By Olivia McLeod
Posters were plastered around campus, inviting the women of Ryerson to “go Greek” and join Delta Psi Delta, one of very few sororities that cater to the school — and the only national one.
The sorority was founded in 1991 at Carleton University. From there, members have started new chapters at five different schools across Ontario and Newfoundland – three of which were founded in the last three years. The Toronto branch, known as the Gamma chapter, accepts students from all universities in the Toronto area.
Brittany Jung, president of Delta Psi Delta’s Toronto chapter and a fourth-year student at York University, said that being a part of a national sorority is a way to have connections across Canada.
“Even though we have our own separate chapters throughout Canada, we’re all still sisters, we’re all the same sorority,” Jung said. “We’ll always reach out to our sisters [across Canada], spend some time with them and send them some Toronto love.”
Jung said that theirs is unlike other sororities in the region.
“Many of the downtown sororities cater only to U of T … the benefit of us being national is that we can accept and build these friendships with girls from all different schools.” Out of the sorority’s 40 active members, between 10 and 15 are Ryerson students, with a few on the administration board.
Charlotte Huang, sorority treasurer and a third-year accounting and law student, is one of them.
She said that she would like for Ryerson to recognize sororities.
“I know Ryerson’s all about diversity and I feel like our sorority is very diverse … we have so many different types of girls, different religions, different cultures,” she said. “I feel like Ryerson should be more open to the Greek community … hopefully in the future they are.”
Last Friday marked the end of their recruitment period, which means their social calendar is now in full swing. Many of their festivities include helping charities such as the MS society, women’s shelters and the Daily Bread Food Bank.
Their next plan is the “Trick or Eat” food drive, where they will spend their Halloween collecting items for the food bank.
“I know there’s a lot of stereotypes about sororities and how they’re portrayed in movies, but honestly it’s nothing like that,” Huang said.
“Half my friends are from a sorority [and] half aren’t … and they’re just the exact same girls. It’s not like sorority girls act any different, I know there’s a stereotype for that but it’s completely incorrect.”
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