I go to a very small school with only two sororities, which sometimes brings about unwanted tension and competition. I am a member of one sorority while many of my friends are in the other sorority. This past week was the other sorority's philanthropy week and honestly I was 10 out of 10 excited for them. They were doing a great job and it was really going to be a great week. I was sitting with a few of my sorority sisters at lunch and I made a comment about how much I loved the shirts that the other sorority had designed for that week. One of my sisters, who I consider to be one of my best friends, made a comment that honestly made me feel a little bit disappointed. She said: yes, the shirts were cute, but she would never wear one. Excuse me? Why wouldn't you want to support someone's philanthropy? I've heard all the excuses:
"All the guys are jerks. I don't want to go to their event."
"The girls are always so rude to me. Why would I want to go?"
And my personal favorite:
"They don't support us, why should we support them?"
I'll tell you why: ALL of our philanthropies are worthy causes. If someone wants to come to one of my sorority's events I always say come to a philanthropy event. You really get to see my sorority and what it stands for at these events. Philanthropy was one of the main reasons I joined a Greek organization. I wanted to find a cause I was passionate about and get behind it and I'm sure many other girls that went through recruitment felt the same way I did.
I was torn between the two sororities during recruitment. To me, philanthropy night was the hardest. Both philanthropies were close to my heart and it honestly makes me want to cry remembering how stressed I was that week. I remember how both groups of girls were so passionate about their respective philanthropy and it made me so excited to possibly be one of those girls. At the end of the week, I chose the sorority where I felt more at home, but I am still supportive of my friends and their philanthropy.
I understand if you don't absolutely love everyone in the other organization (sometimes we don't even love everyone in our own organization), but it's not impossible to put all those feelings aside and go attend a philanthropy event. You will get a really good look at the organization and what exactly they stand for. I know most, if not all, Greek organizations have one attribute we all share: we value service. We believe that the service of others is a noble act. That's the reason we have philanthropies. So buck up and go to another organization's philanthropy event. Hell, you might just make a friend.
