The Beta Omega chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho crossed 14 ladies in front of the Men’s Gymnasium last Saturday. This is the first time in five years that the sorority has been on campus.
Criminal justice graduate student Andrea Dillon from Tucson, Ariz., brought the chapter back. Dillon crossed Beta Omega Sigma graduate chapter in Shreveport last spring. “I’m excited,” said Dillon. “It has been a long time coming … It was a long road to get here.”
“This is what I’ve always wanted to do,” said paralegal studies senior Jacqueline Carrington of Victorville, Calif. “It’s in my family.”
Working on Sigma Gamma Rho’s return took a year and a half, Carrington said. She stated that the hard work was worth it for the sisterhood and undergraduate Greek experience.
While all the ladies are ecstatic, deference is given to Dillon.
“I’m proud of Andrea first,” said art junior Danielle Jackson of Lake Charles.
Jackson said that since the organization was absent from campus the rewards would be 10 times better now.
The ladies are aware of stereotypes and a lack of knowledge about their sisterhood. Many people don’t even know Sigma Gamma Rho exists in the South, Carrington said.
Sigma Gamma Rho was founded on a White university in 1922. Founding was easier for the other organizations on Black campuses, she said.
“Our founders had to actually struggle to get everything they wanted to accomplish,” Carrington said.
Being back at Grambling State University is “worth every second. If I had to do it again, I would. I’m really excited to be back on the yard,” said political science/pre-law senior Jazmin Sinclair of San Antonio, Texas.
“A lot of sororities take their letters and don’t use them to their potential. They neglect their letters,” said Sinclair. “Sigma Gamma Rho values their womanhood and knows how to stand on that rather than on their looks. It’s about what’s on the inside.”
The sorority emphasizes quality over quantity, said Jackson.
“You can’t have 100 girls and have a bond with them,” said Jackson. “S G Rhos are leaders, powerful women … ”
“We’re not here to make women. They are already women when they come to us. We make them better women,” said Dillon.
To women who are interested in joining the sorority Dillon said they must do their research and find out which sorority is the best fit.
“You can make S G Rho what it needs to be,” said Jackson.
Sigma Gamma Rho has more than 85,000 members. It is a nonprofit service and social organization.