By Kasey Ruth
All eight sorority chapters of SMU joined together Monday evening to turn a listening ear to David Stollman’s message. David spoke to members about the true meaning of what it is to be in a sorority while stressing the importance to break the stereotypes that go along with wearing Greek letters. During his speech, he kept the audience engaged by confronting serious topics in a funny, yet interactive and moving style.
“Listening to the speaker made me re-evaluate what it means to be apart of a sorority and the sisterhood I joined. It is so easy to get caught up in the social aspect of sorority and fraternity life—and he was a great reminder of what the core values of sisterhood is all about,” said SMU Greek member Molly West.
Stollman pushed the members to confront the stereotypes that are thrown their way. He said the stereotypes for fraternities were alcoholism, rapist, poor grades, hazing, fighting, vandalism and drugs. The stereotypes he provided of sororities were promiscuous girls, dumb, partiers and many more unflattering stereotypes.
“There may be some people that fall into these stereotypes, but there are many more that uphold the values that David Stollman spoke about,” said Greek member Mia Wennick.
David stressed the five important values each chapter should obtain: fellowship, leadership, academics, service and morality.
SMU Panhellenic sponsored this event, and VP of Programming Sarah Lynn Woodruff told The Daily Campus why they brought in David Stollman for the seventh year in a row.
“David brings a new perspective to sorority life. He says the things that no one else will say which really gets everyone in the room thinking. He inspires those that want to care about the core values of sorority life. He challenges everyone to be the best they can be and brings up tough topics that SMU Panhellenic sororities are currently facing. He has a powerful message that I believe every Greek member on this campus should hear,” Woodruff said.
David says members need to “buy in or GET OUT!” He encourages those who are said to bring down a chapter to re-evaluate what their founders consider respectable.
When asked what Stollman hopes students at SMU learned from his program, he said, “I hope people in my program walk away with a renewed challenge to live up to what their organizations values are truly about and to meet those obligations in their personal lives.”
Stollman said he enjoys speaking to SMU Greek life because “he thinks the Panhellenic here has great potential that they are close to fully realizing. He believes what the sororities here are about, and that they are making women better women. If they decided to actively challenge some of their problems– they can do a better job at that.”
