciting it’s always fun because I feel like we’re always celebrating our Rich histories um in the University of Pennsylvania is special in that way
Thank you so much for a robust update um so this is our opportunity to test the audience about their knowledge we have one poll first that has nothing to do with cultural Greeks or pan or Philly we just want to know where you’re from so there’s a poll asking you where
You’re joining us from please go ahead and answer the poll come on we only have two respondents there are 129 people here today we’ll end it in one moment okay looks like most of us are from the Northeast all right let’s get into some of the other questions bear with us technical difficulties
We’re trying to launch the other questions well in the interest of time why don’t we save the rest of the questions for later and why don’t we jump right into the panel discussion um our office has we’ve collected many of your pre-submitted questions so thank
You all for giving us a heads up of some of the topics that you like to be explored Janae we are I’m going to stop showing my screen and Janae can lead the panelists in the discussion absolutely panelists are we ready fantastic so I see everyone’s excitement
So our first question that we have for the group today is will those prospective students be able to thrive as a black or a latinx student at Penn and I will open up for the group who would like to go first thank you Ethan hey what’s going on everybody just to
Reintroduce myself my name is Ethan Moses uh representing Alpha Fraternity Incorporated uh to answer the question I would say 100 um black and latinx students can 100 Thrive at Penn um I can only speak to my own experiences but there’s been a lot of opportunities for me at Penn in order to
Foster community be able to develop lasting relationships as a black student I find myself in the spaces for black students to thrive a lot of the time so we have something on campus called the arch building in which we have students students are able to go down there and
Really interact with other students that look like them so we have maku which is black Cultural Center La Casa Latina which is also for latinx students and so spaces like that allow me to meet other black students be able to interact with them get to know them and really feel at home
Also a council like this in which there are black fraternities and sororities as well as latinx fraternities and sororities that allow students to kind of meet other people like them who are interested in Greek life have events um in which you can feel represented as Janae already mentioned the step show is
A really big part um of me feeling welcome and at home um and just like within classes you’ll meet people who are very open all the students who go to Penn are very welcoming and you know being at a predominantly white institution um you really find that other students
You you want to be able to come together because you realize how how little there are of you so I think it really it really allows us to to kind of build a stronger Community because of how little they are of us and so I think it
Makes it even stronger so that that’s how I would answer that question yes Ethan thank you so much for that and now and I won’t elaborate on the you because I’ll be talking all day so I’ll let our other panelists I’ve seen some hands raised so Gabe do you want to take
It away as well to add yes once again everyone I’m Gabe Wright a member of capital cyber security Incorporated the Delta Ada chapter and building off of Ethan’s point a little bit he did a great job I would say just as you get acclimated with Penn Philadelphia overall you will find the
Things that you like to do and I would say explore those it’s one of the things you like to do but also explore the things that you might not see yourself enjoying as much so but really put yourself out there it’ll come in your own time you don’t have to force
Yourself but there’s many events there’s Club fairs there’s different igc events you can attend and you’ll eventually find the people that you want to be around in your own time it’s nothing that you have to really worry about it’s I’m sure everyone’s might be tentative in their first month of finding their
Friend group or you know different things like that but at the same time you know be confident in yourself at first and the events and the opportunities will come to you in which you can really find what you’re passionate about at Penn so I feel like
That’s what I kind of did a little bit I came in I played football at Penn so automatically I had a group of teammates to be around but I also am involved with City step which is a non-profit Dance troupe where we actually go into middle schools and elementary schools and hang
Out with the kids after school there’s different volunteer groups besides that that I’m a part of and those have been really fun for me and I never thought that I would have such good experiences with those at pen but it’s all a part of just putting your stuff out there and
Making sure that you know you have fun with it thank you I appreciate it Sarah did you want to add yeah um I think Gabe brought up a really good point about like including our other um organizations that we’re involved in because I think that’s reflective of how
We’ve each been able to thrive so um just to add on to that I’m also a part of um emoja which is like a black um uh umbrella organization that oversees all the black student groups on campus I’m also a part of a new spirit of pen gospel choir and was in the
Inspiration acapella which was a primarily black acapella group and I’m also an intern for the maku black Cultural Center so just being a part of those different aspects of like specifically black Pen Life on campus um I was able to find like my Niche and
