PrincesaSirenita: Longest Serving Greek Lady

VXM had the pleasure of interviewing the Greek community’s longest serving lady, Nita, better known as PrincesaSirenita@IMVU. She is the true definition of a trendsetter, hands-down. Nobody can deny that. She is the founder of IMVU’s longest standing sorority, active since 2007, as well as the founder of Greek Letter Organization Council (GLOC).

Tell us about you briefly.

My name is Nita (aka Mermaid Princess), and I founded Sigma Psi Chi Sorority International on December 26, 2007.

Is it true that your sorority was the first on IMVU?

We are the first active IMVU sorority, yes.

What inspired you to begin a sorority on IMVU?

I decided to start my own sorority because I wanted to form a support group of female friends. In other words, I wanted to bring together devoted IMVU female avatars worldwide to form an elegant and elite IMVU sisterhood uniting in a bond of sincere friendship and encouragement. At that time, there weren't any active sororities or fraternities for that matter.

Were there other sororities before Sigma Psi Chi, that are no longer active?

IMVU was new. It was more individualistic and lonely for many folks. There was one fraternity and one sorority before that became inactive and never revived. I believe they just worked on IMVU groups. No one else came into being until after our founding date. I did a lot of research on this.

Why did you choose to form a sorority, instead of any other types of groups?

The members that form a fraternity or sorority share their efforts, friendship and knowledge. Together these members learn, grow and make the fraternity or sorority, commonly called a Greek organization, stronger. Their common experience builds ties that last a lifetime. When one joins a fraternity or sorority, you can gain the benefits of meeting new friends, coming together to do philanthropy among other things that impact self and the community.

Had you experienced the Greek life prior to sigma psi chi?

I graduated from a university, and participated in Greek events.

What are the values of your sorority?

My sorority is known for its elegance, philanthropy, and especially unification of Greek organizations through the Greek-Lettered Organizational Council (GLOC). We are known as "The Elegant Ones" and trendsetters in the Greek Community. We value our endeavors because one of our main goals is promoting, developing and advocating unity on IMVU

Why a mermaid, to represent your sorority?

Mermaids are considered symbols of eloquence and transformation beguiling beauty, grace and mesmerizing melodies. On the crest, she is holding up a mirror and taking a self-reflection, if you will. The letter Psi is actually Poseidon's staff.

What is this transformation?

Transformation in this case refers to growth. We are always learning, and growing as time passes and becoming more wise. Learning never ends.

What characteristics do you look for in those wanting to join?

We look for only those who exhibit dedication, leadership, professionalism, elegance and intelligence.

How have you kept your sorority active for so many years?

We firmly believe in proper bonding and not losing sight of our purpose and mission.

Has any of your sisters been there from the start?

I have a member who was with us for at least the last 5 years, but not from the very start. Remember, we've been in existence since 2007.

What do you do to keep active in the Greek community?

We host events, do philanthropy work, run the GLOC (Greek-Lettered Organizational Council), the GLOC hosts IMVU Greek Week and other events/activities to unify Greeks, support other events and network. We spend time with our Brothers of Gamma Psi Rho as well.

What does your philanthropy work entail?

Philanthropy work entails community-service oriented activities such as awareness events and fundraising for the community. To be technical, it's a term used for a service project sponsored by a Fraternity or Sorority chapter from which donations of goods, money, and/or time are given to charitable organizations. It is raising money in creative and fun ways while serving and giving all proceeds to a worthy cause.

Is it only IMVU-based or do you reach out to the real world?

My sorority has done awarenesses, such as the breast cancer walk-a-thon, "hands down against hazing" campaign, donated credits and time to IMVU organizations such as The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater of IMVU, Innovative University, The Girlscouts of IMVU, etc. Most of our philanthropy projects are IMVU-based, being that our sorority is an IMVU sorority, however, we have donated in RL through our "feed the animals" campaign, where we would go to a webpage and click to donate food to animals.

You're a perfect example of what a Greek should be. What are your opinions of the Greek organizations nowadays?

Thank you very much for the compliments! As far as my take on much of Greek organizations IMVU has today - it is bittersweet. I often questions their motives. A tree is judged by its fruit...so at the end of the day, I often question "what have they done for the community?" Some are genuinely involved, while others want to make a name for themselves. I wish that IMVU Greeks (as well as those in RL) are more focused on the community. Having parties to unify and get to know each other is good and well, so are competitions, but that's not all there is to Greek life.

What is the difference between hazing and pledging?

Hazing is humiliation and pledging is learning about loyalty. Hazing is defined as any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule and risks emotional and/or physical harm to members of a group or team, whether new or not, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. That's the technical definition.