A letter from our New Member Educator!

Hi besties! My name is Elizabeth Umina, and I am the New Member Educator, or “Pledge Mom,” of Gamma Phi Beta! As Pledge Mom, it’s my job to take our new members under my wing as soon as they get their bid on bid day and walk them all the way through the new member process until they are initiated – in other words, we’re gonna be besties! I teach you the ins and outs of Gamma Phi and get you ready to be an initiated sister. We have weekly new member meetings and during this time I also walk you through the big/little matching process (yay!), and am here to help you with anything you need! I just finished up working with our Spring ‘23 Pledge Class, and let me tell you, we had so, so much fun! I am so excited for this coming semester with our Fall PC ‘23! 

I can say for certain that I will come to know my sweet girls in PC ‘23 quite well, but I will introduce myself a little bit right now! I will be a junior Business Management major this fall, and I'm originally from Boston, Massachusetts! I love fashion, shopping, and the color pink, I teach spin classes here at Clemson, and I am a people-person to the core! I just got back from a month studying abroad in Paris and I’m ready to be back in Clemson! I love being with my friends and family 24/7, and everyday I strive to live by my favorite motto, “have courage & be kind.” 

When I first came to Clemson, I truthfully did not know much at all about the rush process, and I really had no idea the absolute best surprise I was in for! I quickly fell head over heels for Gamma Phi, and now I cannot not imagine my life without this sisterhood. I lived on our Hall on the Greek Quad this past year, and it was easily the best year of my life! I feel like I say that after every year at Clemson, but the Hall was truly a special experience for me and my friends. I got to be with my besties all of the time, and we went everywhere and did everything together. As soon as I came back from class, I went right to the chapter room to hang out with my sisters, and we had a lot of late nights spent down there laughing and making sweet, sweet memories. 

Gamma Phi is such a fun sisterhood filled with girls who always support each other in their goals & dreams. We have sisters involved in an array of things across campus, such as on the cheerleading teams, Clemson Miracle, Volunteers4Life, and lots of other groups and intramural teams, just to name a few! Within Gphi we also have leadership positions, committees, intramural teams, volunteer opportunities, study groups, and so many more ways to get together with other sisters. We have sisterhood events we do together, and we have a lot of fun at our functions, such as semi, Valentine’s cocktail, our country themed function called Boondocks, formal, and so many more throughout the year! 

I know going through recruitment feels exciting, confusing, fun and overwhelming all at the same time! If I could go back and give myself a piece of advice, I would tell myself to enjoy the moment, have fun with it, and try to focus on where you feel loved, supported and comfortable. How you feel during recruitment is how you’ll feel once you join a chapter, so focus on what feels like home! My job for our new members is to be here for you no matter what you need. We work together so that your transition into sorority life is seamless, and also fun! I can’t wait to teach our new mems all about this sisterhood that I love so, so much! 

I’m so excited to make more memories with you, Fall PC ‘23! 

XOXO! 
Elizabeth, PC ‘21