[DSTRen13]

The next semester, while I was president of the school’s AIESEC chapter, one of the AIESEC members was president of the school’s Omega Phi Alpha chapter, and encouraged me to attend Rush after I commented on needing more female company (I lived on a predominantly male hall at a predominately male school). Rush was a one-night event, and I couldn’t make it (AIESEC again). She arranged for me to meet with a group of sisters for dinner instead, and, since she was cool (and she was the president, so that was a good sign, right?), I went. The girls at dinner were great and encouraging, but not pushy. After talking with them and learning some more about the org, I decided to pledge – I liked the idea of a service sorority (a clear-cut purpose that I could understand no problem) and I liked the sisters (a really laid-back, diverse group of women that were easy to talk to) – and no house, so no scary floral print! Being a part of OPhiA opened my eyes a bit to exactly what some of that “weird, Greek stuff” I hadn’t understood before was all about.

Fast forward to the next year. Walking through the Student Center of North Avenue Trade School, I happened to glance at a display case (like a store window display) featuring a sorority I had never heard of before, “Cookie”. The motto and other aims of the sorority really stood out to me, and I stopped and looked at the display for a minute. Realizing I was blocking traffic, I wrote down the letters and went about my way. Later, I looked up the organization online. I began to get excited about Cookie – I didn’t know that there were social sororities like this! I realized once I began looking at websites that Cookie was a black sorority. I had heard of black sororities, sort of – I knew that one of my favorite professors was a member of one – but I had never known any details about them before. I also had no idea if, being white, it would be acceptable for me to even to seek membership. Looking up information on the chapter of Cookie at my school, I discovered that the campus advisor was none other than my boss at one of my on-campus jobs, whom I adored. I hoped that she wouldn’t mind if I asked her about her sorority …