Lucy Tai, a freshman in Dietrich College, is a sister of ΚΦΛ and the culture chair for her sorority. Not only is she spreading cultural awareness within her sorority, she hopes to spread more awareness to CMU as well.
When did you first join ΚΦΛ?
I joined KPL my first semester of freshman year—Fall 2013.
Why did you decide to go greek and specifically why did you choose to rush ΚΦΛ?
When coming to CMU, going Greek was the last thing I thought I’d do. After all, it has such a bad rep in the news and media. But after being approached by and getting to know some sisters in the first weeks of school, I couldn’t help but notice they weren’t what I imagined sorority girls to be like. I liked them. And, you know, it was my first semester at college, and I was feeling lonely. I thought, maybe KPL can be my family away from home.
What is your favorite memory of being a sister of ΚΦΛ?
I have to say, winning first place for singles at Greek Sing 2014 was amazing. It was our first year, and everyone put in so much effort making props, sets, learning choreography…and then we won, and we just felt so vindicated, you know? I played Olaf.
When did you first become the culture chair of ΚΦΛ?
I was elected as one of two co-culture chairs during Fall ’13.
How did you feel after being chosen to become the new culture chair?
Hmm… a little excited, a little apprehensive. Cultural diversity is one of our sorority’s pillars, so it’s extremely important, and I wasn’t completely sure of what I had to do, so I was glad I had a more experienced co-chair to guide me.
What does your role as the culture chair entail?
Our goal is to meet national requirements for our sorority—that is, to host at least two cultural events, and attend at least one. Naturally, it involves a lot of communication and planning… mostly behind-the-scenes work.
What is your favorite thing about being the culture chair?
I have the freedom to choose whatever events I want to hold (within reason), and seeing sisters spend time with each other is a nice feeling.
When and what was the hardest thing about being the culture chair?
Natalie (my co-chair) and I planned a yoga event last week, but not enough girls came for us to make percentage. We’d made this event two months in advance, gave out constant reminders, booked the room and the instructor, and all that effort came to waste. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and angry, especially since it meant we needed to plan another event to replace the yoga one.
How did you overcome the challenge?
Even though I was annoyed, I sighed and let it go. To be sure, I did rant a little at chapter meeting, but the main thing was planning an event ASAP, which Nat and I did within a couple hours. We planned out every detail and even sent out the proposal to national board the same day the yoga event failed. Go teamwork!
What do you hope to achieve as the culture chair?
Since a great majority of our sisters are of East-Asian descent, I want us to celebrate and learn more about our respective cultures, but also appreciate other ones, maybe even venture out of Asia.
What kind of influence do you want to have on your sorority and CMU as a whole?
I want to be what other sisters have been for me: a mentor, a friend, and family. Wherever girls get together, there’s always some drama, so I’d like to be someone who can mediate differences and guide KPL in the future. It’s my dream for our sorority to be better known on campus. We’re young (nationally est. 1995) and small, but I want to help us grow.
What events have you planned so far?
We’ve had a couple small events, one of which was crane folding and wish making. Afterwards, we decorated the CMU university center with the cranes everyone made. We also hosted a yoga event, which fell through in some ways, but the event itself was very relaxing. There’s also a Bollywood movie screening coming up—the film is called “No One Killed Jessica,” and it’s about a real 2006 Indian scandal where a killer was acquitted due to his political connections.
What events do you hope to plan in the future?
I’m not sure if I’ll still be co-cultural chair next semester, but I want KPL to go dragon boating with one of CMU’s cultural student organizations when the weather is nice. I also love singing and my music taste is kind of eclectic, so foreign-country karaoke is something I’d like to do.