Panhel launches Penn Sorority Life Blog

Penn sorority life may not have the scandals and drama portrayed on television shows like Greek ­— but that’s a good thing, according to Penn’s newest bloggers.

This semester, the Penn Panhellenic Council launched the Penn Sorority Life Blog — a blog designed to give freshman women who are considering rushing a sneak-peek into the life of Penn sorority girls.

The blog currently has three contributors — Andrea Highbloom, a College sophomore and member of Sigma Delta Tau; Carolyne Volpe, a College junior and member of Delta Delta Delta; and Abby Schwartz, a College senior, member of Phi Sigma Sigma and Daily Pennsylvanian opinion blog editor.

According to Volpe, Panhel wanted a way to give prospective Greeks another view into sorority life at Penn and a blog written by sorority members seemed like the perfect solution.

“We are hoping to cover all aspects of sorority life, from social events to philanthropy and everything in between,” she said.

After Panhel decided to start the blog, applications were sent out via e-mail to all Panhel members in August.

Volpe and Highbloom both applied and were accepted. Schwartz joined the two in September after being asked to contribute to the blog by her chapter president.

“Coming from an all-girls high school, I knew I wanted to join a sorority when I came to Penn, but I didn’t know what to expect,” Volpe said. “A blog would have been nice.”

Volpe said along with the goal of giving potential sisters a look into sorority life, she hopes to dispel common stereotypes.

“When you look at the way that sororities are portrayed in the media, like in the television show Greek, it leads to a lot of misconceptions and stereotyping,” she added. “The blog is a good opportunity to dismiss these beliefs.”

Schwartz agreed and said she hopes the blog will change people’s minds about sorority life.

“Sororities at Penn are a lot different from the stereotype of sororities at southern state schools, where the chapters have over 300 members,” she said. “I’d like to show that the Penn Panhellenic community is much smaller and more tightly-knit.”

She added that she hopes this will encourage more women to rush this spring.

According to Volpe, the blog has been very successful and is now averaging over 50 views each day. In addition to using the blog to shed light on Greek life, Panhel is employing it as a venue for advertising for both social and philanthropic events.

Highbloom summed up a sentiment shared by all of the bloggers: “I hope it’s helpful to interested freshmen and gives them an opportunity to ask any questions they have about Greek life at Penn.”

The blog can be found at pennsororitylife.blogspot.com.

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