Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

Vocabulary:
King of Hearts- A male that is elected to represent our sorority, king of hearts is his title because the heart is our symbol. He does nice things for us, comes to events, brings us cookies but most importantly supports us. In return, we do nice things for him such as invite him to events and get him t-shirts. Executive Board- is a group of sisters that have positions of power. There are ten members of the executive board and that consists of the president, executive vice president and vice presidents of certain other areas. Some examples of the vice presidents are: VP Finance, VP New Member Education, VP Scholarship, etc. Junior Executive Board are sisters that have positions but they are called chairs instead. Certain chairs are: Public Relations Chair, Website Chair (me), Social Chair and many more. Big Sister In a sorority, everyone has a big. Your big is your mentor; she is there to help you through everything and is someone that you strive to be like. Bigs can also be best friends with their littles but their role is mainly to be role models for their littles. Little Sister Every sister is a little to their big but not every sister has to take a little and become a big. Being a little means you get spoiled with presents and you have an older sister who is there for you. Ritual: Every sorority has different ritual, ritual consists of traditions or practices that the organization uses for different ceremonies and meetings. Ritual is kept secret and is only known by the members of the sorority.

Figured World. A figured world is a socially produced and culturally constructed realm. In this world are actors who have specific actions - where certain outcomes are valued over others. Sigma Kappa is a national sorority that was created by women to form a group that would be based on four values: personal growth, friendship, loyalty, and service. Each chapter across the nation consists of different actors because each chapter is different in personalities, size, and events, but we all follow the rituals and ideals and we value our sorority and what it means to be a Sigma Kappa. 250 Word Summary: Being a sister of Sigma Kappa Sorority, you must follow the rules and guidelines that are sorority has set up for the sisters to follow. During formal chapters, sisters are required to wear business attire (badge attire) where anything besides heels and flats are not accepted. Anyone wearing non business attire or wrong shoes is not allowed inside formal chapter. For informal chapter, sisters do not need to dress up rather we must look business casual meaning that we cannot come to informal chapter wearing sweatpants. No matter if chapter is informal or formal the rules and regulations stay the same only thing varying is the dress code. Computers are not allowed during either chapter meetings unless you have a position where it is needed during chapter. Cell phones are prohibited during the entire course of the meeting. There is no talking in formal chapter unless it is your specific turn to talk or are called upon and during informal chapter you can quietly talk but otherwise talk once you raise your hand and are

Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

called on. Chapter is held every Sunday at 6 pm and each week chapter alternates between formal and informal chapter. Sisters are allowed to miss one chapter free excuse and otherwise must have an excuse to miss chapter. Chapter is very important because we are meeting to discuss the business of our sorority and we are updated on the events that we will be participating in the near future. You cannot be late to formal chapter or you will not be allowed in at all. It is required to be early or on time for formal chapter. Informal chapter you can be a minute or two late but it is not suggested. Description of Location: The sorority meetings are located in a large meeting room with the capacity to hold over a hundred girls. There are seats that are arranged around the room for sisters to sit in during meetings. In the front of the room is where the President and Vice President are located. Adjacent to the President is typically a smart board dangling from the ceiling which can be used during meetings. Behind the president and Executive Vice President, the rest of the sisters are positioned in a particular way that is special to our ritual which only initiated sisters of Sigma Kappa know of. Actors: A particular set of actors who engage in a limited range of meaningful acts or state
changes in a particular situation. Specific actors in Sigma Kappa would include our members that hold officer positions such as, President, Executive Vice President, Vice President of New Member Education and so forth. These women are important to our chapter for holding positions that help our chapter improve and strive to be the best selves we can be. Besides from the officers, the other actors within my figured world are just my other Sigma Kappa sisters. These are initiated women who share my ritual and values.

Frances: Current President of Sigma Kappa, Theta Mu (our specific chapter name from nationals). She is the ultimate leader who has worked so hard to help our chapter strive and become an even better chapter. She is no joke of a leader; she likes to have fun, but can be very serious and sometimes even intimidating. Everyone respects and admires her for her poise, leadership and strength. Her role in this figured world is the leader. An example of her leadership skills is that there was an incidents with the planning of homecoming where she had to make an executive decision for the entire chapter and she did it with such poise and was looking out for the best interest of the chapter rather than having her own personal feelings interfere with the situation. Louise: The Executive Vice President, she is the Presidents right hand woman. Unlike Frances, Louise is more stern and serious all of the time. She is very specific on doing her job and doing it perfectly. Louise is a model sister because she often is seen balancing a lot of work on her plate and always seems to get it done with minimal amounts of stress. She could definitely become President in the future. Elizabeth: The Vice President of New Member Education. Elizabeth is in charge of all things new member related; she plans their events and teaches them about the sorority. Elizabeth is very serious about what she does but has a playful and bubbly personality. Her personality helps

Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

us maintain positive attitudes; she is someone who can easily get others excited about tasks that we have to do. Her entire job is to solely teach these new members about the sorority and get the invested and ready for initiation. On a daily basis, Elizabeth is making lesson plans for new member meetings and assigning big sisters and little sisters. She gets her stuff done always on time but in a more relaxed manor. Mary: The Vice President of Membership. Mary controls all things related to the recruiting of new girls. She plans everything for formal recruitment the outfits, room design, layout, position of tables, sisters locations, food and beverages, and activities for each night. She especially at the moment has a very stressful position because it is crunch time to get everything perfect, but besides that she is always happy and joyful. Ida: Public Relations Chair. Ida is in charge of all PR in relationship to our particular chapter on this campus. She tables for the sorority events to get people to come out and participate. She makes posters and hand bills, creates buttons and shirts, and takes photo shoots to promote the sorority on campus. Her job is very stressful but Ida is known for her smile and can be seen as the face of Sigma Kappa on campus. Meagan (Me): Website Chair. I am a member of junior exec and a very active member of Sigma Kappa. I went Greek my first semester freshman year which was fall 2012. I went Greek because I am from New York City and moving to North Carolina where I knew no one scared me. I wanted to be involved in something bigger than myself and gain a family to make my college life enjoyable and worthwhile. Being from out of state, it is hard leaving your friends and family who you have grown up with and I knew that if I did not find a home at UNC Charlotte, I probably would have transferred. I am an actor in my own figured world by being a member, I know the secrets and ritual and I strive to live by it every day. Ritual is more than just ceremonies it is also a way of living and living by the values that are instilled in the organization itself. Being an actor makes my observations easier because being a part of my sorority I know everything like the back of my hand. I could write for days on my sorority and my sisterhood. The only hard part about being an actor and observing is explaining to those who are not Greek my figured world and making sure I am not saying anything that is specific to only members of Sigma Kappa.
Discourse Communities: Groups within the sorority that all share a higher commonality based on position rather than just all of us being sisters.

Executive Board: Frances, Louise, Elizabeth, and Mary. There are ten sisters on executive board total. Execute Board are the highest positions that a sister can hold within the sorority which means that they just play an even bigger role in the business of the sorority. They are held accountable for more work than other sisters and have more information to give out.

Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

Junior Executive Board: Junior executive board isnt held to as high criticism but does a lot of work for the chapter. Some junior executive chairs are ritual, website, social, public relations and many more. Active Sisters: The rest of the Chapter without a position. Active sisters are the sisters that are not studying aboard and are a part of the chapter. Active sisters participate in events that we do as well as are held accountable to attend mandatory functions and contribute to the success of the chapter just do not hold a position. Artifacts: objects that contain a particular meaning to the specific figured world. In a sorority, our artifacts are things that are sacred to our ritual and only initiated sisters really get to experience these artifacts. Ritual Book: A book that contains the ritual of Sigma Kappa. This book is very sacred to the sorority because it connects us to our founders and what they anticipated the sorority to be like and to follow the precedents that they set in this book. The president holds on to the ritual book for safe keeping. Letters: Once you are an initiated sister of Sigma Kappa, you are allowed to wear letter shirts which are special to us because it allows us to show off how privileged we are to be apart of this sisterhood which means so much to each and every one of us. Gavel: Our president has a gavel in which she uses to do presidential things. It helps her to make meeting efficient and connects into the business part of the sorority. Literacy Practices: practices within the figured world that are a meaningful part of the routine and traditions. Ritual: ritual is a process of recitations and movements in which the chapter does based on our founders and the ritual book which they wrote. Ritual is not known by anyone unless they are an initiated sister of Sigma Kappa. Ritual is the secretive part of the sorority because it is what makes each sorority unique and special by the ritual that they follow.

Observation One Monday, August 2, 2013 Time 9:30 PM 10:00 PM Note: The location of these sites is in Union 340 A/B where all Sigma Kappa meetings are held during this Fall 2013 semester. During Observation One, the sisters present are laying on the floor from a thirteen hour day of recruitment workshop. The room is long and rectangular but the crowd of sisters is all bunched in the beginning of the room while our bags are scattered

Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

around the room. You see the interaction between the sisters and the voting of our king of hearts. 9:30 PM: Sisters are lying on the floor anticipating the end of the recruitment workshop. Sisters had to arrive at the workshop at 9 AM that morning and are a little antsy due to being contained mostly for 12 hours together in a single room. 9:35 PM: Mary stands up and tells us that we are done with our recruitment workshop but that Frances has an announcement so no one can move. 9:37 PM: Frances stands up and tells us how she is really sorry but we need to finish some business before we leave. She smiles and then announces that we have to vote on our king of hearts. 9:40 PM: Sisters stand up to announce candidates for King of Hearts. Haley stands up to nominate Mike Gold for the position. She then explains how Mike has always stood up and supported our chapter since 2010 and how he stands up for us because we have made such a huge impact in his life. 9:47 PM: Anna stands up to nominate William to be King of Hearts. She says that although not a lot of sisters know him that he supports us and wants to get to know us and support in any way possible. 9:50 PM: Molly raises her hand then rises to nominate Corey as King of Hearts because he wanted to be nominated and he is a nice guy. 9:51 PM: Frances tells us that she is too tired to figure out votes so we are going to do a heads down, hands up vote. Frances then goes through the nominees names and counts the votes each sister gives. Once calculating the votes, Frances announces that our new King of Hearts will be Mike Gold. 9:59 PM: All of the sisters excited, begged Frances to call Mike Gold and put it on speaker phone so that we could congratulate our new King of Hearts. 10 PM: Mike answers the phone and could not be more ecstatic that he won and was so excited to be even more involved with our chapter. Observation Two: September 8, 2013 6PM-6:45 Pm

