 "Photo: Photo Courtesy of Beta Beta Gama")
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Forget what you thought you knew about the ditzy sorority girl-cheerleading captain, drama queen and all-around party girl in a pink mini.
Today’s sorority girls are out to change that image.
“We want to end all the stereotypes about sorority girls being materialistic airheads who like to wear pink and party all the time,” new sister Keisha Pagdilao said.
Pagdilao, a 2008 pledge to Beta Beta Gamma (BBG), is one among the sorority’s 20 active members and seven pledges for the 2009-2010 academic year. The senior, who returned to Hawai‘i to attend Mānoa after a short stint in Colorado, admits to being biased against sorority girls, but she says that any preconceived notions were dispelled by the prompt response she received to her online inquiry and during the information sessions held prior to the pledge period.
What really got Paglidao hooked on Greek life, however, was the new bond she was able to share with BBG’s diverse membership.
“When I returned from Colorado (State) University, I wanted to increase my campus involvement,” Paglidao said. “My outlook was totally different back then; I thought all sorority girls were airheads, party animals and blonde. When I got to know them, I really liked the girls ... none of us has the same personality – everyone is very diverse, and I liked that.”
BBG president Joanne Allagonez was impressed with the effort the BBG officers put into getting to know her. The fact that she found herself to be the front-runner in a scholarship competition early on in her sorority career only added to that.
“I knew that I was the finalist for the scholarship, but what really impressed me was the amount of time that the president and vice president spent in taking me out to lunch and getting to know who I am,” Allagonez said. “That they wanted to establish something real made me feel good.”
BBG, which is locally chartered, is what its members refer to as a uniquely formed “cosmopolitan Greek organization,” with Mānoa as its only chapter.
“It was originally started as a social club for men and women in 1947, then the men left in 1948 to start their own fraternity, and the women started a sorority in 1948,” Allagonez explained. “It was mainly an ethnic club – Koreans, mostly, for the first 15 years, but by 1962 it became more like it is today.”
Beta Beta Gamma has also taken a leadership role in the Mānoa community, awarding $10,000 grants annually to local charities. Past BBG grant awardees have included Hawai‘i Meals on Wheels in 2007, the Learning Disabilities Association of Hawai‘i in 2008, and, most recently, the Children’s Alliance of Hawai‘i in 2009. Besides these grants, BBG has partnered with the American Red Cross and the Hawai‘i Foodbank with blood and canned food drives.
The sisterhood also provides a safe haven and a place to share the blessings of the season through their annual Thanksgiving dinner, held for those away from their families at this time of year.
Through their volunteer work, the women of Beta Beta Gamma know that they can rely on both their sisters and the sorority’s alumnae for advice and guidance.
“Getting to know the alums really helps out (because they’re always) giving advice and encouraging you to achieve your goals,” said Sherisse Wong, an elementary education major. “It’s so easy to make a connection, despite any age difference … they are like life role models.”
Allagonez stressed that BBG is trying to challenge traditional sorority stereotypes by encouraging its sisters to be both community and academic leaders.
“That really is a misnomer, that you can’t be in a sorority and be a scholar,” said Allagorez, herself a Presidential Scholar. “(Our) past two presidents are going to law school. We have Circuit Court Judge Karen Ahn, and the CEO of the American Red Cross, Coralie Matayoshi.
“They are alumnae who are very successful.”
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