SYRACUSE, N.Y.?While many chapters gripe about disinterested brothers and sisters who don’t offer guidance or support, Kappa Phi Lambda is relishing the opposite: a group of all sisters united by common ideals and causes.
For this Syracuse University Asian sorority, there can be no other way. There are only seven members and little room for dissent.
“We have to stay involved,” said Qinbing Liu, a junior marketing major. “We can’t say that we don’t feel like doing it.”
Challenges have and continue to present themselves since Kappa Phi Lambda colonized at Syracuse University in 1997, just two years after it was founded nationally. The sisters struggled with SU’s Office of Greek Life for recognition, and this year, like every year so far, the sisters are coping with not having a house for the chapter and facing a difficult recruitment period.
“Because we don’t have a house, people can’t come to us,” said Suhyoung Choi, a junior retailing major. “We do a lot of advertising on campus and actively recruit members throughout the year.”
As underclassmen, the women who now comprise Kappa Phi Lambda considered participating in Spring Recruitment. But fearful of stereotypes ranging from financial status to arrogance, they decided against it.
Tenzin Khedrup, a senior international relations major, didn’t consider rushing after hearing stories about the process.
“It seemed like you had to be from Long Island with a cell phone and a Prada bag,” said Tenzin Khedrup, a senior international relations major. “I heard about being shown walls?almost like collections?of designer bags.”