Last week the national women’s sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma, also known as Tri Sigma, hosted a “Week of Service” as part of their colonization process to begin a new chapter at the University.
Tri Sigma was founded in 1898 at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia, and has since grown to host chapters at over 110 college campuses with more than 100,000 members. Though Tri Sigma was originally established the Delta Chi chapter at the University in 1982, in recent years the sorority decided to begin a new chapter.
“Membership dwindled over the last couple of years, and we just weren't contributing to the U.Va. community the way we wanted to,” Assistant Executive Director Lorin Phillips said. “We decided to do a redevelopment this spring.”
The redevelopment at the University has consisted of many different aspects, including three weeks of building public relations and meeting with student leaders, faculty and staff, as well as gathering referrals and recommendations for potential new members.
“Through this process we let them know who we are and how to register, and then there is an interview process they go through to be selected,” Colony and New Chapter Consultant Julia Hilkey said.
One of the most important aspects of redeveloping Tri Sigma at the University is their Week of Service. From Feb. 1 through Feb. 5, Tri Sigma teamed with many different service organizations on Grounds — from the Salvation Army to Girls Excited about Math and Science — to connect with students and establish themselves as a service-oriented organization.
“The Week of Service is an opportunity for Tri Sigma to come onto Grounds and start with a focus on service,” Hilkey said. “Last semester I met with 75 student groups on Grounds to talk about the week and they had the opportunity to host a service event or offer their members up to attend a service event.”
Tri Sigma kicked off the week by bringing Headbands of Hope CEO and Founder Jess Ekstrom to speak to students in Newcomb Hall. The company donates one headband for each headband bought to empower children with cancer through fashion and positive self-identity.
The list of charities selected helped Tri Sigma get to know students with a wide variety of interests. The new chapter welcomed all students to attend, held a canned food drive and had some fraternity members over to their house for yoga, Phillips said.
“It's been a crazy week, but it's also been really rewarding,” Hilkey said. “I think we've succeeded in putting our name out there as a service organization and we've gotten the opportunity to serve with potential sisters.”
Tri Sigma’s Vision Statement is to “provide exceptional experiences that will empower women to change the world.” Throughout the past week, they have attempted to share this vision with the University.
"Our vision statement is to empower women to change the world which is really bold, but it doesn't have to be on the global level,” Phillips said. “Being a good citizen and being a woman of character is important to us.”
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