Hello and welcome back to another edition of Conversations with Karla! In the last edition, we discussed the positive and negative ways social media can affect one’s college experience. This week, I met with Sofia Papanikolaou, a fourth-semester physiology and neurobiology student, to talk about what it’s like seeing Greek life depicted on social media as an active member.
Papanikolaou explained how when she went through the recruitment process, she did not feel negatively influenced by social media because she had first-hand accounts from people she trusted. Her mother, Mary Jane Papanikolaou (‘92), was a member of the Pi Beta Phi chapter and had the strongest influence on her mindset going through rush. Seeing her mother upholding amazing friendships with other members after all these years made Papanikolaou feel hopeful about finding her place among Greek life on campus.
During the recruitment process, potential new members visit various houses and speak to active members to get a sense of what each sorority values and determine whether those values align with theirs. As the four-day-long process goes on, PNMs narrow down their choices and visit fewer houses, one of which they eventually (potentially) join. “I loved the recruitment process,” Papanikolaou said, “I got to meet so many people even outside of the sorority I eventually joined, so I felt like it connected me to the campus.”
Papanikolaou became a member of the Alpha Phi sorority during her first semester at the University of Connecticut and now serves as the chapter’s Panhellenic Delegate.
Every August, social media is taken over by people going through the recruitment process within the infamous University of Alabama’s Greek life. Two different social media user personalities arise during this time of year: those who love it and those who hate it. TikTok creators such as University of Alabama student Kylan Darnell make Greek life seem like the ideal path to pursue in college, while other creators such as Eli Rallo question the integrity of “sisterhood.”
“For me, [Greek life] has been such a positive aspect of my college experience so far, so it makes me sad that other people are influenced by what social media says,” Papanikolaou shared. She explained how the negative perspective on Greek life that social media can portray discourages people from rushing and doesn’t allow them to potentially have the same positive experience that she did. “It does make me sad because I want other people to feel that way. I want people to find a community, find people that support them and just have a good college experience,” she said.
Papanikolaou recognized that some social media representations of Greek life in different parts of the country make it out to be very exclusive. When asked about what initiatives the UConn Panhellenic Council takes to combat this negativity, she shared that it focuses on emphasizing their aim for inclusivity. One of the ways they do this is through their Greek Expo, an event which anyone can attend and where they can speak to representatives from any of the organizations. She also made the point that the rush experience at UConn is highly different than that of SEC schools and how it’s depicted there.
“I think that the Panhellenic Council does a really good job at showing how Greek life here is a lot more unified and integrated than perhaps at other schools,” she said. One of the ways it does this is by holding events for all the Greek life organizations to attend, such as Carniville.
Papanikolaou advises those who may not have had the best rush experience in the past to not feel discouraged. “You can go through recruitment multiple times,” she said. “I will say Greek life is a great way to meet people, but there are also so many other ways to do that; there are so many clubs.” She shared how she attributes a lot of her positive college experience not only to being involved in Greek life but also to her involvement in other activities such as the UConn Dance Company, or to simply just meeting people from her dorm floor.
That’s all for this week’s Conversations with Karla! See you next week when we’ll be discussing the difference between the male and female experience on social media.