Lyra Tiffin (middle) enjoys the company of her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters. Tiffin’s sisterhood inspired her to implement academic success in her new Panhellenic position. Photo courtesy of Lyra Tiffin
Undergraduate women who are interested in joining one of Pepperdine University’s seven active sorority chapters go through a rigorous recruitment process that aims to foster community and academic excellence.
Sororities such as Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG), Delta Delta Delta (TriDelta) and Gamma Phi Beta (GPhi) provide their members with various opportunities, resources and events that support their educational pursuits.
Senior TriDelta President Niccie Jamitkowski said she made sure everyone knew they had resources in their chapter to lean on when academics got overwhelming.
“Being in a leadership role — in multiple facets — you have to understand and meet people where they are,” Jamitkowski said. “You have to know that everybody is at different academic levels and help them reach success at their own paces.”
Kapp-ing up with Panhells Education
Effective leadership often begins with passion for the position.
When sophomore Lyra Tiffin assumed her role as Panhellenic Vice President of Education, she said she immediately poured enthusiastic commitment into her role.
“I’ll be responsible for helping to collect and distribute GPA data and working with the individual chapters for academic success celebrations,” Tiffin said.
Tiffin said she is an active member of KKG, where even small activities during regular chapter meetings are intentional efforts to ensure every sister feels appreciated and seen.
“By submitting any good grades or projects you’ve done, you are entered in a raffle,” Tiffin said. “From that raffle, your name can be drawn and win prizes. It’s so fun, I love it.”
Tiffin said as she assumes her role as Panhellenic Vice President of Education, she is determined to bring fresh ideas to the position while continuing to represent and support the Panhellenic community as a whole.
“The biggest thing I want to implement is sorority alumni resources,” Tiffin said. “I am working to create a catalog of alumni who are willing to be reached out to; it would be cool to have access to women who work in the fields that others are interested in.”
Tiffin is motivated to help others outside of her own sorority because of the high value placed on academics in her chapter, she said.
“Something I really love about being in Greek life and being in a sorority is I feel like everybody is very supportive of personal and academic successes and everybody gets really excited for you,” Tiffin said.
Academic DDDetermination
Jamitkowski said her role as president in TriDelta helped her learn how to manage her time well, prevent procrastination and comprehend the responsibility that comes with being relied upon, all of which improved her academic achievement.
“In an academic setting, if you don’t do something on time, the max people you’re letting down are like six,” Jamitkowski said. “In a sorority, if you don’t get something done on time, you’re letting down 100 people and messing up the operations of 100 people and that’s really scary.”
In Jamitowski’s sorority, collaboration is very important, and she said the importance of education is never overlooked and always addressed.
“I’m very collaborative with our director of academic excellence and then our entire academic committee, which is comprised of a couple of other officers,” Jamitowski said. “We are very communicative about our goals for the chapter, how we want to support our girls in their academics and just in their everyday life as well.”
Jamitowski said she has helped create an environment where her sisters can be open enough to ask for academic support and for it to not feel embarrassing or a punishment.
“Our academic committee is primarily a member support committee,” Jamitowski said. “We help the girls gain tools, strategies and time management tips and sometimes we assign mentors as well, depending on majors, to help get them back on track.”
Phi Me To Excellence
The Panhellenic Sororities blend creativity and education to provide members with the resources they need to meet academic expectations, while prioritizing a supportive, safe environment that encourages success for every sister.
“An entering first-year student must have a minimum 2.8 high school cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale, or other students must have a minimum 2.4 college or university grade point average to be eligible for pledging,” according to the Rules and Procedures handout of GPhi.
Gphi Chapter Adviser Mary Rockelman said she works closely with Adri Sahakian, Education Vice President (VP) of GPhi, to check in with sisters and ensure their individual academic and personal needs are met.
“She [Adri Sahakian] and I work with members if they are struggling and not just academically,” Rockelman said. “We always create a solution, a plan to get them back on track, no matter what.”
Under the Education VP, an Academic Chairwoman organizes an event called Scholarship Tea. Rockelman said it was her favorite academic event when she was a collegiate.
“We do it every fall around Waves Weekend so parents can join,” Rockelman said. “It’s a beautiful way of celebrating the academic achievements of all our sisters and a great time to celebrate with family as well.”
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Contact Soliel Lara Aponte via email: soliel.lara@pepperdine.edu or via Instagram @soliellarajournalism