I'll be your Mississippi.

I cannot get any further in this post without freaking out. Because:

WE'RE COLONIZING AT

MISSISSIPPI STATE, BABY!

Ring those cowbells loud--ADPi got it!

Maroon and white, prepare to meet your new friends blue and white.

The phone call from MSU Panhellenic just recently came into the lion's den over here in Atlanta.  Oh, Mississip. I told y'all I was gonna tell you just how sweet they were over at Mississippi State last week, and here 'tis!

Those sweet dawg fans (well, just don't bring up the whole UGA-is-dawgs-too thing to them) positioned this adorable welcome basket to be waitin' on us at the hotel. No worries--I nabbed the koozie. Because, ya know, 54 in the koozie drawer isn't enough...

In other news, they also gave me a cowbell. I think considering I complained about 'em in the spirit of SEC, this m'dears, is called "karma." When my father walked in the other day, I rang it in his face. "Amusing, Ashlyn. I think I've heard enough." Mwhaha. Luh ya, pops.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Anyway, the Panhellenic women and university administrators showcased nothin' but Southern hospitality at its finest. We trekked all over Starkville's pretty campus, drill field, and sorority land--duh.  Phi Mu, Pi Beta Phi, and Kappa Delta swung their house doors open wide to give ADPi the grand tour (ya gotta know what to tell your architect the campus norms when your new srat house gets built). Yes, they do all look like country clubs at State.

Awww, shucks. Thanks, y'all!

After a long day of meetings, we presented (with help from adorable Alpha Dee's from Eta-University of Alabama and Eta Zeta-University of South Mississippi) and I got a big 'ole Montgomery hug from Katherine, a hootie hoo Chi O. We deb ball-ed it together, and Kat's one of those amazing women who emailed me biblical encouragment all year. Dang. Love you, Kat. :)

Oh, and here Kappa Dee bestie Sarah--who knew me from Miss Magnolia before we met. And now we're real-life friends. Nbd. I told her she would be on the blog:

Sarah, me, and Katherine.

It's funny about visits to schools that uh, welp, don't have any ADPi's yet until we make them. Because these Panhellenic girls--who claim different letters--welcome me into their homes and hug me at the end of the day. Gotta love that.

Considerin' we'll be tailgating with y'all starting this fall,

that's pretty good "family" to join.

Blog post title: "Honey Bee" by Blake Shelton.

Gettin' lucky in Kentucky.

Dream come true. But next time I'm here, I want a hat and julep.

If you follow my little story, you recall I was last in the icy glacier that was University of Maryland. I'd like to report that the Beta Phi women did a gorgeous job with recruitment! After the advisory board treated Megan and me to a little toast at a real-live speakeasy called Gibson in D.C.'s U-Street district (Legit prohibition style. As in, the door isn't marked, there is a waitlist, my drank put me back 20 bucks--'erything.), my blondie and I waved so long and I hopped a plane to Kentucky...

University of Louisville

Expansion Visit

Louisville, Ky.

More snow. Whirlwind of notes, memorizing lines, and BAM--you're on stage. Multiple meetings with deans, administrators, and Panhellenic members. 1.5-hour-long presentation. Crackin' jokes in the middle of my part of the presentation (you gotta make 'em smile). Greek row tour. "Don't step on the cardinals!" Q&A. "Hi!MynameisAshlynStallingsandIserveasaLeadershipConsultantforAlphaDeltaPi." Visit from UK's Beta Psi sisters. Mini-tour of Louisville. Dinner at Bristol. Sweet tea for the first time in a month. (Then I got reeaal sick. Go figure.) Hanging out with CBG, ADPi's International President herself. Expansion trips work like bidding, so when the university has room for a new chapter, the word hits the National Panhellenic Council street... Fingers crossed, this would be a cool one for Alpha Delt!

Centre College

Eta Omega chapter

Danville, Ky. 

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent officer-training style down the snowy, antebellum mansion-lined roads of little Danville, Kentucky! Check it: Centre is so small that the girls said other students spied me hanging out with them and knew I was an outsider. So much for fitting in... But this school is bumpin' with tradition (streaking, no class cancellation since before the Civil War...) and a pretty sweet chappy of precious ADPi's. You craft me a sign for the door, and I'm putty in your hands, collegians. Sold.

Scenes from the Eta Omega house.

Wish we had more than two days, because we sure "clicked" fast, Eta Omega girls! I coulda spent cozy nights in PJ's giggling over rediculous YouTube videos in the chapter room while the snow poured down for another day...

Dinner with the girls. Danville's eating establishments aren't too shabby...

So yeah. I loved Kentucky.

Blue and white we'll always be.

Photo courtesy of Southern Darlin. I think we are the same person.

University of Maryland

Beta Phi Chapter

College Park, Md.

 

Alpha Pi. Iota. Delta Theta. Alpha Chi. Gamma Rho. Theta Zeta. Kappa (KAPPA!!! Shout out to my girls. I miss y'all.) and Eta Rho, obviously.

I may have feet planted here in Maryland for recruitment at Beta Phi chapter,

but we're pulling in from Alpha Delta Pi chapters across the nation.

Above translated from Greek: George Washington University. Valdosta State University. University of California-Los Angeles. Arizona State University. Washington & Lee University. Samford University and California State University-Chico, obviously.

Alpha Pi girls came over on Sunday to help us practice! Thank y'all! Meg and I shall be hoppin' on the Metro soon to come see your pretty townhouse.

 

It's like going to Grand Convention or a district conference--we need to be reminded that we at our little campuses do not make up _____ sorority. You're actually pretty new to Greek life, comparitively speaking, if you're still in college...

Dear sorority women of America: I do not care how "good" you think your chapter is. Well, first of all, right now I don't care if you're a KD or Alpha Gam or an ADPi or whatever, but second of all I do not care how "good" you think your chapter is. How old, how prestigious, how many awards you've won. Improve it. Lead it. Lead Panhellenic life at your university. Look to your left a few miles, to your right a few hundred miles. Get ideas and implement them. There is no sorority chapter in this whole nation doing everything perfectly, regardless of the letters are on your Vineyard Vines bag (or frocket tee. I could thump people that pen annoying articles like this in the Auburn Plainsman. Get. Over. It.).

See? They were here before us. And stinkin' cute, too. Photo courtesy of Alpha Theta chapter.

I know I have a really, really warped view on sororities because I am constantly traveling. But I'm passionate about this idea because I'm guilty of being a total ADPi snob. I was a member of a single-letter, ancient ADPi chapter that is at the top of the international awards chain for our organization. Guess what? That's not good enough. Improve. Get better. Stay current. Reach out across America to see what other chapters are doing. Refuse to rest on your laurels.

Then you'll really see some sisterhood. It looks dang pretty cool when it spans our great nation and a bunch of generations.

Disclaimer: This is not a rant. I'm passionate about it. And by now I know through fanmail or whatever that a lot of Greek women read my silly blog. And when I find a soapbox, I stand on it and preach. Story of my life.