Representatives from the national headquarters of the Chi Omega sorority visited the University of Oregon chapter this past weekend, instituting a reorganization of the chapter and forcing many members to resign.

Seniors Tuesday Walker and Jocelyn Herana were two of the members who were asked to step down. Herana was a member of the sorority’s executive board.

“They came and gave us one-on-one interviews for about 20 minutes,” Walker said. “They had follow up meetings on Sunday and would tell you if you were a member or if you were not a member. That turned into just about our entire pledge class dropping.”

Representatives from the sorority’s national headquarters routinely visit chapters to evaluate and make changes where they feel it’s necessary.

While the number of how many women were asked to resign has not been released, Walker believes it was anywhere between five and ten. Many additional members decided to drop after receiving news that their sisters were no longer a part of the chapter.

The women say that members were asked to resign for a number of reasons.

“It’s not even just party related. It’s just sisterhood related, grades, philanthropy,” Walker said. “It’s not just one certain thing.”

The visit was a painful surprise for many members.

“A lot of us were asked to resign based off of not being able to embody the purpose of Chi Omega,” Walker said. “But really it was just us being in the wrong place at the wrong time or us sticking up for our sisterhood, or even people who just live in our live out.”

Members who were “asked to resign” were effectively removed from the sorority. There’s an appeals process, but it’s often lengthy. Those forced out are denied alumni status following graduation. That means they’re no longer nationally associated with their chapter and denied benefits that come with inclusion in the community.

“They just asked us to resign. We could then take it further and gone through trial and ask for alumni status but at that point we just had to think about our values … and those values did not correlate with what they were telling us,” Walker said. “It’s hard to fight for something that you don’t believe in.”

Walker is not the only one who felt that way.

“When they asked me to resign my membership, I was shocked,” Herana said. “I’ve been a member since freshman year and I wanted a home away from home. I found that with Chi Omega. They took something so special away from me in just the short span of a weekend.”

Representatives from national headquarters also chose a new executive board since many members of the original board resigned.

Junior Marita Maffit was selected as Chi Omega’s new president.

“We will always hold these women close to our hearts and continue to be friends,” Maffit said. “We are excited to move forward.”

Herana and Walker say they fully support the new leaders of the chapter.

“If any of the executive board members needed help, I would go to them and help because that’s what sisters do,” Herana said. “I would never take that away from them just because I am disaffiliated from the sorority.”

The two women still consider themselves sisters of Psi Alpha, the Oregon chapter of Chi Omega.

“Yes, we have to formally let go of actually being members of Chi Omega but that never is going to stop our legacy here of being a Psi Alpha,” Walker said. “It’s always going to be a part of us and we’re so blessed to have had this sisterhood to last three years.”

Whitney Plumpton, director of marketing and public relations for the National Chi Omega Fraternity, issued the following statement regarding the reorganization:

“Chi Omega regularly assesses the health and vitality of our chapters, and part of that process can sometimes include face-to-face conversations with our members and chapter officers to assure Chi Omega’s rules and policies are being upheld.”

According to Walker and Herana, many members who dropped do not agree with the direction that national headquarters has expressed for Psi Alpha.

“I think a lot of people just ended up saying, ‘I’m just kind of done with it because this isn’t why we decided to pledge this chapter,’” Walker said. “It’s just turning into something that we as individuals weren’t looking for when we decided to join.”

Walker and Herana hope the best for the chapter, but want nationals to understand what removal means to the women.

“I just hope that nationals understands that they really took something so special away here for all of us,” Walker said. “But they could never break the sisterhood that we have created.”

The first steps to a reorganization of the University of Oregon chapter of the Chi Omega sorority began Sunday following a weekend visit by leaders from the organization’s national headquarters.

“What happened is that their nationals came in and chose a new exec and they are starting to rebuild in a way that the nationals wants to see,” Morgan Plew, president of UO Panhellenic Council, said.

Representatives from Chi Omega’s headquarters visited the chapter this weekend and made decisions they believed would be in the chapter’s best interest.

National organizations routinely check on individual chapters and evaluate them, making changes where they feel necessary.

“The university and Panhellenic Council have nothing to do with this because we can only do so much for one chapter,” Plew said. “The nationals come in and they take a bigger look at the picture.”

Junior Marita Maffit has been selected as Chi Omega’s new president.

