When sophomore economics major Brittany Monte arrived at The University of Alabama, she did not see herself joining one of the many UA sororities. But when Monte heard about one of the school’s Christian sororities, Alpha Delta Chi, she decided to look into it.

Now, Monte is a proud member of ADChi, and she serves as the vice president of external affairs for the sorority. She arranges swaps and coordinates other events as part of her position.

Monte said her sorority is just like any other sorority. They hold swaps and socialize and they require that their girls maintain a certain GPA and educational standards.

“We participate in swaps and we do a spring formal,” Monte said. “We participate in Homecoming and Greek Week. So we are still definitely a sorority, with just a different dynamic as far as having that spiritual side in it.”

Their membership requirements are different, however, in a few specific ways.

“We have 13 membership requirements,” she said. “Some of the ones that are a little different are a willingness to abstain from sex until marriage, willingness to avoid situations that would cause another sister to feel uncomfortable, no drugs or smoking. Acceptance of Jesus Christ the savior, active participation in church.”

ADChi also has a specific alcohol policy regarding its members.

“Our members aren’t allowed to drink at social events nor are members of age allowed to drink in front of pledges under any circumstance,” Monte said.

According to the Office of Greek Affairs, the University has 56 total sororities and fraternities under four different councils with roughly 7,000 students involved. In the instance of ADChi, Monte says that they have close to 40 current members but about half of those members will be graduating soon.

Monte said while their numbers may sound small when compared to other sororities, she appreciates the way it allows members to become even closer and develop an even more personal bond with one another as well as with their faith.

“I think that this is definitely something that you have to have a calling for,” Monte said.

When it comes to interacting with other members of the greek system, Monte said negativity is not a problem that she has really encountered. She arranges swaps and social events for her girls with a plethora of the fraternities on campus.

Ryan Flamerich, a senior majoring in chemical engineering, serves as the vice president of programming for Sigma Phi Epsilon. He said his fraternity has members of all faiths and they often partake in swaps and events with a variety of other organizations, including ADChi, other Christian sororities and sororities associated with other faiths.

“We like to hold ourselves to a very high standard,” he said. “We are an integrated fraternity. We have members of all faiths.”

Additionally Flamerich said he doesn’t think Christian sororities and fraternities are stereotyped or viewed differently by other members of the UA greek system.

“We feel like they are a constructive member of our greek system,” Flamerich said. “I would say that we view them in the same way we view all sororities on campus.”