Episode Description: 

Welcome back to Corona College! On this episode, we cover how Greek Life has adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes one organization has implemented for its members. My name is Dee Gillingham, I am a senior and a part of Greek Life at Stetson myself, and am still currently living on campus, studying in isolation. Today we’re speaking to Brittani Smith, a junior and the Chapter President of Alpha Xi Delta. Topics include transitioning from in-person to online chapter meetings and sisterhood events, and how both Stetson and Alpha Xi Delta’s nationals handled the situation from campus closing to continuing enrichment for sisters online.

The students of Stetson University’s Journalism Studio Spring 2020 class have come together to give you Corona College. In our best effort to represent students from each student population we have created a six-episode podcast to open up the discussion about how COVID-19 has completely disrupted our college experience. You’ll hear from commuters, international students, athletes, greek life affiliates, and student employees. We have created a platform for students to be emotional and honest about this unprecedented experience.

Episode Transcript: 

[Music]

Dee Gillingham 0:06  

Hello, and welcome to this episode of Corona College. We’re covering how students at Stetson University and across the United States have had their lives flipped upside down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we’re covering student leaders in Greek life and how social distancing has shaped the future for Stetsons organizations and students alike. To start, my name is Dee Gillingham. I am a senior at Stetson, and I’m still currently residing on campus studying in isolation. Let’s see how one sorority has adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic so far.

Dee Gillingham 0:45  

Thanks for speaking with me today.Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your involvement with your organization?

Brittani Smith 0:52  

Hello, my name is Brittani Smith and I am Chapter President of Alpha Xi Delta at Stetson University. I’m currently residing with my parents back at home in Deland, Florida.

Dee Gillingham 1:00

What was your initial response to the news of the pandemic regarding your organization?

Brittani Smith 1:05

I was really nervous initially, just because there was hardly any guidance everyone, everyone was kind of up in the air on what we were doing, both from nationals and on Stetson’s campus, everything was kind of in limbo, we were just going with the flow as far as what was relayed from the government. So we were really just trying to do the best with what we had and the information that was given day by day. 

Dee Gillingham 1:27

Can you describe the steps we took in facilitating action between your nationals, the school and your members? 

Brittani Smith 1:36

So initially, I called our national team lead who is a representative that sent for nationals who kind of oversees our chapter. And I just had like a phone call with her and also one of our on campus advisors, just to kind of be on the same mindset and see what was going on and start to brainstorm potential ideas for like going forward. And so our national team lead kind of just gave me reassurance that everything was going to be okay. Even though nationals didn’t have the answers yet that they were working on them, which was really nice because again, we are all kind of lost in the situation. And it’s just really difficult to move forward and plan. But again, I just kind of brainstormed with the higher administration and figured out a plan that we could still keep members engaged and still have a successful end of the school year. 

Dee Gilligham 2:24

What changes have you made so far? 

Brittani Smith 2:27

So one thing I do is for our executive team, who we used to meet weekly on Wednesdays, obviously in person, and we’ve now moved to Zoom calls, just to kind of discuss further, there’s not much to plan for this semester, other than philanthropy stuff, which we’ve all moved online. But something that we’ve kind of started to plan for is our APR that got pushed back. So like our annual reporting that is like sent to Nationals. Normally on May 1, it got pushed back to May 31. And then we’re also trying to do some calendar planning for next semester in hopes that we return. So things are kind of as normal. And then we also will be doing a chapter meeting just to kind of get members to be on the same page and see each other again, like face to face. So we’re still engaging with members just virtually. 

Dee Gillingham 3:14

How do you feel Stetson handled the situation regarding organizations on campus?

Brittani Smith 3:20  

Honestly, I think it was probably the best that we were able to do with the information we were given. Just like with our national platform, it was really difficult to make quick decisions that were beneficial for all that were involved regarding the information that we had from the government from the CDC. So with information that we were given, I think it was beneficial to decisions they made. 

Dee Gillingham 3:41

How do you feel your nationals handled the situation? 

Brittani Smith 3:43

I’d say about the , but they gave us I feel like a little more information up front. And I was honestly really shocked when I would send them emails. I didn’t really expect a response back just because I’m sure they were overloaded with questions from other members. But they still gave me their time of day in saying that they were working on it, that they had planned and that they would release information as it came. And as they were able.

Dee Gillingham 4:07  

Do you feel you were prepared as a student leader for situation a like this?

