Last Thursday, a handful of girls from Phi Mu gathered together in the Caf for lunch. Sophomore Sarah Teasdale initiated conversation with a story about her lavender plants. After the conclusion of Teasdale’s story, the girls around the table continued to take turns in telling stories while the others listened attentively. Regardless of the varying topics, each story included bursts of laughter from the storyteller and follow-up questions from their sisters.

Phi Mu’s values are “love, honor, and truth” and is what really brings their chapter together.

Sophomore Amber Phillips described the organization as having a large variety when it comes to members. Referencing to herself and sister Presli Neal ’19, Phillips pointed out how different members can be yet still accept each other completely. “We all like different things and have different values and dress differently, but it all comes down to we share the same values,” stated Phillips.

Senior Allison Dwyer added that “having those shared values puts all of our differences aside.”

Teasdale explained that although there is not one person that encompasses what Phi Mu is, “The one thing I have noticed in every single Phi Mu is when things really start taking a downward spiral, there is always someone there who will talk to you and listen to you and be there for you.”

Support is a key factor in what unifies the chapter. Their dedication to comforting and supporting one another is apparent with their two support lions they have.

“If someone’s having a bad day, you leave it for your sister,” said Teasdale.

Additionally, the support develops fairly quickly. Sophomore Emily Chapman, while retelling her experiences of rushing last year, stated that she had an “instant support system” after joining Phi Mu.

Although there are a variety of personalities within the chapter, the sisters of Phi Mu continue to get along.

“We all genuinely like each other,” said Neal. “We’re all very loving of one another and accepting of everyone in the chapter.”

The love between the various members is often expressed through sarcasm and sassy comments.

“We are a chapter powered on sarcasm,” stated Dwyer.

Dwyer additionally said that the members really “encourage each other to be really weird.” Dwyer continued to explain the chapter’s group message and the weird turns it takes. She loves knowing that all her sisters will always be there to listen to her no matter how weird what she has to say is.

At the end of the meal, the level of support and love Phi Mu contains was obvious. The members at the table bounced ideas off of each other on how they could cheer up a fellow member that was going through a rough time.

“If it’s an invitation to one brother, it’s an invitation to everyone,” said Kappa Alpha president and senior Matthew Parker. KA is Transy’s second-oldest fraternity and prides itself on its members being “Southern gentlemen.”

According to sophomore KA Joe Shermock, being a Southern gentleman is about “just doing the little things, whether it’s holding the door for someone or saying ‘yes ma’am and no ma’am’ to your professors to show you respect them.”

Members hold each other to their values, especially in the wake of bad press. For example, a KA chapter at University of Richmond was recently punished for an email sent out by a chapter member perpetuating rape culture within the organization.

“We use those examples to remind us that A., it’s just not okay, and B., something like that can impact everyone in the fraternity if just one guy decides to do something horrible,” said Parker.

“It takes a while to build up a good reputation on campus and that kind of thing, and so we really try to look out for one another in certain situations and avoid that,” said Shermock.

Junior member Brandon Heller, from Pennsylvania, said, “I didn’t really know anybody, so I felt like joining a fraternity would be a good way to not only meet people but better myself through academics and service and other stuff like that.”

In KA, Heller has found like-minded people who enjoy the same things he does.

“I like to go hunting and fishing and stuff like that, and a lot of the other guys like to do that,” he said.

The group even has a yearly hunting trip before rush to hunt doves to make what they call “dove poppers,” which Parker describes as “like a dove breast with jalapeno cream cheese and bacon in it.”

“Each year around rush, there’s a panic. It’s like, alright it’s dove season; we have no doves; we can’t just have hamburgers; we need dove,” he said. “So we’ll search throughout our friends and we’ll find someone that has a place to go and we’ll all pile into cars and go out there and we’ll bag like 80 doves. It’s a cool experience, because you’re out there hunting with your friends and you have to trust them, but we also have a great time and it’s a good way to get our dove for rush.”

Being a KA is “about being there when it’s inconvenient,” said Parker, who received an overwhelming amount of support from his brothers while his mom underwent cancer treatment and after he lost a cousin in the span of one year.

“The crazy thing was I hadn’t told anyone about that, and they just knew,” Parker said.

The front corner of the Caf is the de facto dining spot of Delta Sigma Phi.

“You know how our motto is, ‘you’ll never walk alone?’” asked fraternity president senior Erik Mudrak, “We like to say it’s more like, ‘you’ll never eat alone.'”