Find my people in my community and I was going to say the same thing as Gabe where there are like a bunch of different opportunities given to you that will be available to you to thrive and to like be successful and have like a real really meaningful experience but
You also have to want to do that and like go out of your comfort zone and do things that you might have been used to doing before because you’re transitioning into this new period and like college is going to be different from high school and you’re in a whole
Different area if you’re moving out of state and Philly itself is different pen itself is different being a pwi so you really have to like step out of your comfort zone to build those like Foundation blocks to thrive because really your first semester is really important like Gabe was saying to do
Things that you might not have been used to doing before because that’s how you learn and that’s how you figure out who your community is what you like doing and what matters to you so yeah definitely like put yourself out there and like want to do those things to thrive
Thank you Tara absolutely and Santi the last one for this question yes I just want to thank everybody who spoke before me um definitely eloquently put it correctly um I also just want to emphasize that especially coming into a pwi it can be a culture shock to a lot of people who
Went to school with a lot of black and brown um students and uh definitely like this is coming like from personal experience uh definitely don’t shut yourself off definitely don’t say yes to everything but no one to no one to take advantage of all the opportunities that are there
For you by going and going out of your way to go towards La castle and other uh centers and going for tryouts for um other organizations and it’s wonderful because um as lonely as you may feel sometimes at the school it’s important to know that you have a group of people that are
There for you um and that are going through the same experience that you’re going through and there’s and never feel free to never feel afraid to reach out to older students as well who have gone through experiences like this um I definitely think that they have a
Lot of knowledge to give and definitely career-wise as well professional wise as well in all aspects of life and with that being said I also just want to mention that I am um currently the events coordinator at a part of that I know that there’s also groups such as benforsa um that just
Their Essence and the reason why they exist is to attract other demographics and never be afraid to go out go to their informationals and just just they put someone to everything and if you don’t like it though the worst thing that can happen is that you don’t like it and you go
Um and find a group of people but other than that I I just want to emphasize what everybody else said thank you so much Santi for a great way to end as well so we appreciate all the questions also coming in in the chat box
Um they uh are pretty pretty good but we will get to those so I don’t want you I want you to hold tight and make sure that um your question will be answered um for sure but I do want to get uh this question out um to the panelists and also I might
Play a part in the answer uh before before they answer specifically about their organization so the question is what is the process of getting involved with Greek life um and I’m sure all of your minds are now thinking so I’ll just start with the fraternity and sorority Life part I just
Want anyone that is uh that put in for this question to be answered um for all fraternity sorority life organizations including our Intercultural Greek Council chapters um it is required in order to even be uh a candidate of any sort you must have a 2.5 GPA so I will start there I know
More will elaborate some of our panelists will elaborate on on that GPA requirement however just for a fraternity sorority life in general you must have a 2.5 GPA um you must have no conduct uh ongoing conduct cases open at the University that does include academic Integrity
Cases that is a very important you will not be able to be uh you know talking to any of our groups or show any interest if you have an ongoing conduct case that needs to be closed first um the other part of it uh for our
Office as well on top of the Academia and the conduct background it’s also just making sure you are in good standing we do take a look at um we do take a look at some of the uh candidates um as we see those names and see that potential interest for any of
Our groups beforehand and we want a well-rounded student for our panelists and our panelists and our other members that aren’t present today to also be able to choose from we want a well-rounded uh uh student individual um to be interested and not just have Greek life um interest but have more like my
Panelists share today um more well-roundedness about them what are they doing in the city what are how are they giving back um what groups are they a part of what groups were they a part of in high school is very very important so I will
Now open it up to the panelists if you wanted to kind of explain very briefly um just how you can become involved and I see shario’s hand went up first so please take it away hi everyone again my name is Cheryl and I am the current president of the gamma chapter of Delta
Pigment that is already Incorporated and I like to reiterate what Janae said definitely those um those were criteria that she listed out is very important to make sure you have checked off before you start displaying interest in any of our organizations but they just speak about
