Parents

Dear Parents,

Thank you for taking the time to look into sorority life for your daughter!

Going Greek was without a doubt the best decision I've made at Maryland. Through Greek life, I have established lifelong connections with individuals I may have never met otherwise, and I have created a home away from home where I feel safe and secure in this large university. It has also provided me with unbelievable leadership and service opportunities, most of which would have been impossible without my involvement in Greek Life.

Besides the social benefits, the Greek system promotes leadership, scholarship, philanthropy and community service. From experience I can truly say that by joining the UMD Greek community, your daughter will absolutely acquire vital life lessons that will cultivate and nurture the entire college experience. On behalf of our council, I encourage you to take a look around the website and explore the wonderful unique options that Greek membership offers. Hopefully it will address all of your questions and concerns about your daughter joining a sorority. If you have any more questions, please contact me at umdrecruitment@gmail.com.

Yours,

Amanda Fachler

Vice President of Recruitment

Panhellenic Association

www.greek.umd.edu

When my daughter went off to college, I wanted her to have the same great experience with Greek life that both her grandmother and I did. Just as my mother did for me, I encouraged her to experience rush by giving her this advice:

Sororities turn acquaintances into friends, friends into sisters, and sisters into lifelong relationships. They build confidence and self esteem, encourage leadership and loyalty, and form a bond stronger than most.

All three of us chose different sororities to best fit our personalities, but the outcome was the same. We became better women because of our Greek experience.

 --Nancy Morrow

*****

As the parent of two daughters in two different sororities at the University of Maryland I am thrilled with the opportunities sorority life has given them. Their sorority families have provided a small community in a very larger campus. There is a connection and warmth almost automatically among all the sisters, along with a sense of purpose. They have taken leadership roles and seen how they can make a difference. Community Service has always been an important part of our lives and the sorority continues that focus.

Living in a sorority provides a stepping stone between dorm life and living on their own. They have more independence, yet are still provided structure and rules, as well as a house mother to provide support when needed. And even the meal plans are impressive.

I would encourage all girls to investigate sorority life. With the variety of sororities on campus you can see how each one develops their own ”personality”, and that those that belong together naturally gravitate that way.

--Lori K

*****

Joining a sorority has been a great experience, in many ways, for our daughter Jennifer. She has made many new friends that she probably wouldn’t have ever met, had it not been for the sorority. UMD is a big campus with a large and diverse population. The sorority provides a sub-group that makes it feels smaller and more personal. While walking around campus with Jen, there are always sisters saying hello and stopping to chat.

The sorority is a good outlet for giving service back to the community (Jen was a Girl Scout & is accustomed to service work), such as the Jog for Justice. Many of the programs the sorority offers are interesting and informative, such as the speaker from Campus Police. There is also the opportunity for leadership roles, for those who desire it.

Then, of course, there is the social aspect of belonging to a sorority. I love that they hold Dated Parties and Formals; it’s always fun to dress up and go out for the evening. As parents, we have not seen any aspect of Jen being in a sorority that has not been positive.

--Lynne Kozicki

*****

From Day One, our daughter just loved being a part of her sorority. Coming from a close knit family, the sorority provided a similar closeness for her. It became her family away from home. She developed some very close friendships which (I’m sure) will last a lifetime.

The sorority helped our daughter mature and grow on many levels. First, she had to develop time management skills if she was going to do well at school and fulfill her responsibilities of the sorority. She had to become very organized and establish a routine to achieve this. It was a process for her and a learning experience. These were skills she didn’t have prior to joining the sorority. These are skills that will help sustain her through her lifetime.

Additionally, her sorority (most sororities) is involved in community affairs and fundraising. Our daughter’s sorority’s main “cause” was for breast cancer. They continually had/have fundraisers to raise money for breast cancer research. Our daughter has gained an awareness/education at a very young age regarding breast cancer.

There are many leadership positions within the sorority and our daughter has held several. Again, these types of experiences reinforce/strengthen her time management skills and organizational abilities.

Overall, we feel our daughter’s affiliation with Zeta Tau Alpha has been very positive. She is strong, confident, responsible and committed. She has a sense of loyalty and dedication. She is sensitive and interested. Being a part of a sorority has influenced who she is today.

--Robin Kale

*****

Joining a sorority at the University of Maryland has been a social, academic, and leadership enhancing opportunity for my daughter. It has taken a large, rigorous university, and made it a smaller, more intimate learning community. Being part of Panhel has also widened Brittany's community service opportunities and multiplied her friendships.

I am a University of Maryland alum (class of 1977) and was proud of my youngest choosing UMD and getting into Maryland, as the rigor of acceptance has grown over the years in geometric proportions. As her older sister was enrolled at Towson as a member of Greek life there, I was hopeful that Brittany would find a sisterhood of her own in College Park. Frankly, I was a bit sad she could not rush her freshman fall, as I saw it as a ticket to immediate friends and making her chosen school more welcoming.

Since rushing and joining her sorority in Spring 2006, she immediately enjoyed the fellowship of 20 others in her new member class, a "pearl mom" and her big sister. She was encouraged to move into the chapter house where she further bonded with four roommates and found sisters who liked to play soccer, visit the gym, and shared common classes. Brittany volunteered for the Homecoming Blood Drive and felt rewarded by working with other girls from other houses on community wide service projects during the fall.

Her grades rocketed in both the fall and spring, partially because she was more adjusted to university life, but having sisters in common classes and majors was great support. Having so many sisters focused on nursing, medicine and law schools, talking nightly of GREs and internships, made her more focused, early, on the opportunities ahead. Britt listened as older sisters talked of semesters abroad, of jobs on campus, and reveled in their particular leadership jobs within the house, so Britt ran for Membership Development chair and was accepted.

This past spring semester I saw her bring in a Alcohol Awareness speaker, had her run an appreciation event for catering, internet providers, and lawn and cleaning staff for the chapter house, and a Mother's Day Tea. Additionally she sat on the sorority’s Standards committee with older girls and community reps, which helps steer the house and support the over 100 members.

Besides providing an excellent groundwork for Brittany's dream to pursue a career in nursing, I was hopeful college would provide her these leadership opportunities, quality friends, fun social outlets, and even another living community, different from a high rise dorm. Within the sorority, she has attended formals and away weekends, she has enjoyed Homecoming and Greek Week, added her own little sister and gotten closer with her house mom. She's lived with 65 other sisters, enjoyed a car on campus, eaten within the house, along the Rt 1 corridor, and seen the recruitment process from within the house. Additionally, this summer, she is working in Ocean City with several women from other sororities, beaching it and hanging out with other sisters, opportunities she would have never had, had she not gone Greek at the University of MD.

For Brittany and her sisters, joining a sorority has been a very positive experience. She is still friends with her non-Greek dormmates from Cumberland, but she has added many additional friends from rush and other houses. She is friendly with guys from many fraternities, and has really become close with guys from pairings during Greek Week and Homecoming. This was all possible while she's maintained a steady relationship with her boyfriend of over a year, Ryan, from OC. Consider going Greek....it worked for my daughter.

--Sue Winstead

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