Details on the reason for the reorganization to come.

Young women held the envelopes that could change the rest of their college experiences in their hands. Colorful outfits and costumes surrounded them and loud cheers were heard from all directions as current sorority members chanted their letters. Pride filled the EMU amphitheater to the brim.

This scene takes place each year on Bid Day, but this time those cheers were louder than usual.

University of Oregon Fraternity and Sorority Life has reached the largest number of students in history this year with approximately 3,300 members – 231 more than Fall 2013.

“The numbers have been growing (in past years), but this year it was exponentially higher,” Morgan Plew, President of Panhellenic Council, said. “As far as sorority recruitment goes, we had to close registration before students even moved into the dorms, which has never happened before.”

A record breaking 905 women registered for Fall Formal Recruitment this year.

With only 17 fraternities and 10 sororities, there isn’t enough room for the growing demand, and with that demand comes more responsibility to uphold safety standards.

A recent study done by Jennifer Freyd, a UO psychology professor who’s findings on sexual violence have been presented at the White House, showed that those FSL were more likely to experience sexual assault. 

In FSL, 48.1 percent of females and 23.6 percent of males have experienced non-consensual sexual contact. In comparison, females not in FSL reported 33.1 percent, and males 7.9 percent.

“What we’ve done is shown the campus that women in Greek Life particularly are really affected by sexual violence compared to the rest of campus,” Marina Rosenthal, a UO graduate student who helped conduct the study, said. “That information, to us, is a pretty clear indication that students are less safe when they participate in Greek Life and are more likely to get hurt.”

Justin Shukas, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UO, has made sure that there are a number of programs in place to make students feel safe in terms of sexual assault.

“We do a new member orientation program that happens within two to three weeks of when new members receive their bids,” he said. “We cover sexual assault prevention and alcohol abuse prevention.”

Additionally, many chapters’ national headquarters require members to complete Greek Edu, which is similar to the online structure of Alcohol Edu, but covers a wider range of topics including sexual assault.

Tayler Cavanagh, a new member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, said the programs that have been put in place make her feel much safer.

“I feel like (the precautions) are pretty sufficient,” she said. “There are courses we have to take before we can go to functions in terms of alcohol education and hazing. Everyone is aware, so we’re really working together.”

Shukas said that many FSL members were surprised by the results of the study.

“I think a lot of the students’ reaction is that they weren’t aware,” Shukas said. “The data was also self reported, and it’s unsure if those students were actually in chapters, so there are still a lot of questions about that.”

Dean of Students Paul Shang noted that Fraternities and Sororities nationwide are facing increased attention.

At the end of September, Clemson University shut down 24 fraternities after a fraternity member’s body was found in a lake following an early morning group activity run with Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers.

“We are not naive,” Shang said. “We know what is happening nationally and we certainly are aware of what Clemson has recently decided to do. Fraternities and sororities are experiencing a great deal of national scrutiny, deservedly so, but also we think that we have responded appropriately to that.”

UO FSL saw first hand how individuals’ poor decisions can lead to an unsafe environment after five sorority women were hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning following Bid Day 2013. This year, FSL is taking extra precautions as numbers increase.

With all of the growth, FSL plans on holding themselves to a higher standard than they have in the past. Shukas and Shang have addressed concerns and shared precautions they have taken in order to keep their members safe.

“I did have meetings with fraternity and sorority presidents and talked with them about our concerns and wanting to make sure that we have a good start to fall term,” Shang said. “We discussed issues that have happened in the past and talked about our expectations of appropriate behavior and concerns for the safety of members.”

In direct response to the concerns following the hospitalizations of Bid Day 2013, a specific system has been set up in order to avoid this.

“This year Panhellenic Council voted to extend the recruitment period which means that all members and new members are sober for 36 hours after bid day and so that will add an additional night where sororities have to plan sisterhood events,” Shukas said.

Moving forward, FSL expects to grow immensely and hope to eventually expand from 15% of the student body to 20% in the next few years.

“When fraternity is done right, it is one of the best things on a college campus, and I think unfortunately sometimes when it’s not done right, it’s seen as a bad thing,” Shukas said. “There are so many students who do amazing work and we want to make sure that we have the ability to support all students that want to be involved in a Greek organization.”

With all the hustle and bustle of a new school year, everyone is gearing up for the fall term. University of Oregon Fraternity & Sorority Life has been planning fall recruitment events for months.

