Sisterhood
The Panhellenic Community at Carnegie Mellon University has different ways to promote community and sisterhood across our chapters. Whether this be through engaging activities within our PIE Sessions or campus-wide activities, educational training sessions, or building alumni connections, there are ways our members extend their relationships beyond their individual chapters.
PIE Sessions
One of the greatest benefits of Panhellenic membership is being surrounded by impressive and passionate women. Members of the Panhellenic community show an incredible diversity in interests, including leadership in athletics, clubs, school government, and academic focuses ranging from STEM to the School of Drama. With the academic rigor of Carnegie Mellon’s curriculum along with other on and off campus commitments of our members, making time to create connections with all these incredible women, especially outside of one's own chapter, is often overlooked. Taking all of this into consideration, we made it our mission to reinvent PIE sessions, more formally called “Panhellenic Integration and Enrichment”. The focus of PIE Sessions is on stress relieving and enticing activities for members to have conversations with the greater Panhellenic community and build relationships between members who may not know one another.
In the past PIE sessions focused more on educational development for the community- which will still be included going forward, just in a different form. On the schedule for the upcoming semester are speakers and conversations focusing on privilege, feminist issues, and leadership as well as a resume workshop. We have also broadened the range to more than just an educational opportunity. Some sessions that members are already looking forward to will take the form of yard games and social activities to allow the community to meet each other in a comfortable setting. With assistance from the student wellness affairs office, other sessions will also focus on both staying active and maintaining mental health through activities like stress ball making, meditation, zumba and (possibly even) puppies! To get chapters more engaged with what they want out of the PIE sessions, we have also started in-house sessions where chapters can host a session within their own house, and attendees will receive half a PIE credit for their participation. This gives an extra opportunity for members to share their own personal interests and passions and to get close with other chapters.
Campus- Wide Activities
Booth
Booth is an event that happens during Spring Carnival each year which all six of our Panhellenic sororities participate in, but organizations begin planning long before the spring semester begins. Student organizations build free-standing structures around a theme chosen by the Spring Carnival Committee that is complete with immaculate designs, creative decorations, and interactive games.
Booth is an incredible experience for members as it allows sisters to get involved in many different ways. Each year, members contribute their individual talents in ways that let them showcase their skills while also connecting with other members within their chapter throughout the process.
If you would like to learn more about Booth, the traditions associated with it, and see a collection of past creations- check it out on https://www.springcarnival.org/booth.shtml!
Buggy
While fraternities and independent organizations have been competing in Sweepstakes (or Buggy) since the 1920's the first all women team was Kappa Kappa Gamma which raced for the first time in 2004. The team raced for two years using Ursula, a loner buggy, and they had both mens and women's teams race (and finish!) in 2004 and 2005.
Fifteen years later Delta Gamma formed another all women's buggy team featuring Fringe's Brazen, a loner buggy. In the same year Kappa Kappa Gamma paired with Kappa Sigma to form Kappa Kappa Sigma, the first paired sorority and fraternity paired team. While neither of the teams got the chance to race in 2020 due to the cancellation of race day. Outside of the two sorority teams many Panhellenic women contribute to Buggy as mechanics, drivers, and pushers for other organizations. To find out more about Buggy visit cmubuggy.org!
Alumni Network
The CMU Panhellenic Community has an expansive alumni network that supports our sisters in their personal and professional endeavors. Our members are able to connect with each other through a LinkedIn group that allows them to network with each other, and connect to a database containing internship and job information that alumni and current sisters have held/are holding.
We have alumni working at companies across different industries, such as Google, Facebook, Deloitte, McKinsey and Co., Amazon, Accenture, and Merck, among many others. There are also alumni pursuing Masters/PhD’s in a plethora of majors, and others who have been successful in their entrepreneurship ventures.
