The Towerlight’s Guide to the Greeks

In an effort to bridge the communities of Greek and non-Greek Life students on campus, The Towerlight has created a guide to the various fraternity and sorority chapters at Towson. Each chapter president was contacted and asked to answer questions about their chapter’s philanthropy work, fundraisers, events and values. They were encouraged to include fun facts about their chapters and provide any message that they would like to send to Towson’s faculty, staff, students and community. Below are the brief profiles on each chapter with responses submitted by the presidents to help individuals better understand who each chapter is, what kind of role they play on campus and what being involved in Greek Life means for them.

Illustration by Sydney Adamson/ The Towerlight
Illustration by Sydney Adamson/ The Towerlight

Phi Sigma Sigma (ΦΣΣ)

Philanthropy work: School and college readiness.

Fundraisers: Book drive to donate to the local elementary schools and read-a-thon with Baltimore elementary schools.

Fun fact: We were the first sorority on Towson’s campus in 1977.

Colors: Blue and gold.

Alpha Omicron Pi (ΑΟΠ)

Philanthropy work: The Arthritis foundation and Cervical Cancer.

Fundraisers: One way that we raise money for these philanthropies is that we stand out on the corner of York Road and Burke Avenue. So if you ever drive by and see girls singing and dancing on the sidewalks, chances are that’s AOΠ!

Fun fact: We want other students to know that being in AOΠ feels like having over 120 sisters at Towson with you!

Delta Delta Delta (ΔΔΔ)

Philanthropy work: We work with Children’s Cancer Research and we are nationally partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We hold a variety of events on campus to raise money and awareness for St. Jude.

Fundraisers: Our two major events are Sincerely Yours and Delta Desserts. Sincerely Yours takes place on every Tri Delta Campus. Tri Delta nationally has raised more money for our philanthropic partner than any five other organizations combined.

Chapter values: The purpose of Delta Delta Delta is to develop strong morals, promote a positive and respectful sisterhood, develop unselfish leadership, and to promote a womanly character that we are proud of. Our founder quotes “let us found a society that shall be kind alike to all and think more of a girl’s inner self and character than of her personal appearance.” We pride ourselves in being an organization filled with members who strive to be the best people they can be and that we are continuously praising and supporting one another in our accomplishments.

Message to campus: We are a group of women who support and love one another. We believe that together we are the best we can be and that we have a strong and genuine sisterhood that we are more than proud of.

Fun fact: Each week we award a “sister of the week” with a bedazzled triple D bra (Get it? DDD).

Alpha Kappa Psi (ΑΚΨ)

Philanthropy work: The Boys and Girls Club in Baltimore. We raise money for the group and go and volunteer our time as well.

Chapter traits: Our chapter is a professional fraternity meaning that we value building the professional skills needed to be successful in the workplace. We are sponsored by the CBE; however, we have many non-business majors.

Fundraisers: Our big event is Towson Business Symposium (TBS) where we have business leaders come in and lead workshops and talk about their experiences, as well as share advice.

Message to campus: Our group combines the education of joining a career and professional group with the social and brotherhood aspects of being a part of Greek life.

Fun fact: We are co-ed and open to all majors, making us one of the most diverse Greek organizations on campus!

Gamma Pi Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi (ΦΣΠ)

Philanthropy work: We have two philanthropies. Our national philanthropy is Teach For America and our local philanthropy is the ALS Foundation.

Chapter values: Our chapter believes in something we call the tripod. The three legs of our tripod are fellowship, leadership, and scholarship.

Fundraisers: Nothing yet, but we’re planning a carnival to support ALS some time next semester.

Message to campus: That we are gender-inclusive, meaning that we don’t base membership off of gender. We recognize that referring to ourselves as co-ed excludes member and potential new member who identify outside of the gender binary. We welcome everyone!

Sigma Alpha Mu (ΣΑΜ)

Philanthropy work: Our national philanthropy is the Alzheimer’s Association.

Chapter values: We value leadership, brotherhood and athletics.

