EXPLORING CULTURES ESSAY

Exploring Cultures Essay

Camille Fox
CIS110- Jake Matting
3 October 2014

Abstract
Cultures are based on the common beliefs, values, and rituals of a group of
people. Sorority women are a major culture among students on the college campus. The

EXPLORING CULTURES ESSAY

University of Kentucky offers 13 very different sororities for young women to be apart of. The
Alpha Phi sorority has specific rituals, mottos, beliefs, and stereotypes that make it unique to all
the others.

A sorority is a society for female students to form a sisterhood, common goals,

aspirations, and who also make a commitment to each other for life. Greek life as a whole
consists of sororities which are for young women of the collegiate level and fraternities that are
for the young men of the collegiate level. Sororities and greek life were introduced to the
University of Kentucky in the 1890s to provide support, friendship, and leadership to the
community of students. Alpha Phi sorority of the University is the latest addition to the 13
sororities offered on the campus. Beginning in 2008, the Alpha Phi sorority was able to recruit

EXPLORING CULTURES ESSAY

young women without having a typical stereotype hanging over their heads. The sorority was
able to shape and form its reputation at the university which helped it create a vastly growing
group of girls. The young women of Alpha Phi strive to reject the stereotypes of sorority girls.
The Alpha Phi culture is rooted in its values and actions when relating to others.
Values in a sorority culture are very important. The values help shape the identity of
the women involved and the actions they should take to better the community and
themselves. Each sorority has certain values they uphold in their lives and throughout
their chapter. The young women are required to learn and try to live out these values to
the best of their abilities. The values that are critical to the
Alpha Phi sorority include: sisterhood, scholarship,
service, leadership, loyalty, and character development.
To ensure the members of the sorority maintain these
values in their lives, they are gives opportunities to work
on them. Keeping the value of sisterhood alive, the girls
do fun events such as sisterhood retreats where they
venture to go camping in the woods just with their sisters.
They also give every member the code to enter the house
at any time of day, so even if they are not living in the house they are still allowed to go
whenever they please to hang out with the other girls. For the emphasis on scholarship,
the girls are required to have a certain number of study hours each week. According to
Olivia Brouster, a new member in the Alpha Phi sorority, We have to have a certain
GPA to get into the house and maintain a GPA to stay a member of Alpha Phi. The
chapter leaders maintain close relations with the girls and their grades by checking them

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every two weeks. If your grades fall below the accepted GPA once you are placed on
academic probation. While on academic probation the young women are not allowed to
attend any Alpha Phi sponsored events such as their date parties or philanthropy events.
If a young woman remains on academic bad standing for longer than a semester you will
be asked to leave the chapter. In addition to mandatory study hours, each sorority has a
certain number of service hours the members must complete each semester. In Alpha Phi
each girl is required to do five hours per semester. The sorority offers many different
opportunities to volunteer, including events they host themselves. The variety of girls
helps each girl realize their individual character while learning other good qualities from
the girls around them. For example there may be girls that are interested in skydiving and
bring that to everyones attention, a young girl might never have thought of going sky
diving but now does because of their eposure to different types of people. Every member
of the Alpha Phi house felt that they belong there and with those certain girls when they
experienced rush week at the University of Kentucky. These values of the Alpha Phi
culture give a platform for how the young women are to live and portray themselves in
everyday situations.
The motto of the Alpha Phi sorority is, First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend
All. Their motto is the fundamental for how the young women are to behave and portray
themselves. New members of the Alpha Phi community are required to memorize the motto so
that they are able to incorporate it into their daily lives. How the girls
act in public represents the sorority as a whole so they emphasize the
importance of confidence and generosity. The motto states, First of
All, which to the girls means for them to have confidence in all

EXPLORING CULTURES ESSAY

aspects of their lives. The girls believe exuding confidence makes the other people around them
have confidence in themselves. They believe that confidence is not only uplifting for the young
women but for those whom they encounter. The second part of the motto says, Servants of All,
and the young women in the sorority enjoy the opportunity to volunteer. There are many
opportunities for the girls to get involved whether it be from their own events or outside of greek
life events. They as a chapter hold events to raise money and they also attend other sororities and
fraternities events to help them volunteer with their own philanthropies. The final part of the
motto is, We Shall Transcend All, which the girls stand firmly in. They believe that if they
uphold their values and traditions they are able to shape others opinions of them and change the
stereotypes of greek life as a whole. Mottos are an important part of every culture and every
culture has a unique motto they stand for and portray to the world through their actions. Each
sorority has secret rituals such as a secret handshake, a secret knock, and a secret phrase. As a
non initiated member of the Alpha Phi sorority the rituals remain unknown. They are kept in
secrecy as it is a bond that connects every girl to each other, not just at the University but all over
the country. These rituals are performed in utmost respect while every girl wears all white to
symbolize purity. Rituals pay and important role in the culture of the Alpha Phi women.
A Philanthropy is a charity of choice to support selected by each individual sorority. The
Alpha Phi sorority at the University of Kentucky chooses to raise money and support womens
cardiac health. The sorority hosts an annual Red Dress Gala. The Red Dress Gala is how we
raise money for womens heart health. Its such an easy and fun way to get involved without
realizing youre actually doing work and helping others. Freshman Olivia Brouster shared when
asked about their philanthropy events. By making the philanthropy events similar to social
events, the sororities intrigue even the non greek life members to participate. Each sorority hosts

EXPLORING CULTURES ESSAY

its own philanthropy event supporting its unique charity that other sororities attend to help their
fellow greek life members. Every philanthropy event that is held by a sorority is advertised
throughout the campus and people outside of the greek community are encouraged to come and
participate. The way the sororities each raise money is different. For the Alpha Phi chapter, they
choose to charge money for attendance and sell food and shirts while in the event. Philanthropies
and their corresponding events have a high importance in the greek community and to each
individual sorority.
The typical stereotype is that the greek life culture excels in social events. Alpha Phi has
a variety of events that appeals to all types of people. We do things that everyone can do. We
dont want anyone to feel pressure to do anything they dont want to do. We do things from date
parties but also stuff like paired tailgating with a fraternity. Emily Short, a junior in the Alpha
Phi sorority tells me after asked about the social events sponsored by Alpha Phi. Date parties are
when Alpha Phi gets paired with a fraternity for a night out that helps everyone get to know each
other better. Another stereotype that is prevalent throughout the greek community is that
members of sororities pay for their friendships. After hearing about the strenuous journey each
member of the greek community goes through for rush an outsider would understand how that
stereotype is false. The young women have to go through long days and make quick decisions
based on thirty minute conversations they have at each house. They are expected to be their best
at each house they go to so that they can accurately detect which house they fit in the best. Once
the young women have gone through the whole process, they are given a bid from only one
house. The sorority that they received was the one they felt the most comfortable with and the
one that the other members felt they would fit in the best. Some young girls do not finish the

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entire rush process because of the long hours and the different houses that they might not have
felt comfortable in.
The stereotypes of the sorority girls and their lives are prevalent throughout every
campus. There are many different things that make Alpha Phi and the greek life as a whole
different from their stereotypes. The emphasis on philanthropy, community, values, and
education help shape the young women and encourage them to live their lives in the best way.
Even though the stereotypes for Alpha Phi may differ depending on which campus they are
located on, they carry the same rituals, mottos, and beliefs on every campus they are present.The
specific values and mottos of Alpha Phi shape the character of each individual girl. The Alpha
Phi culture is much deeper than the stereotypes it falls under.