The other part of it which is like you know research attendance at events and being present at events is very important so before anything you want to make sure you know which organization is right for you before like you could go any further so me coming from the
Immigrant background and live in an immigrant Community like I knew nothing about Greek life before like research in college and going to Penn so a lot of it for me wasn’t like meeting people in my community who were involved in Greek life because there were none it was more
Of research in the organization’s on our campus to see which one fit me and then after that you want to make sure you go to events all of our lovely organizations here at Penn have Instagram Pages where they’ll post events they have websites and we also have National websites as well where you
Can find out more about our organizations and the specific Chapters at Penn and from that you could like look at our Instagram in pages and you’ll see the vento be host like one thing I really like about organizations that we host events like every month so there are definitely a lot of adventure
Guys to go out to so you want to make sure you go out and to the events and not just sit there but you know be present you want to talk to the people who are members of the chapters but not only that but also interacting with the
People who are attending events as well because they are also fellow Penn students you can learn a lot from them not just about the organization but also just for them being a partis pen and the organizations that are they’re a part of because um especially as an incoming freshman
Like that’s how I learn a lot about organizations uh Penn from talking to people when I was going through a specific events at Penn so I just want to reiterate those points thank you thank you sure and Kaylee do you want to hop in there yes hi um just to reintroduce myself my
Name is Kaylee Mooney I’m currently representing on the beta Epsilon chapter of limit Theta Alpha line has already Incorporated and what was said really outlined a lot of things I just want to piggyback off that and um as it’s very important to go to these events just also recognize the events are actually
Beneficial because a lot of our organizations we do professional and academic development so you can really learn a lot about these events and see leaders on campus what they’re doing and how they’re getting involved with the community because we also participate in a lot of community service giving back
To the West Philadelphia Community even beyond that and I also want to add um showing interest to any of our organizations we’d love to emphasize that it’s for a lifetime because we’re your family away from home so it’s very important to go to these events meet these people because these people are
Going to be there for the rest of your life I have family who were in different latinx we’re organizations and there was a point where I didn’t even know if they were my biological family or they were Greek life so it was pretty cool so these are people that would be there for
You and even if you decide not to join any of our organizations we’re always here for you that’s one thing that I loved when I was in um interested in my sorority even though I wasn’t a sister at the time they still were there to help me career-wise
Academic wise and give me advice on different Avenues to pursue even if I wasn’t a sister so um yeah thank you Kaylee Gabe uh do you want to offer some advice yes they pretty much hit all the points but I was just going to say that obviously you do live in the 21st
Century as Cheryl said all of our organizations have social media so even if you are not able to be physically present you can be in tune with what is happening with your desired organization and make sure that you reach out to members if you’re interested you know be
Personable know who you are first and then you’ll be able to make your you know your interest decisions and you know which eventually you want to attend those decisions will be easier for you if you solidify your Baseline Foundation at Penn first so yeah absolutely thank you Gabe Kelsey
You want to uh end this question for us yeah it was hinted at before now Gabe sort of touched on it just now but really reach out and get to know the people there because you can research the organization all you want you can know all of their Founders you can know
All their principles you can know everything about the organization as a whole but you are looking at to joining that specific chapter and you really have to get to know that chapter every chapter is different granted we all are have a foundation of the same principles
Um but who they are and who you’ll be spending your time with is equally as important so just make sure you don’t just show up to the programs don’t just research her online but really get to know those people that are there on campus absolutely thank you Kelsey I was just
Going to just make sure we emphasize that it is very important as much as we are uh alike but our our and with our principals and our values it is very important to know that you will be closely with these folks in these organizations day in and day out doing a
Lot of work I just want to put that out there to you know make sure the panelists don’t have to say it joining these organizations and what will make you thrive is knowing that you are a hard worker and you’re willing to put forth the time and energy to do the work
It is a lot of you know things that you may see in the media it is a lot of fun that you may see on social media on Instagram on you know watch the yard when you are looking to join these organizations however what is not being
