This week, Her Campus got the chance to sit down with a student working behind the scenes to make Michigan Greek Life as successful as it is: Emily Kabeshita. When not focusing on the Panhellenic community, Emily studies Public Policy and even had the opportunity to study abroad in Rome this past summer! Here’s what she had to say about her work.
Her Campus: Tell us a little bit about your new position as Vice President of Internal Affairs.
Emily Kabeshita: On Panhel Exec, my position as Vice President of Internal Affairs is basically in charge of keeping the inner workings/operations of our council organized. This includes doings things like scheduling and taking minutes at Panhel meetings, training and being the contact person for Panhel delegates/representatives from each chapter, and planning events like end-of-the-year awards ceremonies and Panhel elections. Live, love, logistics!
HC: What made you want to run for a position on Panhel?
EK: I served as Panhel rep for my own chapter this past year, and even though it may sound a little boring, I actually loved going to Panhel meetings to hear firsthand about different proceedings and current events surrounding Greek Life, but also getting a sense of the values the Greek community genuinely strives for and what challenges we have to overcome. Being able to play an active role in such a major organization on Michigan’s campus was something that was a really valuable and important experience for me, so applying to Panhel Exec felt like a natural next step in that direction.
HC: What are you most excited to do as VP Internal Affairs?
EK: I’m excited for everything!! I think it’ll be a lot of fun to get to know all the new reps, see them experience the same things that I did when I was in their shoes, and help them out along the way. Also, working so closely with the other awesome women on Exec throughout the year — along with MGC, NPHC, and IFC’s exec boards — is something that I know will be a totally unique and rewarding experience. Even though it’ll be a lot of work (especially during recruitment this fall), I’m really looking forward to it.
HC: You recently held an exec position in your sorority; what’s different about being on Panhel exec?
EK: Even though I’m just getting started on the board, I’d say that the biggest distinction between VPIA and the position I held in my chapter is the level of collaboration and interdependence of our boards. In my chapter, each exec officer had very distinct responsibilities and areas of “expertise,” where we would work relatively independently and still be able to be successful as a cohesive unit. Distinct responsibilities definitely still apply to my new position, but because the nature of Panhel is so much broader and has legitimate influence on such a large community, turning to all the other officers on the board to give and get advice, feedback, or a just a helping hand is something that I think will be an essential component of success that I haven’t really experienced yet.
HC: What else are you involved in on campus?
EK: I’m a student facilitator for CommonGround, which is an organization based out of the Intergroup Relations (IGR) program of the University. As facilitators, we meet with various student orgs/groups on campus (clubs, a classroom, fraternities/sororities, etc.) and open up dialogue about social justice, identity, and privilege, with the goal of educating students about topics that can sometimes be hard to talk or learn about in everyday life. Being able to learn and educate others about such heavy — yet important and relevant — topics has been amazing, and I highly recommend anyone and everyone to take an IGR class or get involved with CommonGround in some way!!
HC: What’s one thing on your Michigan bucket list?
EK: Run the Ann Arbor Half Marathon (honestly I am not that big of a runner I just think it’d be a cool thing to do)!
Photo courtesy of Emily Kabeshita.