by Alexandra Hildreth, PHC VP Recruitment, Publicity & Extension
Shortly following the 2010 Formal Membership Recruitment period, a group of women not placed in a chapter or did not participate in the Panhellenic recruitment process joined together to form an interest group. Their leader was an initiated Delta Phi Epsilon transfer student. Initially they started out by calling themselves a Delta Phi Epsilon interest group but after communication with their national organization and our council they began calling themselves a new sorority interest group.
The existence of this group brought up a question that is always in the back of the councils mind—is it time to bring another chapter to our campus? In the Fall of 2008, Alpha Omicron Pi closed. Before that we have not seen any entry or exit since the spring of 2004 when Delta Phi Epsilon left our campus and Alpha Xi Delta entered in the Spring of 2005.
We take the existence of this new sorority interest group very seriously because we believe as a Panhellenic Council that any Cornell woman who wants to participate and become a member should have that opportunity. In a general body meeting this past February, the council voted for the formation of an Exploratory Extension Committee. This committee will consist of a representative from every chapter and will explore the idea of extension. We will look at statistics from formal recruitment going back seven years. We will also compile qualitative questions we want to collect from members of the Panhellenic community that address the issue of extension.
Currently every chapter’s total is set as 150, and only three chapters fall below this number. We are still in an Informal Recruitment period where these eligible chapters are participating in Continuous Open Bidding (COB). Our chapters are more full than we have seen them in a while and with this new interest group the prospect of extension seems plausible.
Over the next month the committee will compile a formal presentation with both quantitative and qualitative data to bring to the council. At this point we will propose a vote for extension. Each chapter will have three weeks to communicate with their headquarters and will have one vote to say whether or not they are in favor of moving forward with extension. There needs to be a two-thirds majority (currently 8 out of 11 chapters), for this to occur.
If the vote is yes we will move forward with contacting the National Panhellenic Conference and extend the invitation to join our campus to every organization that is currently not recognized on campus. The time line for adding a new chapter is not set in stone; however, we anticipate that we may potentially see a new chapter in the fall of 2011. The notion of change can be difficult in such a traditional community but we are making a concerted effort to assess whether or not this is the proper time for extension.
Shortly following the 2010 Formal Membership Recruitment period, a group of women not placed in a chapter or did not participate in the Panhellenic recruitment process joined together to form an interest group. Their leader was an initiated Delta Phi Epsilon transfer student. Initially they started out by calling themselves a Delta Phi Epsilon interest group but after communication with their national organization and our council they began calling themselves a new sorority interest group.
The existence of this group brought up a question that is always in the back of the councils mind—is it time to bring another chapter to our campus? In the Fall of 2008, Alpha Omicron Pi closed. Before that we have not seen any entry or exit since the spring of 2004 when Delta Phi Epsilon left our campus and Alpha Xi Delta entered in the Spring of 2005.
We take the existence of this new sorority interest group very seriously because we believe as a Panhellenic Council that any Cornell woman who wants to participate and become a member should have that opportunity. In a general body meeting this past February, the council voted for the formation of an Exploratory Extension Committee. This committee will consist of a representative from every chapter and will explore the idea of extension. We will look at statistics from formal recruitment going back seven years. We will also compile qualitative questions we want to collect from members of the Panhellenic community that address the issue of extension.
Currently every chapter’s total is set as 150, and only three chapters fall below this number. We are still in an Informal Recruitment period where these eligible chapters are participating in Continuous Open Bidding (COB). Our chapters are more full than we have seen them in a while and with this new interest group the prospect of extension seems plausible.
Over the next month the committee will compile a formal presentation with both quantitative and qualitative data to bring to the council. At this point we will propose a vote for extension. Each chapter will have three weeks to communicate with their headquarters and will have one vote to say whether or not they are in favor of moving forward with extension. There needs to be a two-thirds majority (currently 8 out of 11 chapters), for this to occur.
If the vote is yes we will move forward with contacting the National Panhellenic Conference and extend the invitation to join our campus to every organization that is currently not recognized on campus. The time line for adding a new chapter is not set in stone; however, we anticipate that we may potentially see a new chapter in the fall of 2011. The notion of change can be difficult in such a traditional community but we are making a concerted effort to assess whether or not this is the proper time for extension.
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