Posted or talked about enough is the work like there is a work that is put into this um it is outside of a nine to five and all of my students as well as Kelsey even as one of our advisors present today to be represented do a lot of work
Even after undergrad they become alumni that are involved they become regional directors they become National presidents so I want to emphasize with all of the participants that we have on this web webinar in order for you to thrive in any organization represented today you must be willing to work hard
And put and not just where where the letters across your chest but where and whether or not you have the letters on or not and that means that you are doing the work that is of the organization and the reason it was founded so that that’s
Also how well we will add to this thriving thrive in Greek life kind of question so I appreciate all of your answers with that I also see coming in in the Q a chat a lot about housing so I will make sure our panelists do not have
To speak on that because I will I’m here um none of our groups um currently at the University of Pennsylvania have any housing related to any of their organizations that is not just for the University of Pennsylvania some for most of the organizations represented today it is a national response for their
Organization that they do not have some form of housing on the college campus um there are different specific buildings on campus I know the arch has been mentioned where all of our groups are together in the cultural centers um all of the seven cultural centers that we have on campus where our group
Specifically here today represented and also not here hanging out VOD together are together um very frequently so I wanted to point that out because I see a lot of questions about that um and as far as our residential housing as well our panelists do have the option to live in our resident houses
Um with chats um there is not one specific house I know our College house Du Bois College house was mentioned in the Q a um our students are free to choose what college house they want to be a part of um it’s just so sometimes they may Choi
Uh choose the boys to live in but that does not mean they cannot live elsewhere we have a lot of our Representatives the weather here or not here also resident advisors so you may see that some of our folks in igc are also Ras so I wanted to
Point that out when it comes to college housing you will see our groups very much so in the mix you will see them out at the arch um or you know playing football or part of an athletic club um or any of the clubs that some of the
Panelists have mentioned so I just want to help with the Q a chat that is going on and panelists please feel free to answer as well any questions that you may see you can answer as well on the fly if they are especially directed at you however I do have another question
That was pre-submitted uh the question is as a student of color how will I find support at Penn and through Greek life do any of our panelists want to tackle this question Kelsey so um I’m gonna see less to pin but Greek life in general is super
Supportive I can speak to myself when I first moved out to New Orleans right after college um a Kappa and azeta actually gave me money and like gave me groceries because I came down that was broke even to the point where there was a member of Kappa
Alpha Psi from pen who came to work at my job and he was thrown in this summer without knowing like what’s going on and he came to me and he saw my keys and introduced himself and we were able to like help him and get uh acclimated to the area and in
The school in general like being a part of Greek life you gain a Sisterhood and Brotherhood so even to the point where you will hear someone say like uh sister Greek or something like that where we are all connected and I know Janae touched on it before that it’s a family
It’s a community where I may not know Ethan right but if I see them on the street I’m gonna say hi and I’m gonna talk to him and I’m gonna help him if he needs to because it is a huge Community um not even just in Philadelphia or in
At Penn but across the world absolutely thank you Kelsey for that Tara do you want to go next yeah this is like one of my favorite questions too because like you know we all really boast about like the network and the family that you’re a part of when you’re
In Greek life and you know we say it a lot but it’s actually very true and to Kelsey’s Point like I’ve had so many like sisters just help me out who may not even know me but like or know much about me but are willing to just lend a
Helping hand or extend themselves um whether it’s for like professional networking whether it’s for like academic help that I need where I’m like struggling with a class or even just someone to vent to or talk about like some really hard like conversations like there’s always going to be someone in your corner
Um and I also wanted to talk touch on like the academic side like specifically there are so many resources um through maku that they have through maku’s partnership with Wine Garden which is like the Learning Center on campus there’s literally this one black professor you will hear his name throughout pen
Professor rimmer and he is the type of he is the professor that people go to for like um a lot of like calc help I forget what the um course code is for it now it used to be Math 104 but he’s like a really good
Example of I guess black pen in like black pens extension to help others and to make sure that you feel supported um where he has tutoring sessions within the arch building um on a weekly basis and there’s like um like a wide variety of ways to get help
And to get support and there’s also caps which is just like the um Psychological Services on campus to support you where they’re like black therapists within that as well and people um through maku can connect you specifically with the black therapist so there’s um study groups there’s office hours there’s um