According to Morgan Plew, member of Pi Beta Phi and Panhellenic Council president, FSL can be a great place for students not already involved at UO to connect to the campus.

“As a whole, it is great to have such a supportive group to hold you accountable for grades and do community service,” Plew said. “It’s a great way to jump in and get involved.”

Plew believes that first-year students get something truly special from simply just participating in recruitment events.

“Specifically, for new people to the university, recruitment is a great way to meet a large network of people in your residence hall or classes, and it’s a great way to start off the year,” Plew said. “Even if you don’t end up deciding to join a chapter, you’ll have familiar faces around campus.”

Justin Shukas, FSL Director, has been overseeing the planning, but understands that it is important to let the community take the reins.

“Stressful isn’t the right word (for recruitment), but you want it to run smoothly, so for me, the exciting part is getting through the things that come up,” Shukas said. “It’s a lot of moving pieces and it’s like a well-oiled machine – It runs smoothly when you get all those pieces working together.”

Many things in the FSL community will be changing in both the upcoming year and in the long term.

“Something I’m really excited about is that we are in the process of hiring an assistant director, and we’ve been working on this all summer,” Plew said. “It’s going to be great to have another staff member helping and advising.”

For Shukas, the excitement stems from a desire for more outreach in the Greek community.

“It’s definitely going to be a huge help to advising the Greek community and offer chapter leaders a lot more guidance,” Shukas said. “We have been hoping for this for a long time, and we have been understaffed for a long time so it’ll be great to get some new perspective in the office.”

Other changes happening down the road include Panhellenic expansion in both the falls of 2015 and 2017.

“In the fall of 2015, Sigma Kappa will be here, and fall of 2017, Delta Zeta will be here,” Plew said. “They weren’t ready to colonize so quickly, but we will be telling (potential new members) that there will be an opportunity in the future, if that is something they want to keep in mind.”

For young women and men who are considering joining the FSL community this fall, secondary registration for Fall Formal Recruitment is open until Oct. 5.

Overall, current FSL members are just excited to see their community growing.

“I think fall is definitely our busiest time of year, so there is a lot of energy, especially with recruitment, and it’s exciting to see all the new students wanting to join the FSL community,” Shukas said.

After the hospitalization of five sorority women last October, this year has been especially difficult for Fraternity and Sorority Life in terms of alcohol related incidents.

“This academic year has been horrible in comparison to previous academic years,” Panhellenic President Morgan Plew said. “I think it’s been a real eye opener for our members. Our councils put our foot down and said this can’t continue.”

In response, the University of Oregon’s Panhellenic Council and Intrafraternity Council’s Vice Presidents of Risk Management Emily Leadem and Max Lehman have formed a new social policy.

“Max and I both got our positions the beginning of winter term and really hit the ground running working on it right away,” Leadem saidabout the new rules.

The new social policy was modeled after University of Washington and University of Michigan’s policies and addresses issues the old social policy did not, especially calling attention to requirements for both functions officially recognized by the local chapter and unofficially hosted in association with the chapter.

“Basically we want to get rid of the terminology of ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ functions. We want people to think of that as being one in the same and create a safer environment,” Leadem said. “Obviously since this is a new policy, there will be some trial and error and we will see how it all works, but hopefully that will create that safer environment and a better way of thinking about it.”

This idea of a shift in culture has been something that the executive boards have been discussing for months.

“The concept of official verses unofficial functions is basically don’t ask don’t tell, which is just naïve and ineffective so in result there are a lot of hospital transports and unsafe things happening so clearly the system we had in place was ineffective,” Plew said. “There’s been a shift in culture from having all your parties official at third party venues with buses and everything to people not wanting to deal with that so they just had big live out parties and that’s where problems come up.”

The new social policy is ten pages long and separates risks into four different tiers ranging from third party venues to individual live-outs.

The IFC and PHC Social Policy maps out specific regulations for basically any scenario that a member of Fraternity and Sorority Life could find themselves in.

“In the risk management policy that we all follow, it says 24 or more people at an event would constitute a function,” Leadem said.

The basic idea is that gatherings of 24 people or more must be registered through the chapters social chair and an online form must be filled out and sent into Leadem and Lehman.