Over lunch, junior members Blake Taylor and Joseph Bahena discussed the plays they were reading as senior Justin Wright massaged Taylor’s shoulders. A table over, a mix of potential and current members joked about obscure rappers and tossed crumpled napkins into one another’s glasses.

The loud, cross-table discussion mixed with quiet, one-on-one conversation reflects the variety of personalities within Sig. Yet, there is also a distinct group culture.

“It’s really, really goofy,” said Bahena. “A lot of memes.”

“Even the people I don’t share anything in common with aren’t afraid to be a little goofy,” said senior Alex Isaac. “Say something ridiculous, or scream at the top of [their] lungs for no reason. People are okay to be a little weird, and I think it’s absolutely magnificent.”

Isaac and his roommate, senior Tucker Reed, played video game music as they relaxed in their apartment in the Sig area of Rosenthal, door propped open. Their room is decorated with flags, movie posters and travel souvenirs.

“Most people put their personality into a room,” said Isaac. “I would say that posters and Christmas lights are a staple.”

“…and/or Sig paraphernalia,” Reed added.

Among members, there’s no shortage of inside jokes. There’s also an intellectual vibe to conversation; in Bahena’s words, Sigs are “politically aware.”

“We consistently get in arguments with each other that are seemingly productive, at the end of the day,” said Taylor.

In a fraternity so large and diverse, there is what junior Jackson Shaw referred to as “a culture of involvement.”

“We’re literally all over campus, doing everything under the sun,” said senior Andrew Ellis.

This engagement gives Delta Sigma Phi a defined, visible campus presence.

“Everyone is so individual, and ecstatic about being it, that the outside impression is sometimes, ‘wow, they are really passionate… they know who they are,’ and sometimes that can scare off people,” said Bahena. “But once you’re on the inside, you’re like, ‘no one’s out to really exclude.’ It’s just that we’re all really passionate about each other already.”

“We aren’t trying to impress anybody,” said Isaac. “We don’t go out of our way to try to change our perception for other people. However we come off is what we accept.”

Ultimately, it’s diversity, trust and shared experiences that bind the Sigs together.

“We have a lot of comfort with each other,” said Reed. “I think there’s an unspoken idea that we help each other whenever we’re in need.”

It was a sunny afternoon in Alumni Plaza as members of Tri-Delta migrated to the large central table like a beacon. Several of them wore white T-shirts without prior planning. The group mirrored each others’ expressions and engaged eyes during a continuous stream of small talk, never a lull as they discussed schoolwork, bug-catching and hometowns.

“[Friendship] is one of our main values in our purpose,” said junior Margaret Kelly. “We pay attention formally to friendship.”

The values of “friendship, truth and self-sacrifice” bind together a group of women with diverse interests. There’s no shortage of supportive energy. Members laugh with each other over their antics.

“Last year after bid day, we went through photos and zoomed in on people’s faces, and a girl who graduated last year… she was in a dolphin costume and we zoomed in on her face and it was just so ridiculous, like…” said junior Raquel Loftus, completing her sentence with a goofy grin to demonstrate.

Members hold in common a love for their philanthropy, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and, in the case of many, for kids in general.

“Unlimited babysitting jobs,” jokes sophomore Monica Shotwell. “On the GroupMe, always, it’s like, ‘hey guys, new babysitting opportunity!’”

Two kids under the babysitting charge of junior Kerby Standifer – Noah and Charlie – even joined a group of Deltas for a sand volleyball game.

Active and involved, there is a culture of willingness to try new things. Many Deltas are athletes; just over 40 percent play a Transy sport.

Members speak their minds freely, from urging one member to get some rest during her illness rather than play volleyball to offering their opinions on various types of fruit. In Loftus’s words, its sisters are “open.”

This was reflected on the sorority hall. Decorated with quotes, triangles and pastel colors, the rooms create a serene, welcoming vibe. Senior Jillian Walls was initially attracted to Tri-Delta seeing everyone “hanging out in each others’ rooms, talking about random things or helping with homework on the side.”

“I live off campus, but I’m probably on the hall more time than I’m in my house,” said Walls. “I stay there ’til probably one in the morning.”

For Transy Tri-Delta, sisterhood means being tight-knit while also holding one another to high standards. Members track their study hours, service hours and participation points on GIN, a coordination app for sororities and fraternities.

“We want members that like our purpose, and who also follow it,” said Kelly.

Like family, members keep up with one another’s lives, sometimes even the seemingly minor details. As they walked to dinner, Shotwell asked Kelly how her sister’s bulldog was doing.

“No one’s a stranger in this organization,” said Walls.