6 PM: Sisters wait patiently outside of chapter all dressed in their formal business attire waiting to hear Frances announce that chapter is about to start. Each sister has her own planner and pen in hand knowing that they will be writing down important dates.

Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

6:10 PM: All sisters have entered chapter and it is time to officially start the meeting. Frances starts by talking to the sisters and then allows the officers to give announcements. Sisters open their planners in preparation of writing dates down. 6:25 PM: Officers have given all of their announcements and now it is time to vote on a few orders of business. The president addresses each issue and then all of the sisters get ready to vote on the business. 6:40 PM: All business is addressed and voted on with appropriate verdicts. Sisters are anticipating the end of chapter since there is nothing else we need to discuss. Frances says her final words. 6:45 PM: Chapter is over and sisters now get out of their seats and immediately start talking. Sisters go talk to their bigs, littles, and best friends and discuss everything important that they probably thought of during chapter but could not say. Observation 3: September 15, 2013 6-7:30 PM

6PM: Sisters arrive at the union in their business casual attire ready to attend our informal chapter. Sisters start piling into the room and sitting wherever there are enough open seats for them and their friends. 6:10 PM: Frances has everyone be silent so that we can start our informal chapter. She announces what we are going to be doing for the day which consists of: our advisor visiting for the week of recruitment, our yearly walk for Alzheimers is coming up, we have a presentation about scholarship during this meeting, and the number of pilot events that we can attend in the following weeks. 6:25 PM: Once Frances is done with the overview, she lets any officers who have anything important to say to the chapter to stand up and speak before we started our powerpoint on scholarship. A couple of sisters with positions stand up and make their announcements for the upcoming weeks. 6:40 PM: The Vice President of Scholarship, Ella, is ready to begin our discussion of scholarship which is really important to our chapter. She begins with telling us that she has food for us so that we can stay focused during the PowerPoint and allows us to get up and get whatever treats we want. 7:00 PM: Ella begins talking about scholarship, she talks to us about how proud she is of us during the past school year and when all of our study hall will be throughout this entire semester. She also tells us about the scholarship requirements that sisters with positions must uphold to be model sisters to the rest of the chapter. Ella also mentions that we want to raise our GPA requirement because scholarship is so important to us.

Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

7:20 PM: As Ella starts to say her final words about how she always there for any of us if we need help as well as the multiple ways of communicating with her we are even allowed to show up to her house if we need to. She names off a list of sisters with 4.0s last semester and has them walk up to the front of the room to receive Starbucks gift cards for their hard work and dedication to scholarship. 7:30 PM: Informal Chapter is over and sisters start getting their stuff together and exiting the room to go home and relax or finish some homework for the week. Interview with Ida: Question: What made you want to go Greek? Answer: My mother and father were both Greek so from a young age I have known that once I went to college I was going to go Greek. I wanted to find sisters and friends that would last me a lifetime like my parents both found at their colleges. Question: Why did you choose Sigma Kappa? Answer: When I went through recruitment I honestly did not know which sorority I wanted, they were all so nice and the process was so overwhelming. By the end of the week, I figured out that Sigma Kappa knew that I belonged with them that I would find my home there even if I had no idea. So basically, Sigma Kappa made me chose Sigma Kappa. It was the sisters that know the kind of girls that will fit in best that took a leap of faith in me and here I am. Question: Tell me the best thing about being Greek? Answer: Being Greek is about being apart of something bigger than yourself. You are apart of an organization which works to give back to community. The best thing about being Greek is being involved on campus and knowing that I give back to those in need and strive to do well in everything that I do. Question: Explain to me how Sigma Kappa is different from the stereotypes? Answer: Sigma Kappa is nothing like the stereotype, we do not all look the same and we are all different while still united together. We do not discriminate against anyone not saying that other sororities do but we care a lot about values and who people are rather than if you have a vineyard. Sigma Kappa embodies our values: personal growth, service, friendship, and loyalty and we want new members who do the same. Question: What is your favorite memory? Answer: My favorite memory is on Greek Games when we were doing tug-a-war against another sorority and a bunch of other sororities and fraternities came over and started cheering

Meagan Dugan

Figured World

Assignment One

on our sisters who were pulling the rope. I felt the love and appreciation from those other organizations as the supported us.