Delta Xi Phi

“Wait! There’s a sorority on campus? But it’s not a real one, right?” That’s the reaction I get almost every time I tell someone I’m in the sorority on campus. Yes, there is a “real” sorority on campus and it is called Delta Xi Phi.
I don’t know what people mean when they say “real” sorority, but I’m guessing they are saying it in the way that we are actually acknowledged on campus as a sorority and we are not “underground” or a secret sorority that the college doesn’t acknowledge. Delta Xi Phi sorority, incorporated on May 1, 2010, nationally recognized us. My line crossed and I became a sister on April 28, 2011. I am a part of the second line known as the Beta line.
When I first came to Cabrini, I didn’t know there was a sorority until my second semester when I saw signs hanging all over campus for the welcome week, which is our equivalent of rush week. Not to mention the former president of the sorority, Cate Schaffer, was my RA and lived right next door to me.
Our sorority is not the stereotypical sorority you may see on TV. You won’t find our DXP girls running around in a drunken mess or having to do crazy “pledging” tasks like cleaning the boys’ bathroom at two in the morning, like the girls in the movie “Sydney White.” We also don’t judge our incoming sisters based off of looks or social standing like the sororities in “House Bunny.”
Our sorority is a multicultural sorority. We have five pillars that we stand for. They are: advancement of women through higher education, increasing multicultural awareness, community service, sisterhood and friendship.
We uphold our pillars in many ways that most students here at Cabrini don’t even realize. All of my sisters and any girl who wants to join, has to have a minimum of a 2.4 GPA. We take our studies and education seriously. We do different multicultural activities each semester. They range from fun, silly things like taking belly dancing classes, or the more serious like going to a guest speaker and learning about sex trafficking and how it affects so many cultures. We also do community service each semester. This semester we did the AIDS walk in Philadelphia. We also raised money for our philanthropy, which is the American Cancer Society and we do Relay for Life every year.
We do not haze our incoming sisters and they do not “pledge” so we do not call them “pledges.” Instead, we call them associate members. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t just pick girls then let them in. But as in all sororities, we do have some secrets and our process is one of them. All I can really say is they are NOT hazed.
There are a group of girls going through the process right now and I cannot wait until they are done and cross so that I can call them my sisters and they can join the bond that us sisters have.
I would do anything for my sisters and they would do anything for me because no matter what, I know we have each other’s backs. This year, when I was going through a hard time, all of my sisters were there for me, leaving me Facebook messages, tweeting me, texting me and tell me when they saw me that everything would get better soon and that they were always there for me. Without the support of my sisters, it would have been a lot harder to get through.
Not only are these girls my sisters but they are my friends. When most people think of sororities they think of the parties and the fun things we do together. Having fun is definitely a big part of being in a sorority but ours is so much more. We want to put a name out for ourselves and get it known that yes, we are here and yes, we are a real sorority.