How would you describe the typical Mu Sigma Upsilon woman?
The typical woman of Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority Incorporated is a fierce, strong, yet sophisticated woman. The women in this sorority are ambitious academically and strive to better their community. Sisters range from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. While focusing on academics, the women of this sorority also aspire to make an impact in the university to create an environment that is inclusive of everyone.
What is your best memory as a house?
Although we do not have a house on campus, we still have a chapter on campus. One of the best memories of the chapter with the current undergrad students is the addition of the two newest members and traveling to other schools to represent our sorority and our chapter with the current undergrads. As a chapter, we look forward to making new memories on Lehigh’s campus.
How big are your PC’s usually?
As a multicultural and relatively small sorority, we do not have PC’s. Rather, our sorority has lines, which since the founding of the chapter has ranged from 1 to 7 members.
What is your overall house GPA?
The overall chapter GPA is a 3.2.
What are your favorite MSU traditions?
One of our favorite traditions is hosting Dining in the Dark, an annual event that MSU hosts to raise awareness for the struggles that the visually impaired face during their daily lives. In this event, participants are asked to wear blindfolds as they eat dinner and dessert, in order to promote reflection on how the visually impaired must change their lifestyle in order to accomplish the tasks that are deemed easy by many living in our country today.
Another of our unique MSU traditions is naming chapters, not by Greek letters, but by names chosen by the founding line that has a special meaning. For example, our chapter name is Yemaya, which had a special meaning to the first seven founding members at Lehigh.
How is your chapter different from the other MGC sororities on campus?
Our chapter is different from the other MGC sororities on campus because the goal of our sorority is to welcome ladies from all ethnic backgrounds and unite them under the common goals of academic excellence and involvement in the community. Being a multicultural sorority since our inception is crucial because it gives is all a chance, whether we are founding a chapter or not, to learn more about a variety of different cultures. Additionally, we seek to unite all of the MGC communities on our campus, and hope to reach a place one day where the MGC communities can be successfully united with the mainstream Greek organizations.
How is your chapter different from the Panhellenic sororities on campus?
Our chapter is different from the Panhellenic sororities on campus because we are a community based organization in addition to a social Greek organization. We take pride in connecting our sisters to their ethnic roots, which becomes apparent when we put on step and strolling performances. This is because stepping and strolling represent the signals of stomps and hand claps that slaves used to use to communicate, as well as the line format that slaves had to stand in when they were chained together.
What is your philanthropy? What are some events that you do to raise money & awareness for your philanthropy?
Our national philanthropy is the Girl Effect, which highlights our goal of unifying women. Any fundraiser or event we have that promotes empowering women, supports this organization, such as our educational events that we host with the Women’s Center. Our chapter philanthropy is March of Dimes, which we chose due to some of our founders being prematurely born babies. To support this organization, we take sisters to the annual march that occurs at Dorney Park.
Some people are worried about the financial commitment that is associated with Greek Life. How have sisters in your sorority dealt with this issue?
At Lehigh there is a Student Opportunity Fund that students can apply to yearly to help them fund programs that can further their learning. Many potential sisters use this program to help fund their New Member Orientation Process. Additionally, the chapter also uses funds from previous fundraisers to help sisters when in need.
More information about MSU
Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority Incorporated was the first multicultural lettered organization in the nation established in 1981 by five amazing women. Our chapter at Lehigh University is the Yemaya chapter, which was founded Spring 2012.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yemayaMSU
Instagram: @yemaya_msu
Twitter: @YemayaMSU
Website: http://msuyemaya.weebly.com/