Just like one-on-one connections to get you a mentor or a buddy to help you get through that like um biomed class that you need to get through or a chem lab that you need to get through um because we all know that pen is tough and that going to such a rigorous school
Is not easy so they’re they’re just a bunch of resources that I’m happy to even share after this call thank you Tara and Ethan you want to end this question for us yeah I just wanted to reiterate what everybody already said um I just want to point out that all of
These organizations were were founded on the idea of support um whether it’s academic support um career support uh financial support but all these organizations are here for support So at Penn these organizations will be there to support you so a lot of our organizations hold events where we
Help with academics you know recently we had a well not recently but um last semester we had uh study hall sessions where we were able to come together and work on our stuff together that allows you to also meet other people and make connections um career support is another big thing
You know professional panels resume workshops is something that happens um and then speaking to me personally I felt a lot of support um coming on campus I know Janae mentioned that a lot of our organizations are Citywide so I was able to get connected with a student um of outside Fraternity Incorporated
That went to Drexel University and although he didn’t go to Penn I was able to connect with him and he ended up supporting me we became really good friends and he actually helped me get an internship um that I I ended up doing my freshman summer and so stuff like that people are
Always looking to to look out for you especially as a black and brown student support is is it looks in all types of ways and speaking to Penn specifically um Penn also does everything that I’ve already mentioned in addition to that financial support um I’m a first gen low-income student
And I can say I get a lot of financial support from Penn that allows me to thrive while I’m here so I just wanted to point that out thank you so much Ethan that’s a great help an answer as well I think everyone else is okay with all
The answers perfect thank you panelists for every answer um just taking a look at the Q a I think an important question um that definitely I want you all to highlight in these panelists uh in these participants questions today are what are some of the community service in Philadelphia philanthropic activities
That pin fraternities and sororities support within the Philadelphia area just highlight a few maybe two that each of you um because I know some might be uh repetitive but if anyone would like to go I’d love to have you all highlight your community service and activism that you do in the community
All right I see some hands Kaylee I seen yours yes um to answer the question um a lot of organizations have their own National philanthropies or um chapter plant space like the um laminate Theta Alpha nationally supported stage um children research hospital hospital and then um beta Epsilon specifically also
Focuses on domestic violence but those are not the only areas in which we help one of the beauties of joining an organization is if you’re very passionate about something you can cater an event or start a fundraising event to whatever um you want to contribute especially in the West Philadelphia area like last
Semester we were very passionate about gun violence because that’s very something that’s happening in the Philadelphia area so we had a whole week surrounded by that and then we donated to a non-profit in North Philly called Nomo which supports getting children off the streets and lessening the gun
Violence in West Philadelphia so those are just like some examples yeah thank you Kaylee sherio as I’d like to reiterate the point that all of our organizations do a lot of community service within our communities and also somewhere a lot of philanthropic organizations um nationally and in our communities specifically my chapter
Um of course um we do an event called pungent where we don’t necessarily have to stay in philanthropic organization that we donate to each year but um we let the women decide so we actually have our current pendant on the call on Santi who um he donated their prize money to
His chosen charity and just throughout our events like we support different organizations so we actually did a collaboration event with on bookstore bars where we went to the bookstore bars um location with the beta Epsilon chapter and we held package books for incarcerated um people and we also support and why
Not prosper and where we made um care packages for women who are incarcerated in women who are were recently released so like it varies from year to year like we have like different things that we support around community thank you Cheryl I see Ethan yeah so I’ll fight I’ll Fraternity
Incorporated has four National programs that um we always work to every year um one of those being a voteless people is a hopeless people so voter registration and voter advocacy is very important to us as an organization so a lot of the events we try to do on Campus Connect to voter registration
Um and also we have another um National program that we do called March of Dimes in which we kind of March for women who have health risks when they’re giving birth and so me and and the rest of my line went and and got to March and meet other uh Greeks
Um when it came to supporting the women and and their um their birth risks and birth birth um birth risks and birth death a lot of the stuff that that goes along with that um some other stuff that we do on campus um we try to raise money for um
