Mission Statements...

After reading Tyler's blog about Alpha Phi Alpha's Fraternity mission statement and their purpose to serve their members, I got to thinking about my own sorority's mission statement.

Alpha Xi Delta believes "Inspiring women to realize their potential" means we must dedicate ourselves to helping our members recognize and maximize their own strengths and talents. Our Fraternity is dedicated to helping our members develop life skills; to creating an environment in which Alpha Xi Delta members continuously support one another and their community in meaningful, genuine ways; and to ensuring that our members have a fun, socially rich collegiate experience.

I copied this from the national AXiD website. I know that one reason I fit so well with my sorority is that I do have a lot of the same values and goals as what the above statement includes. However, I'm aware that the basic message of every fraternal organization is dedicated to helping their members reach new potential, develop as a person, and give back to the community. Nevertheless, with the values topic we discussed in class and with recruitment refreshening my mind about the importance of rituals, I have been thinking about how my chapter lives up to our values.

Our motto is "Inspiring women to realize their potential." This is a concept that my sorority really strives for, however, I think that if an individual is dedicated to the organization in which they belong, strive for continous improvement, and take on leadership positions, then yes, a sorority will help them realize what they are capable of. But,just being a member doesn't really do anything if the member doesn't want to be involved and seek opportunities. I think that that's where a lot of women in Greek life go wrong and don't realize what Greek life truly can do for them....too many are just in it for the fun and partying... (which is where the whole stereotype issues come into play).

So, I have realized that I don't want to see women in my chapter become of like this if I have anything to do with it. Because I am one of the member educators for the winter pledge class, I think that I can help live up to Alpha Xi's values by presenting these new women with ways to get involved and for them to realize their abilities early in their Greek experience. I've been so busy just trying to sort paperwork and follow the manuals and plan a schedule than covers all the basics that I forgot to really think about how to seriously contribute to their well being and individual development of the new members. So, I'm really glad that we had this topic to talk about this past week!