Message to campus: A brother of Sigma Alpha Mu should be known for his belief in “Carpe Diem” (seize the day). We are so thankful for being happy, healthy and living the college life. We try everyday to take advantage of all the opportunities and advantages given to us.

Fun fact: We are also known as Sammy.

Alpha Phi (ΑΦ)

Philanthropy work: Our philanthropy is the Alpha Phi foundation, which supports fellow Alpha Phi chapters and sisters in need. However, we also work very closely with the American Heart Association to raise awareness for cardiac care.

Fundraisers: Each year we host our signature event, our Red Dress Gala, and we all wear red for cardiac awareness and raise money for the Alpha Phi Foundation.

Chapter values: The traits and values of our sorority are character, scholarship and sisterhood. Although we are considered one of the smallest chapters, we pride ourselves on being so close-knit and can count on one another when in need.

Alpha Sigma Phi (ΑΣΦ)

Philanthropy work: Alpha Sig has five main philanthropic beneficiaries. Those who we proudly partner with include; RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network), Ronald  McDonald House Charities, Homes For Our Troops, The Humane Society and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Chapter values: Alpha Sigma Phi has five core values; silence, charity, patriotism, purity and honor. Each one of our five core values corresponds within each one of our five main philanthropic partners.

Fundraisers: Not yet.

Message to campus: Alpha Sigma Phi’s aim is to become the most well rounded, honored and privileged fraternity on Towson’s campus. We choose to recruit men of high character and standards who can serve and live out our five main values.

Fun facts: We are currently one of the newest fraternities, if not the newest fraternity on Towson’s campus. Alpha Sigma Phi came to campus in the beginning of October 2014 and we have risen to the ranks of just under 70 Better Men. Also, Alpha Sigma Phi is the 10th oldest fraternity and was founded in 1845 at Yale University.

Mission statement “To Better the World through Better Men.”

Color: Cardinal and Stone.

Symbol: The phoenix.

Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT)

Philanthropy work: As a first year colony, most of our philanthropy has come from partnering with other organizations on campus to run fundraisers and donation campaigns. Our goal as we get larger is to have brothers raise more and more every year.

Chapter values: Our chapter promotes intellectual awareness, social responsibility, integrity and brotherly love.

Fundraisers: We haven’t gotten to it yet but I hope everyone will love it. It’s called ‘Get On The Ball’. We roll a giant ball around campus and have people sign it, and I mean GIANT. Business partners will donate a certain amount of money for the signatures, and at the end of the weeklong event, we have a big “soccer” match.

Message to campus: We’re not old ZBT, and none of us are from old ZBT. We are a fresh batch of men. We are here to be a positive impact on the Greek life community, the campus and the Towson community.

Fun fact: We’ve taken a liking to chanting. Anything can be chanted and probably has been by the brothers. Chapter meeting votes have been swayed from the impact of chanting. I’m not entirely sure how it starts but it gets loud.

Sigma Lambda Gamma (ΣΛΓ)

Philanthropy: Our Philanthropy is Breast Cancer Awareness. You can find us volunteering/participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the cure as well as having bake sales and fundraisers. Even though, we focus on Breast Cancer, we have recently done a fundraiser for Autism Speaks.

Chapter Values: We’re all about women empowerment and empowering women from all cultural backgrounds. We take value in helping others and being role models for the community.

Message to campus: We love to volunteer! You can find us helping out at different walks and races to cleaning up creeks. It’s a way for us to give back and help better our community. Also, being a multicultural sorority, we like to explore different cultures.

Fun fact: We have 16 different nationalities found within our chapter.

Founded April 9th, 1990
Colors: Shocking Pink & Majestic Purple
Flower: Pink Rose
Mascot: Purple Panther
Motto: “Culture is Pride, Pride is Success”

Pi Lambda Phi (ΠΛΦ)

Philanthropy: Our philanthropy is the Elimination of Prejudice Foundation. It was founded by our national members to further promote the values we are founded on. The organization itself works to educate people on the importance of equality and fight discrimination. Issues of prejudice are very prevalent in our society and we strive to create sensitive societal conversations to address these issues and fight for these basic rights for everyone.

