“I am so humbled by the love, support and community we have already fostered.” By: Georgia Beta JEAN ANN MEIER I came to Emory in a rather untraditional way — through the QuestBridge Foundation. The foundation seeks to connect highachieving, low-income students with full four-year scholarships at top universities across the country. Moving across the country to a school where the majority of students come from high-income families was a shock for me, and even more shocking was how driven each and every one of them was. At first, I was feeling discouraged and disconnected from the campus culture. The most discouraging part was that Emory didn’t have a Pi Phi chapter. I was named after my aunt, Texas Alpha JEAN CROW CHEATHAM, and I associate all of her grace, warmth, strength and dignity with the Fraternity. I had always been drawn to the image of the classy Pi Phi woman, especially when my oldest cousin KATE CHEATHAM joined Texas Gamma. But a few months later, when my friends and I were sitting around before our pre-recruitment event talking about our expectations, I was absolutely thrilled to learn Pi Phi would be colonizing a new chapter on the Emory campus. I didn’t want to close myself off from all the options, but I realized then I didn’t belong in any of the other sororities — I belonged in Pi Phi. Flash forward six months and I am serving as Vice President of Fraternity Development for the Georgia Beta Chapter and absolutely loving it. Everyone came into the chapter on equal footing; there were no expectations or stereotypes which to conform. Every woman I have met has been part of amazing things: the Emory Miracle Network, the First Generation Low Income Partners (FLIP) and so much more. I am so humbled by the love, support and community we have already fostered. People are bursting with passion and ideas for how to build the chapter. The women of my chapter have been nothing but supportive, giving love with criticism and discussing ideas for the future with grace. Looking to the future, I think our chapter will definitely be one to join as we empower each other, seek to live Pi Phi values and encourage Emory’s “Community of Care.”
Top: From left, Georgia Betas KATE BATTAGLIA, SARAH BAILEY, CHELSEA LEE and AHMI BAH. Middle: From left, Georgia Betas MEHVISH KHAN, ANNA BINTINGER, JESSICA YANG, SRISHTI MALHOTRA and VARSHA SRINIVASAN. Bottom: From left, Georgia Betas SHIRLEY MA, GILLIAN VERALLI, EMMA-LEIGH CALHOUN and SAMANTHA HUANG.
THE ARROW | SUMMER 2016
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