Brittani Smith 4:13

To the best of my ability, yes. Obviously, you can’t plan for everything. This is not something I would have ever planned for. But I feel like with my strengths, as well as my weaknesses, I was able to balance them and still be able to maintain some kind of positivity, both to my exec team and the chapter reassuring them that everything was gonna be okay. It was just gonna take 

some time.

Dee Gillingham 4:31

How has your role changed at all, if any?

Brittani Smith 4:33

I feel like it’s gotten a little more relaxed. To an extent, obviously, we don’t have the stress of on campus. All the drama and all of the issues that may evolve while being in person. But of course, there’s still things that happen behind the scenes as far as making sure things are planned. If people want to suspend their membership, and then just again, being talking to Nationals, and still planning and being that person that people can come to and it’s a little more difficult for people to realize that I’m still here, since we don’t see each other every day, but still encouraging members to come talk to me. 

Dee Gillingham 5:05

You mentioned a chapter meeting this weekend, in what ways have you worked to keep members active and engaged in this time of isolation. 

Brittani Smith 5:14

So one thing that we do is we have like a Facebook platform page that we use. And so we will interact on there and we’ll give updates and different things like that. And so this past week, I actually went ahead and put like a little phrase that was like something about Wednesday and just checking in with you guys or with the members, excuse me, and just making sure that they were like still, okay, to an extent. And for those members that weren’t doing so well with the different isolation situations that sisters can reach out to them. The exec team has also kind of took a few members under their wings per each of them and just kind of reached out to them, done some different workout groups with them or different, like tic tocs just as fun things like that. And we’ve also done like a Netflix party to kind of get members back together, engaged. And just remembering that we are sisterhood even though we’re not together, we can still be together in a different aspect. 

Dee Gillingham 6:06

Do you think members are responding well to your efforts and the changes that have been made? 

Brittani Smith 6:12

Um, it’s a little hard to say because it’s just like difficult considering we’re all in different time zones or different places in general. And not everyone uses social media as much as I may, I think for what we have and the information that’s being given. I think the response is well, obviously, there’s always room for improvement, but for what we have and what the situation we’re in, I think it’s pretty well.

Dee Gillingham 6:32

What impact do you think this might have on next semester, if any, or even the summer months?

Brittani Smith 6:40

I honestly think that it’s going to be a little bit for us to bounce back as far as getting a new sense of normalcy. Considering this is going to be something I feel like we’re going to experience for quite some time. And just the potential of not returning back to campus has been discussed from Stetson organizations like higher ups and so just kind of contemplating that I think once we do return, though, I think we’ll be a lot more appreciative of what we do have. And that’s something that I actually mentioned to my exec board is people really take for granted when they’re on campus and when members are always in the house, or they’re always able to go grab ice cream, or coffee or dinner with and so now I think that we’ve all, we’re stripped away from that, within seconds. I think they’re all, once we return back we’ll be more appreciative for what we have and actually be more involved with things on campus, hopefully. 

Dee Gillingham 7:29

Do you think you kind of mentioned it, but could this affect your members in the organization as a whole in the long run? 

Brittani Smith 7:36

I hope it does. I think it will. Like I said before, I think it’ll give them a new sense of meaning and realize that we’re on campus, obviously, for academics, but also for the social aspect to kind of build relationships, build friendships, and not take for granted what we do have.

Dee Gillingham 7:51

What are your plans personally for the rest of the semester and regarding the organization? 

Brittani Smith 7:57

Personally, I’ll start off with that. I just want to finish strong with school. It’s a lot to balance being virtual as far as live sessions that I have to attend and different assignments that were thrown on top of our original syllabus, as well as ensuring that I work still part time and then making sure that as a Chapter President that I’m able to still facilitate the exec team and make sure we have all of our ducks in a row to go forward properly. And so I think just kind of keeping a balance on every aspect and keeping my head clear and positive, will go a long way for that. And then as far as the organization, I think just encouraging members is going to be obviously the biggest thing for the moment, considering where we are. And then we’re still continuing to plan for next semester as if things were going to return back to normal. Obviously, there’s debate which way we’re going to go. But I think it’s never a bad thing to make sure that you plan. Even if things fail, at least you had a plan in mind for if they do succeed. 

Dee Gillingham 8:56

All right. Thank you.

Brittani Smith 8:57

Awesome. Thank you so much.

Dee Gillingham 9:01  

Thank you for listening to this episode of Corona College. Tune in next time when we continue to explore how student lives have been impacted by the Corona Virus pandemic.

[Music]