College is filled with many difficult challenges, and not everything will go as planned. It
is important for college students to have someone who understands that they can rely on and
give them advice. For many students, Hannah Scott Back is this person.
Higher education support staff is vital for college students. Scott Back, Coordinator for
Fraternity and Sorority Life and College Panhellenic Council advisor at The University of
Southern Mississippi is an example of this, as she works closely with college students and
members in the Fraternity and Sorority Life community.
As a first-generation college student, Scott Back chose to attend USM in the fall of 2015.
During her undergraduate years, she was involved in a sorority, the Luckday Scholars Program,
the Baptist Student Union, the Lambda Sigma Honor Society, the Order of Omega Honor
Society, Southern Style, and other organizations.
Unsure of what she wanted to do following graduation, Scott Back accepted a position as
an admissions counselor at Southern Miss.
“I found that I really like working with college students, and I like the college
experience,” Scott Back said. “I was in a sorority. I was on Southern Style. I did internships. All
of this easily translated to work at a college, especially coming back to Southern Miss.”
For two years, Scott Back traveled to high schools in Mississippi, encouraging students to
attend the University of Southern Mississippi. Shortly after, Scott Back transitioned from the
admissions office to the Fraternity and Sorority Life office as the department’s coordinator and
College Panhellenic Council advisor. She also serves as the advisor for EagleThon, Order of
Omega and Greek Week.
Working with undergraduates, Scott Back has the opportunity to not only direct students
but learn from them as well.
“I like to challenge my students and put them in uncomfortable situations where they may
have to have tough conversations or prepare them for later in college and their futures because a
lot of things that I learned, I carried from college to my professional life,” Scott Back said.
“Working with college students teaches me more personal values and virtues. With so many
types of personalities, it develops my patience and my perseverance. It keeps me young in the
sense of helping me continue to be connected to the younger students.”
Through her experiences, Scott Back decided to pursue her master’s in education with an
emphasis on higher education.
“I’ve been in higher education for a total of five years now, and I really like it,” Scott
Back said. “I like to learn about student development, what makes students tick and how we can
best support them. We have a good higher education program here at USM, so it all just worked
out.”
According to Scott Back, the biggest issue that undergraduates face is having the
misconception to do and be everything and that everything has to go right or be successful. Her
most formative conversations come from sitting students down and talking them through what
failed, why it failed and that it is okay for it to have failed.
“She is a good listening ear and is close enough to her college experience as a sorority
woman, so she can relate to whatever issues that we are struggling with in our positions,” said
Paige Fellows, president of the College Panhellenic Council and a senior at USM.
Primary recruitment is an essential aspect of sororities. Potential new members go
through the recruitment process to receive a bid from a sorority. This can either go in their favor
or leave them distraught and wondering why they are not good enough for a certain chapter.
Potential new members get caught up in the TikTok videos about recruitment and think sorority
life is just like recruitment.
At USM, primary recruitment is not like other schools. The chapters are smaller in size
and women from different chapters can be friends and support each other.
“People’s perceptions of the sorority process cause them to be flustered,” Scott Back said.
“People get such bad information that doesn’t make their experience any less stressful. I think
that the most challenging thing about sororities is trying to convince people to try to sort the
misinformation from the actual information.”
As the College Panhellenic Council advisor, Scott Back ensures that potential new
members find a sorority that is right for them. If they do not, she leads them to other
organizations on campus that they can get plugged into and help them be successful.
While higher education support staff each play a different role in student’s lives, all
students should have at least one mentor they can confide in to make their college experience
better.