“We call it social responsibility. It’s our members saying we’re taking responsibility for our actions to try to have the safest environment possible because it’s going to happen,” Plew said. “Everyone is going to go to a party at least once while they are in college and we just want to make sure that we’re taking the steps that we need to make sure that it’s safe.”

New University of Oregon Greek life Social Policy

Each year UO Fall Formal Recruitment takes place the first week of school, making it an especially hectic time for new freshmen women pledging a sorority and finding their footing in school.

But fall 2014, these recruitment dates are changing. Instead, recruitment will begin on Wednesday, Oct. 8 and continue until Bid Day on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

“We’re doing it week two — starting Wednesday — and the reason for that is a few different things,” said Morgan Plew, president of Panhellenic Council.

The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur begins at sundown Friday, Oct. 3 and goes until sundown of Saturday, Oct. 4. Due to this, some women may run into complications attending recruitment events.

Samantha Kalb, PHC vice president of recruitment, wants to create equal opportunities for all women who want to be a part of recruitment.

“If girls were planning on participating in the holiday, they wouldn’t be able to go through recruitment, and they would just be dropped because I guess in the past it wasn’t a valid excuse, but I respect it,” Kalb said.

Another concern that PHC had was the home football game against Arizona on Thursday, Oct. 2. If recruitment is the first week of school, women participating would not be able to attend the game.

“It would deter people in being in good spirit about going through recruitment,” Plew said. “Sorority spirit should go hand in hand with school spirit. That’s one of our biggest things, so we don’t want to take that away or make recruitment not fun anymore.”

Members of the PHC are excited for the opportunities that come with this new schedule.

“It’s actually going to work out really well because I know classes kind of get kicking second week, but since we have week one of nothing, everyone has time to plan ahead,” Plew said. “Because they’ll actually have their syllabi and materials and they can spend week one getting prepared.”

PHC is also planning on trying something new: presentations on the culture of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

“We’re also really excited about doing some programming for potential new members,” Plew said. “We are just going to do some presentations or info sessions to welcome girls to Greek life. What it means to be a sorority woman, what do we do. More in depth than just this is what your expectations are. It will be a cultural welcoming.”

Sorority members normally spend the week before school participating in “spirit week,” which allows each chapter to practice and prepare for recruitment. This fall, spirit week will still be the week before school (Sept. 22 through Sept. 31), but sororities can choose to use the first week of school however they see fit.

The fall registration schedule will depend on how many women sign up and how soon.

“The cutoff for registration will just depend on whenever it fills up,” Kalb said. “We’re planning to open registration (for fall) in May.”

The registration maximum has not been set yet due to the new sorority that will be joining the UO campus in the fall.

As spring term kicks off, so does Fraternity Spring Recruitment. The process will begin Tuesday, Apr. 1 with a recruitment fair in the LLC Performance Hall.

“Every fraternity participating will have a table and they will bring whatever materials or resources they need,” Interfraternity Council VP of Recruitment, Connor Lasken, said. “We just supply the time and space to facilitate the event.”

The Recruitment Fair will take place from 6-8 p.m. As of now, a number of different fraternities on campus are participating including Chi Psi, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Delta Upsilon. There may be more to come.

“All of the fraternities were invited to participate. Some have accepted and some have not, but they all have equal opportunity,” Lasken said.

While Spring Recruitment will start with the Recruitment Fair, each fraternity will have their own individual events and agendas following.

“They are on their own as far as events go, but this fair is a great place to start for men who are just getting started,” Lasken said.

Anyone interested in participating can contact Connor Lasken at (818) 517-5125.

One evening while patrolling the halls in the middle of the night Barbara Unck, Alpha Chi Omega’s House Mom, heard noises coming from one of the rooms. Without hesitation she opened the door, grabbed the young man visiting by the neck, walked him down the stairs and escorted him out — butt naked.

The job of a sorority house director entails a lot of different aspects including overseeing maintenance of the house and directing the staff. For Unck, the most important part is making sure the women of Alpha Chi Omega are safe and happy.

As both an alumni and a legacy, Unck is a duck by blood. Her father, Gib Olinger, was part of the UO basketball team from 1932-34 and captain for two of those years. After growing up in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, Unck enrolled in the UO.

Unck’s interests lead her to study journalism, but after her first year at UO she became ill and  had to move closer to home. Instead she transferred to Eastern Oregon University, majored in political science and history, and pursued a career with NBC.

