This past week, Kappa Kappa Gamma at Mizzou released a collection of photos on their Facebook page as a part of the Breaking Barriers campaign. Inspired by Alpha Phi at Baldwin Wallace University, the campaign features personal accounts of how girls in the chapter defy stereotypes.

Common misconceptions about sorority women (and women in general) have been made for years, and many were addressed on the hands of these sorority women. Topics such as paying their way through college, sleeping around, and not getting good grades were among the plethora of stereotypes written in Sharpie across the palms of these girls, all of which are struggles that sorority women face everyday.

The amount of strength it took for these girls to share their struggles with the world is unfathomable, yet for an overwhelming amount of hate comments to appear below these photos on Facebook might be the greatest downfall of our generation. Yes, there are always going to be people that disagree with the views of others. However, to put them down for it and tell them why they are wrong especially after these girls have done nothing to deserve it is uncivil and cruel. It also only proves why these campaigns are so important.

Sorority women are not here to look good, to party, or take pictures in our letters all day. We are here to learn, to support each other, and to give one another a fighting chance at succeeding. We join sororities because we want to be a part of something that's bigger than ourselves. It provides connections to a long line of women that cherish the same sisterhood you do, while also allowing us to be empowered by an organization that is run entirely by women.

Breaking Barriers is among a number of campaigns that aims to tell the story behind groups of people that get thrown together and called the same. It shows the world that assuming something about someone is that last thing we should do, and that we never know what is truly going on behind a smiling face. This is not just about sorority women, but about anybody that deals with misconceptions on a daily basis. There is a much bigger picture here that addresses how people should treat one another, and these two sororities are only breaking the surface.