Our week our yearly Gala that we do um and so a lot of philanthropic stuff goes on every single year but kind of like what cereal said it does vary from from year to year absolutely thank you Ethan Santi um hello everybody uh just to pick it
Back off of what Charles said uh definitely throughout one um we received the prize money from panjang we donated it to Tejas which translates to rules for my people which goes to disastrous relief from hurricanes in Puerto Rico and in addition to that we also host a Palante
Banquet which we host a week before um Thanksgiving so that students who can’t afford to go back home have you know a safe space to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving dinner along with their peers and in addition to that we also have a paid initiative which stands for providing access to higher education
Which we definitely definitely especially with affirmative action um and this tension that we definitely um have a voice and impact in that region as well and definitely look forward to creating programs that uh Target that absolutely thank you Santi Kelsey and then we’ll end it with Tara um as previously stated we have
Everything um different programs nationally I know a bunch of us do partner with March of Dimes part of that for Philadelphia specifically all the chapters of Philadelphia um partner with Jefferson hospital um for a long-term partnership to ensure that they are fully um stocked and supported we also work closely with an
Organization called North Broad Renaissance which helps clean up the Philadelphia area specifically North Broad so starting at City Hall and moving north um North Providence Center cleans up and also helps us establish and sustain businesses especially black businesses along that area and then of course I
Think a common one is chosen 300 it’s a very Hands-On opportunity where you get to serve people in the community that may not have uh hot food they also have students from Penn sometimes come down to do medical Clin clinics so a lot of these things we work together or cycle
Through to make sure that these program programs are not just supported momentarily but over the long term absolutely thank you Kelsey and Tara yeah so nationally we have our um educational advancement Foundation which helps serve scholarships and different providing financial support to do a lot of academic achievement
Um within our chapter specifically we have our um Leona K Baylor scholarship that we award to two high school students from the Philadelphia area annually we also support with voter registration um and those are the three main things that I wanted to cover perfect thank you all of you panelists
Thank you for answering that question another one that I see that I think is very important is how do fraternity and sorority members balance their academic commitments with their involvement in Greek life who wants to take this one again the question is how do fraternity sorority members balance their academic
Commitments with their involvement in Greek life and Kelsey I see your hand so um though we are service-based organization um we really heavily lean on scholarship is one of our primary principles and so with that being said you cannot join but also you cannot be an active member of
The sorority if you do not have a certain GPA and part of what that looks like is having supports from your chapter from your graduate or alumni chapter and maybe even the state that makes sure that you have the foundations that you need and what that looks like
Is very individual to you and I think that’s one of the benefits of having a support system around and also with pen to make sure that your plan and how you can get back on track is super important also someone said it earlier and someone basically co-signed it and said I’m
Going to co-sign it again do not say yes to everything you really want to you want to be active you only have a couple years in undergrad that you get to be a part of this organization before you become an adult and have more responsibilities but you really really
Need to sit down and see what is a priority to you yes we want you to be active yes we want you to get back to the community but you can can’t do everything and that’s when you lean on your chapter you lean on uh Greek life
At Penn you lean on your line sisters or brothers because you cannot do everything um and that’s something that we have to really instill in us and hold our chapter members accountable today as well thank you Kelsey perfect Kaylee yeah I just wanted to add because she said that beautiful
Um another like as you mentioned like organizations we really prioritize your academics where we even I know the beta episode chapter we have an academic chair on our board so we do a lot of check-ins with each other making sure that we’re all there grade wise mental
Health as well because mental health is very important um and with that we also like host like study breaks and like we study just so we’re in environment where we’re all like very productive because as mentioned like there’s that requirement to be con like even if you
Are a sister or a brother already you still need to maintain that GPA to be an active sister or brother so really prioritize making those academic settings where we have um study groups and even have some events where we give tips to improve studying and let the undergrads at the University of
Pennsylvania knows and ways which we will do it and ways we can help them do it as well thank you Kaylee and Tara yeah I feel like for all of us we hold scholarship to a very high standard between our like organizations and so to manage like academics and Greek life