Later she moved back to Milton-Freewater to help with her father’s business. It was then that she met her future husband and the father of her five children.

Following divorce, it was difficult to be a single parent of five, but Unck managed.

“I can remember days when we didn’t have enough money to put food on the table, so I would just make it an adventure. I gave them each a sack and we would go out in the country and pick up pop cans and things and cash them in and we got macaroni and cheese,” Unck said. “I just loved those kids.”

After her children had grown and her parents and an older brother had passed, Unck found herself looking for something new. She decided to move to Eugene in order to honor her father and give back to the community. Initially, she worked at the McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center designing newsletter and brochures for about two years before pursuing the opening for Alpha Chi Omega house director. 

Unck’s mother was a part of Delta Gamma and her father was a member of UO’s Phi Kappa Psi. Unck felt the position at Alpha Chi Omega was the perfect way to give back both to the community and to her parent’s memory. 

“When I came for my interview, I interviewed with the president of the sorority at the time and a couple of other girls and there were two board members and we have all been friends ever since,” Unck said.

Immediately she was hired and she fit into the house from day one. Whether she’s making the girls a snack or playing with her dog, Charlie, the house wouldn’t be the same without her.

“I guess I’m a mom at heart,” Unck said. “Everyone needs someone to talk to and has a time when they’re needing a little extra hug or someone just to vent to and that’s where I feel like I fit in most. I really love to help the girls.”

The women of Alpha Chi Omega agree.

Sophomore Emma Lapp currently lives in the house for the second year.

“I couldn’t imagine the house without her. I was so excited to move back in this year and have her because she’s like family. I love her,” Lapp said.

In addition to working as house director, Unck has been men’s basketball sports chair for the past 13 years up until this year. She also is heavily involved with Daisy Ducks, a women’s booster organization supporting UO Athletics. Unck also volunteers at local organizations regularly helps with the Festival of Trees at the Valley River Inn every year around Thanksgiving.

Though she’s involved in multiple aspects of the community, Unck still manages to find time to give each and every girl in the sorority individual attention.

“My sister went here before me and was in the sorority and I had met Barb when I came up to visit. When I became part of the sorority she immediately recognized me and it’s like little things like that that are really sweet,” senior Shelby Goldstein said. “She’s one of those people who is just so personable. She’s like our mother hen.”

The memories and relationships that Unck has made over her 15 years as house director have shaped a large portion of her life whether it’s with the women of Alpha Chi Omega or even the friendships with house directors of other sororities.

“All the house directors have monthly meetings and we go out to movies or do things together and gosh, we just have so much fun,” Unck said. “The friends I’ve made through the girls and parents and the many letters I get … I mean, it just makes me feel honored to have this job really because they thank me for being here.”

Whether it’s music for seven hours of dodgeball at a philanthropy event or dancing the night away at a function, juniors Sean Brennecke and Matthew Boehmer hand select the correct songs to play for each crucial moment.

Many students find time to balance work and school, but for these two University of Oregon students, their day job is more than just a source of income — it’s a passion.

Sean Brennecke and Matt Boehmer started their DJ business over the past year or so and it has blossomed into more than they could have imagined. 

“I always wanted to be a DJ and then when Sean got the gear it required and I found out how talented and into music he was, it was such a great parallel that we decided to come together and create Sauce,” Boehmer said.

The duo calls themselves Sauce — a name they came up with earlier this year.

“In reference to food, everything is better with Sauce,” Brennecke said. “It’s a funny way that we use to describe the way that we bring that extra experience to the party. We’re that little level that is going to make everyone have that much better of a time.”

Brennecke started the idea by shelling out $3,000 on a sub the size of a dishwasher, two speakers and a mixing board about a year ago. The pair began to book gigs almost immediately. They’ve become especially popular among UO Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Since then, they have appeared at fraternity and sorority functions since their debut this past fall at Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Bid Day. They have DJed almost all of Kappa’s events this year.

“They interact with people and truly feed off of each other,” Sam Wellington said, social chair of Kappa Kappa Gamma. “They are so much fun to have and I’ve gotten great feedback from all the girls in the house so I continue to use them for all of our events.”

The pair have also worked with Gamma Phi Beta and have many events lined up for spring term including a five way function at the Veteran’s Center with Alpha Phi, Fiji, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Lambda Chi Alpha. Plus, they have spring plans with Delta Sigma Phi.

