Greek Life: Sororities

Alpha Sigma Alpha has been a part of the UAA community for more than 20 years. Hayden Inman was voted for president in December and shared some of her experiences with The Northern Light. 

Inman said she does not feel confined in the role as she oversees everything in the sorority. Being the president helps her connect with each of her sisters in Alpha Sigma Alpha. 

Inman explained that everyone in the sorority is very close, with no worry of “cliques” and that Alpha Sigma Alpha is a big sisterhood without the pressures of falling into needed roles. 

She said the most challenging part of running a sorority is knowing what to do, since each fraternity and sorority on campus functions so differently. 

According to Inman, in order to see change, leaders will run into uncomfortable situations to figure out what needs to be done for the sorority, while keeping a professional yet friendly relationship with the other women in leadership positions. 

As a sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha often volunteers off campus with The Covenant House, Girls on the Run, Alaska and the Special Olympics. They have plans to volunteer at the Night to Shine dance with Tri Sigma, the other sorority at UAA. 

The dance is sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation as a prom night for people with disabilities. The sorority also volunteers on campus if there is an event. Students can also find Alpha Sigma Alpha tabling in the Student Union to share their message with new students.

The sisters have study nights with Tri Sigma most Friday nights. These study nights are open to any students. Inman said, “It’s just a good time when more people are there.”

Inman mentioned a Greek life event called Greek Week, which is a week-long event among all the sororities and fraternities on campus. They have fundraising competitions, olympic games and more activities throughout the week.

There are quarter socials twice a semester when all the sororities and fraternities on campus gather and plan an event. In October of last semester, they had a Halloween night with food, games and festive costumes.

According to Inman they have fall recruitment in September, which is a formal recruitment process. However, throughout the spring semester the sorority takes part in Continuous Open Bidding, meaning sisters can continue to recruit their friends to the sorority after attending a social event together.

Inman shared that when she first came to UAA, she never planned on joining a sorority. 

“Who even knew that UAA had a sorority or even multiple sororities?” she said.

Inman said her roommate at the time invited her to sorority recruitment, where she felt she should become more involved on campus. 

“Joining a sorority was exactly what I needed to be able to get involved and feel like I had a community no matter where I was,” she said. 

“If you’re in Eagle River, the Valley, or Anchorage … we get people all over the state of Alaska, you’re gonna have a friend and somebody to be with,” said Inman.

She concluded with, “There’s always things that are going on and if you’re nervous to join a sorority or if you are very put off by the whole fraternity sorority life, I would just say keep an open mind because it’s not really what you think it is. You do more volunteering, you’re not paying for friends or paying for bridesmaids, you're just enjoying your time in college and getting through with people who have very similar thinking as you.”

Sigma Sigma Sigma, or Tri Sigma for short, was the first thread of Greek Life to land on UAA’s campus, making them the oldest sorority. They were founded on Dec. 13, 1997.

Tri Sigma president Kasia Standifer and chapter success and alumni manager Lauryn Worely explained what their sorority life is like. 

Worely joined the sorority at the start of fall semester 2024. She described the best part of being in the sorority as being able to make meaningful connections quickly and grow a community, especially during their fall semester weekend retreat at an AirBnB in Eagle River. 

Worley said, “I know that sounds like such a cliche ‘oh I got to spend so much time and we got to know each other better’ but it’s true.”

Worley said a challenge she faces in the sorority is “the business of life” where scheduling, time management and attending campus events can become difficult. 

Standifer was elected president last December and has been in Tri Sigma since 2021. Social events for Tri Sigma include tabling in the Student Union and spreading awareness for other campus and community events. The sorority has also been trying to become more involved with the UAA community this year. 

Tri Sigma begins recruitment during the fall semester and holds presentations to discuss what the sorority is about, their values and history to inform prospective sisters. 

Later in the semester, they have a sisterhood night, where they play games and have ice breakers to bond with anyone interested in joining. After a week of fall recruitment, they have Continuous Open Bidding throughout the year.

Worely described the first night of the recruitment process as a little overwhelming, but fun due to all the excitement  other sisters had in her joining. For the rest of the week, as Worley continued to bond with the sisters, she knew Tri Sigma was the inclusive community she wanted to be a part of. 

Standifer talked about the Night to Shine dance on Feb. 7, where the sisters would be assigned to party members as “buddies.”

“We’ll essentially be their dates for the night,” said Standifer.

Both Standifer and Worely  discussed Greek Week, which will take place from March 30 until April 5. The event will be almost a full week of activities, primarily to help the UAA fraternities and sororities raise money for their philanthropies.

Standifer said the fraternities are planning to have a dunk tank and a pie in the face activity to help raise money for their organizations.

Some games throughout Greek Week may be a Jeopardy and trivia night, canoe battleship in the Avis Alaska Sports Complex pool and other fun activities. Saturday of that week is when their Greek Olympics will take place. Typical games would be tug of war, graveyard dash and more. The last night of the week is for awards where members of Greek Life dress up and share a meal together.

Tri Sigma does not have their own house. Standifer explained, “There are many different reasons, but one of the main ones is UAA is more so a commuter campus so it wouldn’t really make sense and it’s a smaller campus compared to those in the lower 48.”

Standifer mentioned the Living Learning Community, where each fraternity and sorority would get their own Mac apartment. Members would be able to live in the Macs and also have chapter meetings. 

She said many members of Greek life already live on campus and many have expressed an interest in having their own area. 

Standifer said, “Should everything go to plan, it should be implemented in the fall starting next semester.”

Worely explained sorority life, in addition to strengthening peers, “I feel like there’s a lot of misconceptions surrounding what a sorority is or isn’t, and I feel like, while stereotypes stem from somewhere, here at UAA, the sorority stereotype I feel like is far from accurate. Our sorority is all about empowering women. ”Worley said Tri Sigma does not fall into the stereotype of partying sororities and other common misconceptions.