Panhellenic Community
The Panhellenic Community at William & Mary is comprised of 10 out of 26 NPC chapters. In total, we have around 1,000 sorority members on campus at any time. This makes up roughly 1 in 4 female students at William & Mary. It is Panhellenic's role to support and advocate for the sorority member experience. Our council values and promotes the four core tenants of our fraternity & sorority life community - scholarship, leadership, service, and community and utilizes these to facilitate programs and initiatives. While there are new initiatives every semester, there are some that take place on an annual basis. Keep reading to learn more about some of our signature programs.
New Member Forum & Social
When joining a chapter, you join the largest women's interest community on campus. This means there always around 1000 women on campus that wear letters, just like you! Joining a chapter is a very exciting time, but it can also be very overwhelming. The New Member Forum and Social take place shortly after the joining process every semester and is an opportunity for you to meet other new members of the Panhellenic community. During the forum, you'll have the opportunity to learn more about the Panhellenic community, our values, and what opportunities you have. Most importantly though, this is a fun way to meet other new members of the Panhellenic community!
New Member Scholarships
Joining our Panhellenic community and a sorority is super exciting; however, it can also be very expensive, especially your first semester. One of the ways in which Panhellenic is working on providing better financial accessibility to chapters is through the New Member Scholarships. Each semester, new members have the ability to apply to one of the $250 scholarships that are available. Information for those will go out in multiple ways and you can apply for those on Tribelink. The one eligibility requirement for these scholarships is they you must apply the semester you become a new member. While we can not help offset the financial burden for everyone, we hope that it does help those who receive the award.
Panhellenic Yoga
If you are looking for a fun way to work out with other Panhellenic members, this may be just the thing for you! Every semester we offer sessions on a regular basis. This program takes place at no cost to you! It's a great way to meet more members of other chapters and to get your work out in. You do have to register for Panhellenic Yoga via the Panhellenic Council's Tribelink page as spots are limited each session.
Living Room Conversations
Over the past year the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council have hosted several successful Living Room Conversations (LRCs) for members of the fraternity and sorority life (FSL) community. You may ask yourself what is an LRC? As the name states, these are casual conversations facilitated around certain topics. Some of the past topics included: cancel culture, student debt, building relationships with departments, anxiety around elections, and many other important topics. Living Room Conversations provide a designated space for both fraternity and sorority members to come together to have conversations around some difficult topics.
Read, Watch, Listen
Read, Watch, Listen is an initiative that was developed by a chapter member to bring attention to differing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging topics. Panhellenic adopted this program and now shares out a new version of Read, Watch, Listen each month to highlight things pertinent to current needs or themes of the month. This program is a great way for Panhellenic members to expand their knowledge and gain access to resources through modern and relevant things.
Service
As one of the community's core tenants, service and philanthropy is every important to us both on a chapter level and at the council level. While there are some opportunities hosted just for Panhellenic members, every semester Panhellenic and IFC join forces to facilitate programming for the Arc of Greater Williamsburg. FSL has had a 20+ year partnership with the Arc and facilities the Arc Fall Dance and the Arc Carnival every year. These are some of our most fun events every year and are a great opportunity for students to come together to volunteer.
Another signature program our council helps facilitate is Trick or Treat on the Row. Every year, fraternities and sororities partner up to hand out candy to children of the greater Williamsburg community around Halloween. Hundreds of community members stop by in costumes and give us their best 'Trick or Treat'.
Women of Excellence Scholarships
Scholarship is one of our community's core tenants. While there are a number of ways we promote academics, Panhellenic also sponsors several scholarships for dues. The current member equivalent of the New Member Scholarship is the Women of Excellence Scholarships available which are for current members every semester. There are several $250 ones available on an application basis. Once again, information will go for those at the beginning of each semester.
Health & Wellness
Health & Wellness is a very important topic in our Panhellenic community! Being a college student can be while learning how to navigate bring an adult can be overwhelming. Panhellenic hopes to provide information and access to resources for all members and provides opportunities for community members to engage in grab & goes, workshops about stress management and mental health, as well as other great programming.
Are you interested in proposing an initiative or want to stay current on Panhellenic's events. Follow @WMPanhellenic on Instagram or check out the Panhellenic Council Tribelink page to learn about upcoming events and initiatives!
