The past semester has been increasingly significant for Greek life. The community reached more than 2,200 members, broke goals in philanthropic events, and announced on Wednesday that they will be welcoming Sigma Delta Tau National Sorority into their community in fall of 2016. 

The Process

“In Fall of 2014, an exploratory committee was formed which consists primarily of the same women on our extension committee,” said Leslie Cancelliere, vice president of recruitment and retention on Panhellenic. “The original committee decides if another (National Panhellenic Council) organization would be beneficial for a number of reasons.”

What’s next is to consider when the best time to bring a new sorority to campus could be. The committee had to go through presentations and allot enough time to decide and not rush the process, said Cancelliere.

After determining the right time to bring a new sorority to campus, the NPC will show interest.

“Once this was determined, an announcement went out to the National Panhellenic Conference and organizations expressed their interest in Kent,” said Cancelliere.

The council then has to consider potential sororities to join Kent’s campus.

“The organizations prepared materials, and the new extension committee weighed the pros and cons of each organization and narrowed it down to three to present in fall of 2015,” Cancelliere said.

The community of Kent goes through and decides how the new sorority will fit in at the university based on the presentations and information provided from NPC.

“Three chapters do presentations, then chapters fill out an evaluation sheet (and) decide what is the best option for Kent State,” said Lauren Raymond, Panhellenic delegate for Tri Sigma.

The committee will then be able to send questions they have in regards to the organizations.

After presentations were completed, the committee sent questions to organizations including  Sigma Delta Tau, Delta Phi Epsilon and Alpha Gamma Delta, said Cancelliere.

Next followed a survey voting process, further narrowing the process.

“Once follow up questions were answered, the committee took the surveys and results of chapter discussion and feedback to come to a recommendation for Panhellenic,” she said. “If the recommendation passes, an invitation will be sent to the organization presented and they can either accept or deny our invitation.” 

With excitement in the air of the new sorority being brought to campus, there will be more opportunities for those considering recruitment next fall.

“(It’s a) general goal that all the women that go through recruitment, that aren’t placed, will be placed. To be part of Greek life, would have another place to go to,” Raymond said.

The future of Kent’s Greek life

Bringing a new sorority to campus can increase membership numbers as well as expanding philanthropies. Women will also have more options to decide on where their home away from home will be.

“I am most excited about the new sorority’s philanthropy,” said Adeline Wadel, a junior zoology student and member of Phi Mu. ”It will be nice to have even more organizations to raise money for and to support as the Greek community of Kent State.”

Kayla Sturm is the Greek life reporter. Contact her at [email protected].