Sororities and fraternities are commonly seen as young and fun social groups on college campuses. It’s expected that once a member graduates, they leave their legacy and become an alumnus or alumna.
Something that most people don’t know is that greek life can go way beyond undergraduate years.
“Sororities are a lot of things,” Marsha Small, president of Theta Rho Zeta said. “A lot of people just say, ‘You go to school and you party.’ But actually they are service organizations.”
Theta Rho Zeta is the Lansing graduate chapter of the undergraduate sorority Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. This means that women who hold a four year degree or more, from any college or university, can apply to become a sister of this greek letter organization that focuses less on socials and more on sisterhood and community service.
“What you’re supposed to do is be providing service to the community, and that’s what we do,” Small, an MSU alumna, said.
On Wednesday, Theta Rho Zeta will hold its first annual E-GIRLS, or Empowering Girls in Real Life Situations, Summit for the 95 currently registered high school females in the Lansing area at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center. The theme for this event is “Creating Your Destiny.”
“We want to empower (girls) and inspire them to make positive decisions in regard to finances, relationships, health and their self-esteem,” Amanda Auguste-Roberts, chairperson and treasurer of Theta Rho Zeta, said.
Five keynote speakers were invited to E-GIRLS to teach the girls valuable life skills and to interact with them. The summit includes workshops on things like how to properly dress for an interview, how to exercise, how to understand finances and more.
“You’d be surprised at the number of people that don’t know how to write a check and everything hasn’t gone totally electronic yet,” Small said. “You (have to) know how to properly write a check, even though that’s old school.”
This is Theta Rho Zeta’s first time hosting the summit. Small said they are hoping to make it an annual event.
“Young ladies were interested,” Small said. “We just needed to step up to the plate. ... So this will, we hope, be the first of many.”
Theta Rho Zeta is the sister sorority to the fraternity Phi Beta Sigma. For the past 31 years, Phi Beta Sigma has hosted a summit for young men teaching them leadership in the real world.
Auguste-Roberts was inspired by Phi Beta Sigma summit for boys and decided to have one for high school girls.
Theta Rho Zeta currently has about 20 active members. Small said she joined Zeta Phi Beta as an undergraduate and transferred to the graduate chapter after completing her degree at MSU.
Members of this sorority can become inactive at any time. Small said some women commonly run into time conflicts after getting married and having children. Though many personal reasons can prevent a sister from remaining an active member, Small said she is always part of the sisterhood of these college graduates.
“Once a Zeta, always a Zeta,” Small said.