It’s their unique image and sound that Brennecke and Boehmer believe sets them apart from other DJs.

“We don’t just stand up there and play songs. We are dancing just as hard as anyone else,” Brennecke said. “We’re yelling in the mic, getting everyone hyped up and it’s all in those critical moments.”

One other critical element that makes Sauce unique is their choice of attire. The men wear suits and ties with long black wigs and sunglasses.

“When we were first getting together, we were thinking about our personalities. We’re not super serious guys and wanted to find a way to personify that,” Brennecke said. “We did it and people had no idea who the hell we were, we were just those guys with the wigs and it’s kind of stuck from there.”

It’s very clear that the two friends are in fact, feeding off of each other at all times and having a good time doing it.

“We’d love to play the Catalina Wine Mixer,” Brennecke joked. “No, but in all seriousness we have our own professional ambitions. It’s just something that we love to do on the side.”

In addition, the pair is motivated by a desire to give back to the community. At the recent dodgeball event, the men gave 25 percent of their earnings back to the philanthropy.

“We are extremely grateful for the opportunity that Kappa (Kappa Gamma) has given us to DJ and it just reinforces the idea that we’re not doing it for the money,” Boehmer said. “We want everyone to have a great experience and the ability to give back to the philanthropy was a great opportunity for both of us.”

Music is not their only tie to the UO Greek community — Brennecke himself is a member of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) and Boehmer is the UO brand manager for The Social Life, a custom Greek life apparel company doing business with eleven different Oregon houses at this point.

For these reasons, Fraternity and Sorority Life events have a special place in their business, but overall they simply love sharing their gift with others.

“Music is so powerful because it has so much control over the environment so it’s such a large responsibility,” Brennecke said. “It’s just like, an addiction. Feeding off that energy, it’s fun to help other create those memorable experiences.”

With a maximum of 900 spots available for Fall Formal Recruitment and the number of women interested rising, the University of Oregon Panhellenic Council will be adding an 11th sorority to UO Fraternity and Sorority Life.

“Every year after Fall Formal Recruitment, we evaluate our chapters and look at statistics and decide whether our campus is a good campus for extension, which is expanding to open new sororities,” Morgan Plew, president of Panhellenic Council, said.

This year, the PHC exploratory committee voted that the UO campus is eligible for extension growth for fall 2014.

“We’re just getting to the point where there are too many members in each individual house,” Samantha Kalb, PHC vice president of recruitment, said.

The search for an 11th chapter will take place this spring term.

“What we’re doing specifically at Oregon, we have about six or seven organizations that have been on our campus in the past and instead of doing a posting for all organizations to join our campus, we’re contacting them and telling them they have first priority,” Plew said. “They have alumni here and history and we love that.”

Any interested sorority chapters will meet with Justin Shukas, director of FSL, and go through an application process. Following that, PHC will look at which chapters they think would be the best fit for the campus and narrow it down to two or three. The remaining chapters will present to PHC and a final decision will be made from there.

From recruitment to leadership opportunities, the addition of a new sorority will likely have a large impact on UO’s Greek community.

There is a current limit of 600 bids that can be given out during fall recruitment, about 60 per house. With approximately 900 women who sign up to go through the recruitment process, this can lead to a number of women on bid day without houses to join.

“Usually girls trickle out throughout the week. After the first like four days, you might not get invited back to a house,” Kalb said. “It’s a rarity that girls don’t get bids, but with more and more girls going through recruitment it becomes more common.”

Additionally, a new sorority will benefit upperclassmen looking for a chance at sorority leadership. 

“We have a lot more upperclassmen going through recruitment then we’ve had in the past whether they’re transfer students or they just decided to go through recruitment later in college, but having a new colonized chapter is great for juniors going through recruitment,” Plew said. “They’ll be the leaders and they only have two years so they’ll really get to use their time to make an impact and build the chapter.”

So what will this look like in the fall? The recruitment process for a new chapter looks a little different than chapters that are already formed. 

“There’s three days at the beginning of recruitment called ‘Open House’ days where each girl gets to go to all 10 houses,” Kalb said. “The new chapter would just give a presentation to all the girls on those three days.”

The new chapter will  be announced toward the end of summer before Fall Formal Recruitment.