Specifically it really all boils down to having a really good like time management system um and to Kelsey’s point and to what Santi was saying before like you have to prioritize and you’re going to have to say no to different things and you’re going to have to say get good at saying
No to a lot of different things because like at the end of the day that’s what’s going to make a difference between getting that essay in on time or asking for an extension and like struggling so um it really like you have to like be real with yourself in terms of what is
Feasible for you and also like lean on other people for support and ask for help and you know um from the jump be honest and say if you can or can’t do something because that can all also dictate the outcome of being successful with like academics and all the things that you’re balancing
Thank you cereal then Santi yeah as I like to really reiterate those saying no part that you guys all spoke on um as a person who like likes to do everything like I have a really hard time saying no um I joined this campus like wanted to
Be a part of a lot of organizations and I’m becoming a part of Greek life that I just had like a lot of things on my plate so a lot of what we spoke about already time management is very important I I use my notes app to plan
Out basically my whole life so definitely planning your classes knowing the classes that you’re doing and looking at the syllabus of the class and saying okay I have this is how I’m doing this day and if you have like a little bit more time making sure that you get
The assignments done ahead of time especially with a lot of our chapters some things just come out of the blue you might have to attend an event that you didn’t think that you had to attend or there might be something that’s done but you always want to make there’s
Something that’s due but you always want to make sure you get it done thank you Cheryl and Santi you want to finish this out yes please uh so I just want to emphasize that it’s important to internalize your strengths and weaknesses like if your streets is academics then
Good if your strengths is you know time management then perfect but also make sure to look out for your people who maybe aren’t that those may not be the streets and then help them in those ways and give them advice as well but also like just for study wise habits um
Like see what style of learning works for you um stick to it and then repeat it like if it works then like keep doing it and like let’s say like you know you’re not the best like studier um with a big group of people like why
Are you doing that just make sure it’s just like be aware of what you’re doing and you know at the end of the day hold yourself accountable because you know you get your transcript at the end of the semester and no one’s left to Blink but yourself respectfully
Absolutely thank you so much Santi and I know we are cutting close to time but I did see one question that um panelists if you’d like to just throw in anything after what I say but we had a great question about faculty I just have to highlight that I just actually came from
A meeting yesterday with faculty in regards to uh fraternity and sorority life so we do want to pinpoint and highlight that there are strong advocates for faculty I know one Professor was mentioned actually during the panel uh panelist speaking but there are many faculty members that actually are still part of fraternity sorority
Life whether it’s these groups here that we’re highlighting today or just the rest of our community with our IFC and panhellenic groups um so faculty does play a part in our initiatives and our decisions in fraternity and story life so I just want to you know give them a
Little push and a little praise um because there are some amazing advocates in our faculty and Academia world that definitely highlight fraternity and storyline I’ve been the impact that it has on University students here at the University so Tara I know you might want to say one piece
Too but then I know we are cutting super close so Tara you know keep it short yeah of course like really just adding on like basically the faculty here here are what make Penn home as well they add to making pen home and making a family because these are the people that are
Your biggest Advocates and biggest supporters like they’re the ones writing your Rec letters they’re the ones giving you career advice they’re the ones like connecting you with that person to get you that internship and it’s all because like they want to support you and they want to like help you and they’re
They’re vocal about that from the start and like even um the people that we have on this call are just really good examples of that especially Janae so yeah like they’re the best thank you so much Tara and I see I think we’re at time but we’re you know our panelists are here
Some may have to go but if we did have questions that we missed um I’ll we’ll stay behind as well okay thank you so much Danae and to all of the student panelists as well as our advisor Kelsey we really appreciate your time today um we I want to also thank our behind
The scenes admissions officers who were typing away answering some questions in the chat box Kevin Strong and Andrea board who is a member of Delta’s Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated and with that I want to put up our um our screen where you can get in touch with us
And if you have any questions you can reach out to either us or the office of fraternity and sorority life have a great day so thank you for coming to the Intercultural Greek program at the University of Pennsylvania and we will see you at Future programs
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