COLLEGIATE SPOTLIGHT

Doing Our Best Without Fear

Florida Delta SAMANTHA GILDEA believes each of us holds an obligation to understand our impact on the world. As the founder and co-director of DiversiPhi, a student-led initiative to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work within the University of Florida (UF) sorority community, Sam also believes engaging in challenging conversations can help develop that understanding and empower others to do the same. “We show homage, solidarity and respect to each other when we ask questions and when we challenge each other to be better,” she says.

As her chapter’s Vice President Housing, Sam offered weekly micro challenges to integrate mindfulness practices, empowerment tools and mental health awareness into her sisters’ daily lives. She saw an additional opportunity for intentional dialogue about the ways DEI work intertwines with Pi Phi values. A group of Florida Deltas, including SOPHIE BETANCOURT, LILY KILBERT, ANIA MURILLO and VALERIA REYES, to meet regularly to share their lived experiences and discuss related topics, and DiversiPhi began to take shape.

The group leaned heavily on mentors, teachers, peers and other resources to educate themselves and find a formal structure to support their work. Eventually, the DiversiPhi members focused their conversations on six pillars — racial and ethnic diversity, LGBTQIA+, women’s empowerment, lingual diversity, accessibility and spirituality — and the added impact of intersectionality. Sam became a voice for empowerment within the UF sorority community, and members of other sororities began to reach out to the group for support. “I saw how important this work is, and we couldn’t stop,” Sam remembers.

Then came the spring and summer of 2020, and public outrage over racism and the deaths of Black people at the hands of police and others began to build. The DiversiPhi members felt a new sense of urgency and awareness guiding their work. “I realized this work couldn’t stay within Pi Phi — it needed to be the standard for our community,” Sam says. “I started calling every sorority president, encouraging them to create a DEI committee within their chapter that was ready to start work in the fall.” Under Sam’s leadership, DiversiPhi members worked feverishly to develop programming around their six pillars. They drew on personal connections, used their own funds and poured hours of work into the project each day.

As the group’s momentum and presence grew, Sam received a call from the President of the Panhellenic Council (PHC). “She understood the significance and value of the work,” Sam says. After some negotiation, DiversiPhi officially merged with PHC for the 2020-2021 academic year — which offered critical funding, mentorship and the ability to make DEI programming required for UF’s sororities. In Fall 2020, DiversiPhi began to present monthly talks on each pillar topic to sorority DEI chairs, coupled with additional resources and activities for chapters to explore. “Every chapter is at a different level of exposure and comfort with these topics,” Sam explains. “Empowering the DEI chairs to educate their own chapters helps them meet their sisters where they are. Having these conversations within the context of sisterhood empowers us to do our best without fear.”

Sam hopes DiversiPhi will provide a space for diverse voices and give the UF community a chance to continuously better itself. “DiversiPhi will never be about checking a box or placing a band-aid over issues,” she says. “Instead, we aim for a standard of education, dialogue, awareness and mindfulness to change the way women interact with each other and to transform fraternity/sorority life in sustainable ways to ensure we’re a welcoming community for all students.”