Name: Chelsea St. Clair
Age: 20
Year: Junior
Major: Dual degree in Psychology and Integrated Strategic Communications
Hometown: West Des Moines, Iowa
Campus Celeb Status: I am the Panhellenic President, but I also serve on student government as one of the Arts & Sciences Senators and I am the Food Coordinator for DanceBlue. I try to stay as involved as I can around campus, even working at the Office of Development to help inspire student philanthropy.
HC: Good morning, Madame President! Congratulations on your position with Panhellenic!! Are you excited for the coming year?
CSC: Of course! I have been training for this position for a year already, so I feel more than ready to bring new initiatives to campus. There are a lot of things planned or being planned for this year that I am ecstatic about.
HC: How and why did you first get involved with the Panhellenic Council at UK?
CSC: I first joined a sorority my freshman year, just because I knew I wanted to experience something different than before. I never really planned on being president; it just kind of fell in my lap and was a perfect fit for everything that I wanted to change and how I wanted to improve the experience for Greek members.
HC: What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure in office?
CSC: Well, the VP or Recruitment and I have already made one pretty big change to sorority recruitment to try and make it more values-based, and allow potential new members to get a better feel of each sorority. I also hope to bring transparency and communication to not only Panhellenic, but also with the other three councils I work heavily with: the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and the United Greek Coalition (UGC).
HC: What is most rewarding about serving as Panhellenic President?
CSC: I love getting to know and meet people and further develop the relationships I have with my council. I also love to see my executive council grow and develop in their positions. There are a lot of really small gestures that make all the hard work of this position well worth it.
HC: What is the most challenging aspect of the position?
CSC: This is a challenging position for sure; I would never wish it upon someone who isn’t prepared for it. Luckily, I feel that I have had the proper preparation to help guide me along. The one true hard part that no one can prepare you for is not being able to help recruit people to your chapter, and disaffiliating from your sisters for long periods of time to allow potential members to find their own home.
HC: What advice do you have for female college students (or even incoming freshmen) thinking about sorority recruitment?
CSC: I think every woman should give it a chance, because although it’s not for everyone, how would you know it’s not for you unless you try it? Always be open-minded to the opportunities that come your way because they might only pass by once.
HC: How can UK students learn more about Greek life here at the university?
CSC: They can go to uksorority.com, go to uky.edu/Greek, or I encourage them to reach out and ask questions! We also have an abundance of social media profiles that will get them involved with some of our programming!