Molly Lowery of Butler, above, and Elizabeth Harris of Cranberry Township, below, took part in an Internet photograph campaign intended to disprove stereotypes about sororities and Greek life on college campuses. The photos have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Lowery and Harris are seniors at Ohio University and members of the Delta Gamma sorority.

ATHENS, Ohio — Two Butler County women are among 24 sorority members whose attempt to disprove stereotypes has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

The Ohio University Delta Gamma sorority posted 24 photographs on its Facebook page Jan. 19 in an album titled “Defying Stereotypes.”

Each of the black-and-white photographs shows one of the sisters next to a handwritten sentence addressing stereotypes about sororities and Greek life on college campuses.

Elizabeth Harris of Cranberry Township and Molly Lowery of Butler are both shown.

Much to their surprise, the photographs quickly stirred interest, including news organizations.

Harris, who was one of the sisters last fall to organize the project, said she has been contacted by “The Today Show,” HLN and Cosmopolitan magazine.

The photographs have gotten a lot of attention on Facebook, but they also have been posted to other websites. A post on BuzzFeed.com that shared the photographs received more than 200,000 views in less than a day.

Harris was the sorority's director of public relations last fall. She is a senior strategic communications and political science major who graduated from Seneca Valley High School in 2012.

The sorority got the idea to do the photographs after seeing similar projects posted online by sororities at other colleges.

The photographs were taken in November, but the sorority decided to wait to post them until January when all of its members had returned from winter break, Harris said.

They were hoping to spread a positive message to their campus community and to other Delta Gamma chapters but did not expect to get national attention, Harris said.

“It's really exciting. We've had messages from people all over the country telling how the message has resonated with them as individuals,” she said.Harris' message reads: “Society says we pay for our friends. But the friendships I have made are worth every penny.”Lowery, who grew up in Butler and went to Shady Side Academy, is a senior nutrition major.She wrote: “Society says 'we aren't cultured' but I studied abroad in the United Kingdom.”She said she studied at the University of Roehampton last summer and traveled to Scotland and Ireland.Many people view sorority sisters as students who take easy classes and just want to party, she said.“I think we are just trying to show the positive part of Greek life and how much you can benefit from it,” Lowery said.Another sister's message reads: “Society says we marry lawyers, but I'm going to be one.”Harris said while she was joining the sorority as a freshman, she heard a lot of untrue comments from other people on campus.“Everyone has typical sorority stereotype ingrained in their head. They might not know all the good sororities do. I've gained leadership experience and met so many wonderful individuals who truly bring out the best in each other,” Harris said.Only a handful of the Delta Gamma sisters participated and yet they were able to spread a positive message to people all over the world, she said.“It just shows that something so little can make an incredible impact,” Lowery said.

Elizabeth Harris of Cranberry Township, a senior at Ohio University, was part of a viral photograph campaign. Photo by Kaitlin Hatton.