Allison Jones Rebecca Agosta English 1101-068 November 18, 2013 A Sisterhood We Live for Each Other, the

open motto that the sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, lives by. They strive daily to live up to the name that their founders set many years before them, to be well-rounded, well-respected, scholarly, genuine, leaders, and role models, says Paige Lummert, the Alpha Mom for the fall 2013 Alpha class. They use their motto WLFEO each day, and push each other to always be the best woman that they can be and to always work towards growth in a very personal and spiritual sense of the word. When looking at the different aspects of Alpha Delta Pi, it shows that there are many similarities that this organization shares with the Discourse Community idea of Swales. A discourse community shares common goals, has communication between members, share specific lexis, have different levels of novice and expert, have different literacies, stereotypes, and have common activities (Swales, 471-473). In Alpha Delta Pi there are two different types of members, Alphas and Deltas, the Alphas are new members who have yet to be initiated and the Deltas are initiated sister of the sorority. Even though they are apart of the same organization there are many differences within each of these groups. Alpha Delta Pi was originally a secret society so all activity by the group was to be only talked about within the members of this group in a chapter setting.

Today, these same ideas are put into place, to keep all things only between the sisters at chapter and then on our ways of communication though out the week. But there is also a secretive aspect even between the different groups in the sorority. Because Alphas are not initiated members they are not allowed to know things about Alpha Delta Pi such as ritual that is done in each chapter, the way that rushing happens or small things like the way Big Diamonds and Little Diamonds are assigned. But after initiation, and they become Delta, they slowly learn the secrets of the sorority. To be chosen to be a part of Alpha Delta Pi you must go through a process of formal recruitment that Panhanellic puts together for any and every girl to find their home in the Greek community. Recruitment is a 4-day process, where you go to parties with each of the six sororities. On the first night you visit each six of the sororities, then the next night a maximum of five, the next night a maximum of four and the last night they visit a maximum of two sororities. It is a process of mutual selection meaning that you rank the sororities to your preferences while the sororities give some kind of ranking system to whom they feel will better the organization. Each sorority has a different way of going about their recruitment process and how they choose their members, and no one will know until you are an initiated member of a specific sorority. On the last night of recruitment is it the most important night, you are making connections with different members of the sorority and you are making personal decisions on where you feel is truly the place where you feel at home. It is most important you always choose a place where you

can one hundred percent be yourself, if you want to process to work for you it truly will and you will find your home in the Greek community. The way that the members communicate is very important because everything that is written in our groups is to be kept secretive and only shared with the members of that specific group. Things are not to be shared with anyone out side of the members of Alpha Delta Pi and should never be posted onto any social media cite. The secretiveness of the sorority is what they keep most sacred to the members in it, tradition is held to very high standards. There is also communication in the sense that each week in chapter all of our events are shared for that week and just general information that needs to be shared with the group. There is also a specific meeting for Alpha members with the Alpha Mom where there are discussions on any questions that we ever have, to learn the history of the sorority and to learn the ins and outs of the group. When asking Paige Lummert about the different interactions of the Alphas in their own meetings compared to chapter she stated that there is a big difference, in that chapter Alphas are much more quit and reserved, they are much more comfortable as a whole in their own atmosphere where they can feel comfortable to talk, where as in chapter there is absolutely no talking, which can be very intimidating for new members. In the Alpha meetings there are chances to talk to each other and joke around and learn new things about each other, but while in chapter it is much more structured with specific rule to follow and a specific way that things are ran.

With in the sorority there are a lot of different types of lexis that is used, as communications, to the people in within the groups is seems normal but for outsiders with would seems very different. Things such as Big and Little Diamonds, for a new member they get a big diamond that is like a mentor to them and someone who is always there for them. Another would be ritual, these are things that are performed with in chapter, each different sorority and fraternity has different rituals but the meanings are all important to that group. Then as a whole Greek community there are different lexis such as rush, bid, preference, chapter, recruitment, pin, initiation, legacy, and philanthropy. These are all terms that are very important to the people within these organizations but people who are on the outside may not understand what they mean. There is also other lexis that is considered ritual that if you have not been initiated into the chapter that you are never allowed to know, and if you are in the group you are never allowed to speak of to anyone outside of the organization. Within Alpha Delta Pi there are different levels that you can be, there is the Alpha and Delta and then Pi. The Pi member is someone who is now an alumnus of the society. But then there is the President who has say over the whole chapter. There are also different positions that members can hold, to be chosen for a position you must fill out an application and then have an interview with members of the executive positions. The executive positions are the ones that make the official plans for the chapter; there are roles such as director of social enrichment, director of Standards and Ethics, Panhellenic Delegate, Recruitment Vice President, and Executive Vice President. Each of these roles play a very important part in the

functioning of the chapter. There are also small positions that members can run for like new member coordinator, philanthropy, and many more, for some of these even Alphas can apply for. Each position has different qualities that are needed to successfully follow through with all of the duties that are required of the person. For Paige Lummet, Alpha Mom, she has to be a well-respected person with the group, a good role model, very open and easy to talk to, and knowledgeable about the chapter. Her position is there to help the Alpha members through this time period before initiation and to help them learn the history of the sorority to pass their initiation test, which must be passed to be initiated. Holding this position truly gave Paige a new appreciation of her time when she was an Alpha member and also Alpha Delta Pi as a whole, it has also helped her to reflect on her experiences so far as a member as she relives them with us. She misses the new experiences of getting to know all of her new sisters and gaining the respects of the older sisters as an Alpha member, she said it was a completely different experience that she ad ever done before. Getting to know sixty new members quickly is a very hard task but Paige took her job very serious and tried to get to know each of us personally to be able to welcome us into the sorority (Lummert). Being in a sorority itself automatically makes people think certain things about that person, stuck-up, bitch, self-centered, partier, drama queen, but being inside the group it has a completely different meaning. People always set stereotypes of Greek life because of movies when in reality it is nothing like that; it is a group of people who truly want to make a difference on the campus and in their

community through philanthropy. Each sorority or fraternity has a different philanthropy that they work with but each group truly has a passion for that cause. At University of North Carolina at Charlotte Panhanellic recruitment highly encourages you to choose your home because on your values and not based on the popularity of the organization. Each day sorority women are pushing to break the stereotypes, all they need is for people to listen to what they working towards, and they feel that if people truly understood their passion that they would think differently. For Alpha Delta Pi the philanthropy is Ronald McDonald House, they are always trying to find ways to raise money and donate to this organization. Recently they had a bar-b-q that raised over 11,000 dollars all going to the Ronald McDonald House. Each sorority woman truly has a passion to make a difference in the world, not to just go out and party, they want to see a change. There are different things that had to be read within Alpha Delta Pi, there are the obvious things such as Facebook posts to things like reading people emotions that are in need. Alpha Delta Pi is a sisterhood so even just being able to tell when someone is in need is important they are all there to support each other. Alpha member had to be able to read the history and learn it to pass the initiation test given. There are also things that are ritual that are read each week during chapter meetings. There is a quote that many people use in the Greek community, Those on the outside will never understand it, those on the inside can never explain it. This saying truly embodies the impact that Greek life can have on someone if they left it. It is a community in every sense of the word, a discourse community that shares

common goals, ways of communication, lexis, activities, stereotypes, had novices and experts and different requirements for being within the organization. Alpha Delta Pi embodies all of these qualities to the fullest.

Work Cited

Lummer, Paige. Personal Interview. Nov 6 2013. Wardle, Elizabeth, and Downs, Doug. Writing About Writing: A College Reader. Boston/New York. 2011. Print. 471-473.