WHY DID YOU JOIN YOUR SORORITY?

What does sisterhood mean to you?  Sorority women devote countless hours going to “sisterhood events,” chapter meetings, and recruiting new members, but how often do we step back and contemplate the true meaning of sisterhood?  This interactive workshop does exactly that.  It brings women together to discuss their sisterhood and identify ways to develop an even deeper sisterhood within their chapter. 

Redefining Sisterhood was developed from Sarah Cohen, Gentry McCreary, Ph.D., and Joshua Schutts’ research regarding the nature of fraternal sisterhood.  During the workshop participants are first challenged to define sisterhood in their own words and then reflect on their own chapter’s sisterhood as they complete the Fraternal Sisterhood Questionnaire (COPYRIGHT).  This questionnaire assesses their chapter’s sisterhood and establishes a foundation for a discussion on the following five schema of sisterhood Sarah, Gentry, and Josh uncovered in their research:

• SISTERHOOD BASED ON SHARED SOCIAL EXPERIENCES

• SISTERHOOD BASED ON SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT

• SISTERHOOD BASED ON BELONGING

• SISTERHOOD BASED ON ACCOUNTABILITY

• SISTERHOOD BASED ON COMMON PURPOSE

Redefining Sisterhood allows students to measure how they think about sisterhood and presents data showing how sisterhood relates to other important aspects of the sorority experience (including hazing, alcohol use, membership retention, conformity, and moral development).  Facilitators will challenge sorority members to critically think about the structures promoting transcendent sisterhood in their chapters, examining chapter cultures surrounding recruitment, new member education, standards, and operations.  Lastly, facilitators will offer strategies for improving sisterhood and participants will walk away with a strategic plan to improve sisterhood at the chapter level. 

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Students will demonstrate increased awareness of the five schema of sisterhood. 

2. Students will demonstrate gains in sisterhood based on accountability and sisterhood based on common purpose. 

3. Students will demonstrate increased willingness to hold member of their chapter accountable for shared standards and expectations.

4. Students will gain knowledge and strategies related to improving levels of positive sisterhood within their organization.

5. Students will be able to identity barrier in their chapter that prevent more members from reaching transcendent levels of sisterhood. 

Want an even deeper assessment of sisterhood on your campus?  Ask us about developing a pre-visit data collection for your campus with chapter-specific presentations for each chapter.  By distributing the Fraternal Sisterhood Questionnaire prior to your workshop, your facilitator will be able to analyze the results and provide insight on how each individual chapter’s sisterhood relates to data collected at the national and campus levels.