Paying Tribute to Pregnant and Parenting Students in College.

A Sorority for Moms:

The Founding of Mu Tau Rho

I had my son less than a month before my high school graduation. I went to prom a week after I had him and I thought that everything was running smoothly.  I always wanted to take the first year out of high school off and that's what I did. I sat at home and played with my son everyday and chatted with friends after they got out of school. 

The second year after high school I applied to one of our three local community colleges, and the first semester they didn't accept me. For some reason they could not figure out if I would be a dependent student or an independent student. Therefore, I didn't attend school the first semester. When the second semester rolled around, I went to apply to a second community college, but I had the same exact problem. I was thinking about just giving up on the whole idea of going to school and just getting a job. 

My mom suggested maybe I should try UMSL (University of Missouri- St. Louis) and I did. They accepted me quickly and I began classes the fall of 2005.

  Right before I started class in August, I began thinking about extracurricular activities.

I thought about joining a sorority, since that's what I always wanted to do since I was a young girl.

I thought about it and I began thinking about time schedules, and how I may not be totally accepted since I had a small child. That may not be true, but at the time I felt a tad lonely when it came to feeling accepted around women who didn't have children. I just felt sometimes that they didn't understand me. Due to this, I thought about starting a sorority for moms. Now in the beginning, I was just throwing the idea out there, but it really caught on. 

  Once school started I put up flyers to see if any women would be interested. I found quite a few ladies who were interested, but the time and dedication into starting something new was not there.  I took a break during spring of 2006 because I was not as motivated as I was when I first started. But after a few months I decided to start trying again. On UMSL's campus in order to start an organization you have to have 13 members, an advisor, and a constitution and bylaws. So once I started back up again, I began working on the constitution. Once that got completed, I hung up more flyers and sent emails through class rosters to see who would be interested in being a part of starting a sorority for moms. In October 2006, I had all the requirements and I turned in the forms to become a new organization. On November 7, 2006, we became officially established as a sorority on UMSL's campus.

It was a long journey for my dream to come true, but sure enough it came to exceed my every wish and became known around the world.

----------------------Danielle Cooney, University of Missouri/ St. Louis

-Thanks to Amanda Spector, Features Editor