Values: Our fraternity was founded on the basis of equality; it was the first non-sectarian fraternity to be established. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, or sexual orientation, but rather recruit based on good character, finance, obedience/commitment, leadership, and scholarship so that we may have the finest gentlemen in our brotherhood to promote our ideal of eliminating prejudice and fighting for equality.

Fundraisers: Since we are a new chapter on campus we have not yet been able to establish any specific trademark events, however sometime in the near future we aim to host an event that has become a hallmark event for several of our chapters on other campuses. The Wall of Prejudice is an annual event during which students are invited to write the hurtful prejudiced words and phrases they have experienced and then after a week the campus comes together to raise money and tear down the wall together, effectively breaking down prejudice and the barriers of hate that needlessly separate people.

Message to campus: We are an extremely diverse chapter and though we are newly-founded and currently small in number, we are all extremely passionate about our values and creed and hope to make a difference on campus.

Fun fact: Regardless of the fact that our chapter started out with only a few members, we still managed to place second overall in homecoming last year.

Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ)

Philanthropy: holds an annual Fireman’s Challenge event. In which we raise money for Johns Hopkins Pediatric Burn Center Victims. In the last three years we have raised over $65,000 and have a goal for $30,000 this year. Fireman’s Challenge is a week-long competition between sororities on campus, including multiple events. The week starts off with a community 5k and finishes with our field day competition. This year it will be April 26th– May 2nd.

Values: We hold ourselves to a saying called S.L.A.G. This stands for Scholars, Leaders, Athlete’s, and Gentlemen.

Fun fact: We go by “PIKE”

Kappa Delta (ΚΔ)

Philanthropy: Kappa Delta has four philanthropies that we work very closely with. Our two national philanthropies that we work with on a regular basis are the Girl Scouts and Prevent Child Abuse America.The Girl Scouts come to our campus and we teach them about building confidence in themselves and in each other. For PCAA, we hold annual “Shamrock” fundraising events which have raised over $10,000 every year we have hosted them. The funds go directly to our local branch, The Family Tree, and to PCAA itself! Our two historic philanthropies are Orthopedic Research Awards and The Children’s Hospital of Richmond, Virginia. We fundraise for both and we also go on visits to the hospital to see their annual Teddy Bear Run where motorcyclists from all over the country donate Teddy Bears to the children of the hospital.

Values: Kappa Deltas always strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest. Along with that, one of the traits that our sorority holds is confidence. Kappa Delta works closely with the Confidence Coalition which is an organization that works to help women and girls embrace their own unique qualities and realize they can achieve their dreams. Kappa Delta works to promote confidence in not only their sisters but also in others by hosting events that help girls and women feel more confident in themselves. Kappa Delta participates in the “You Make Me Smile” campaign. For this campaign, we we pass out blue balloons with positive messages or inspirational quotes written on them around campus to girls. These balloons are given out to instill confidence in the women on our campus by reminding them that they are important and beautiful.

Message to campus: We would like the campus to know that becoming a part of the Greek Community is truly a life changing experience. We are philanthropic, educated and involved students in an extremely large network of collegiate and alumni Sorority women who will greatly benefit from this experience in numerous aspects.

Fun fact: Kappa Delta created two holidays that we celebrate every year. One being International Girls Day (November 14th) and the other being International Womens Friendship (September). To celebrate these holidays we host Sisterhood events and Girl Scouts events in order to promote true friendship and confidence to girls and women around the world.

Don’t see your chapter? The Towerlight attempted to reach every president of the many fraternity and sorority chapters on campus but did not receive responses from all of them. Additionally, not every chapter submitted responses to all questions asked.

– Compiled by Carley Milligan, Arts and Life Editor and Robert Wood, Assistant Arts and Life Editor

 

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