Hi all! 

 

My name is Sherlyn Carrillo, and I’m beyond honored to serve as the VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My commitment to the role stemmed from my identity of being a First-Generation Latina college student and Greek. This goes without saying that going into recruitment was the biggest risk I have taken in my college experience thus far. 

 

When I got accepted into the University of Illinois, I knew I had to find my home away from home and a smaller community within Illinois. When I signed up for Primary Recruitment, I was pacing back and forth in my living room because I wasn’t sure if this was the right community for me. I had many fears as a person of color and coming from a marginalized group going into a community that used to be historically exclusive. However, I’m so glad that the Panhellenic Council has practiced, and continues to, implement various forms of inclusive practices to ensure its members’ are feeling like they belong and are loved. 

 

As your next VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion my plan for the year is to foster friendships with other councils like United Greek Council & Black Greek Council, create a stronger sisterhood by having members of different chapters learn from each other, get our community more involved on campus with cultural houses, and beginning to implement workshops in which all 22 chapters will communicate healthy practices of inclusive languages, breaking down implicit biases, knowledge of historical months of the year, and even teaming up with our VP of Recruitment to ensure chapters are creating equitable spaces for their members physically and emotionally. 

 

I cannot wait to get this year started! I’m so lucky that I have proven my Freshman year self wrong of possibly thinking the Panhellenic Community wasn’t the community for me, to become your VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. I’m excited to see our community to further improve and grow our practices of equity, continuing to create the foundation of inclusion, and creating a large diverse community for all and everyone. 

 

I am looking forward to working with my community, other Greek councils, and University resources to endure our efforts of an inclusive place for members like freshman year self to never fear of being excluded. Thank you for trusting me in this position, and I am beyond privileged to learn together and to continue to make Panhellenic a home for everyone. 

 

Sisterly, 

Sherlyn Carrillo