Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Most forms of college Greek Life were founded on exclusionary practices that favor those who can adhere to high costs of participation along with certain standards of conformity in terms of appearance, social class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and more. Because of this, it is no surprise that participants in this system are predominately white. While Greek Life continues to exist on campus, we have a responsibility to do all we can to change the way Greek Life operates in order to make it a more inclusive, diverse, and overall positive space on campus.
Tri Delta is deeply committed to promoting and fostering an environment that allows all people to bring their true and authentic selves. Gamma Eta recognizes our role in perpetuating the standards above and is deeply committed to implementing actionable tasks to combat the systemic racism that our organization was founded upon. To work toward this goal and to hold ourselves accountable, we have implemented a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as part of chapter leadership. This committee will assist Gamma Eta to partner with other on-campus organizations and engage in conversation, to co-host and organize members of Tri Delta to attend events, and to distribute educational materials, such as links to Zoom calls, articles, documentaries, and TED Talks.
Today, we acknowledge our past and continue to work towards bettering ourselves. Diversity and inclusion are vital to the success of any organization. Together we can make Tri Delta an organization that enriches our campus community and contributes to a diverse global society. The conversations we’ve had over the past few months have been long overdue. It is time to take action to educate our members and create a more inclusive and anti-racist community. This is only a first step; as we continue to learn and engage in conversations around racism in our community, we will refine and expand upon our commitments. Tri Delta was nationally founded on the belief that we should be "kind alike to all and think more of the woman's inner self and character than of her personal appearance." Our chapter works to uphold this founding motto and values the individuality of each of our sisters. We recognize the importance of speaking out against injustice and inequality around the world, in our country, and within our own community.
Main Purpose of DEI Committee
- Help members feel comfortable within Gamma Eta as well as in our individual interactions with those outside of our chapter (both on and off campus)
- Continue the chapter’s education on topics pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion
What We are Working on This Semester
- Collaborating with cultural clubs and other organizations on campus
- Working to improve recruitment practices to make the process more inclusive
- Educating Gamma Eta of discriminatory and racist past of historically white sororities
- Continuing our chapter-wide conversations on racial issues and related movies, articles, podcasts, events, etc.
- Focusing on a value-based, authentic representation of our chapter on social media
- Keeping the chapter passionate and motivated about current topics
- Giving all chapter members the opportunity to share their input and opinions on DEI-related issues and discussions
If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives, please contact our DEI Chair, Julia Loten, at julia.loten@richmond.edu.