Each year, a message goes out to the sophomore girls asking if they would like to participate in an organization. This group is not endorsed by the school and has held a questionable reputation in the past, which are some of the reasons why it has been underground for the majority of its existence.

BPI is the high school sorority that is composed of tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade girls at St. George’s. The real purpose and mission of the sorority has been confusing to those who are not a part of it, and sometimes even those who are, while others do not even know about its existence.

There are several different sororities at other high schools in the Memphis area, whether they have a prominent presence or are completely underground. The BPI sorority at St. George’s has existed from the early years of the school. In the past, the sorority has had a rocky status and many rumors surround it, but new leadership this year plans to bring big changes to improve the association as a whole.

The BPI sorority at St. George’s, made up of tenth through twelfth grade girls, is not officially acknowledged by the administration.

Starting during their sophomore year, female students are recruited to join BPI sorority as a social organization, extracurricular activity and service opportunity.

“It’s not a school entity. But we recognize that the people who make up BPI are all school students. It’s distinctive in that regard,” said President Bill Taylor.

The BPI sorority began during the earlier years of the St. George’s upper school campus when the first graduating class were 10th graders. From the sorority’s inception, St. George’s has never been affiliated with BPI due to the issues that arose at the school, including instances of hazing, exclusion and divisiveness.

“They all wore black one day, or they didn’t brush their hair or use makeup. It created a visible signal of who was in and who was out. This is why the school spoke out about it,” said Mr. Taylor.

The separation and exclusion amongst the students were some of the biggest issues that the administration felt were not in accordance with the school’s mission and values.

“When kids were excluded from it, when certain girls were asked to be in it and certain girls were not asked to be in it, that became a divisive issue,” said Mr. Taylor, “but the school spoke out on the divisiveness as counter-productive to the goals of the community here.”

One of the controversies associated with the sorority concerns their previous means of fundraising and their work with charity. Members are required to raise a certain amount of money by the end of the year for the designated charity and for the various fees that the sorority requires.

“We were supposed to raise up a certain amount of money,” said senior Rebecca Matson, “but we all just ended up writing checks by the end of it.”

The issue for many was that the sorority did not take part in any events that would allow the sorority, as a whole, to raise money. This caused the members to find their own means of fundraising, individually.

“It is very, very, very expensive, and they made you pay fee after fee after fee so they could fundraise,” said junior Sope Adeleye, “but it just ended up being my mom writing checks three or four times.”

Despite these previous missteps, new leadership seems to be steering the sorority in a positive direction.

Seniors Elizabeth May and Elizabeth Powe are the current presidents of BPI and are striving to change the reputation of the sorority for the better.

Beginning this year, with the absence of the neighboring school sorority at Briarcrest Christian School, May and Powe have been put in charge of organizing the plans for the winter formal that the sorority takes part in every year.

“SKS is Briarcrest’s old high school sorority, and they’re not doing their sorority anymore,” said Powe. “They were always in charge of formal, so now we’re in charge of formal.”

The winter formal has been a source of problems in the past due to the behavior and events that surround it. Several high schools were invited to winter formal; however, this year the winter formal will only include students from Houston High School and Collierville High School.

“Over the years, the winter formal associated with this sorority has created opportunities for poor and unwise and unhealthy choices,” said Upper School Director Tom Morris.

“What the school has always spoken out against is the party that’s associated with it in December because every year there are problems associated with that party, sometimes impacting St. George’s students, sometimes impacting others,” said Mr. Taylor

The school sent a letter to parents at the school to inform and warn of the “unacceptable behavior off campus at functions sponsored by the sorority.”

In years past, the dance seemed to be the only function that occurred and acted as the only means of fundraising other than the initial entry fees.

“Really you just sign up for a dance and you pay multiple fines,” said Matson.

May and Powe are taking steps to avoid such issues in their event planning and hope to steer clear of conflict and opportunities for bad behavior in the coming year.

The pair are looking to bring the sorority into a more positive light than it has been previously. Instances, such as the winter formal and hazing, have been a few of the reasons that the sorority has been cast in a negative light.

“In years past, I know there has been some hazing and we don’t agree with that,” said Powe.

“There’s no hazing,” said May, “Every girl in the sophomore class is invited.”

“In the past, I think that the sorority has lost touch with its main focus, and the main reason why it exists is for charity,” said Powe.

“This year we are a lot more involved with charity,” said May, “We plan to have a lot more charity events, like a mother-daughter brunch, a Christmas party, maybe a powder puff football game.”

May and Powe hope to mend past issues and clarify the role of the organization and clarify its goals. Time will tell if these changes take root and whether or not the sorority will be able to come above ground and make its presence known.