Increasingly Popular, Sororities To Expand

More than 80 women turned out to eat bagels and hear about the rush procedures of Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Gamma (DG) at Finagle-a-Bagel Friday, continuing a trend of increased interest in female Greek life on campus and confirming the Panhellenic Council’s decision to shop for a new sorority this spring.

Theta and DG voted in September to invite a third sorority to Harvard because they say rush numbers have become too high for them to accomadate on their own.

The Panhellenic Council, a coordinating body for campus sororities, narrowed down the search in December to Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Alpha Phi.

Each of the sororities will visit the campus in March and April at which time they will be interviewed by the council.

Then a panel of eight women—the six members of the council plus an additional member from each sorority—will decide which of these three will gain a permanent home at Harvard.

Council President Thayer S. Christodoulo ’04 said the fact that the two sororities were able to offer bids to only half the women that rushed last year shows the need for a new chapter on campus.

“The sorority scene has become limiting, and this is not what it was intended to be,” Theta Vice President of Public Relations Sheria D. Smith ’05 said. “There is so much interest but not enough groups to fulfil the interest.”

At most schools, all women who seek to join a sorority are given a bid, according to Christodoulo.

Christodoulo said the panel will pick the sorority based on three factors: how well these three chapters have done at colleges without having a house, their experience at schools where Greeks are not recognized and whether they have strong alumni chapters in Boston.

The new sorority, once chosen, will begin its own rush process and may recruit from the pool of women who expressed interest in Theta and DG, but were turned away due to the shortage of spots.

Pleiades members explored becoming a the Harvard chapter of an already-established national sorority earlier this year.

Tanya F. Perkins ’04, one of the Pleiades founders, said while the group will not decide which national sorority comes to Harvard, they may seek to become the core applicant pool of the new chapter.

“When they’re done with the process, we’ll look into it again,” Perkins said.

The interest in female social clubs at Harvard has grown dramatically in the past few years with the founding of the three new female final clubs, the Isis, Sabliere Society and Pleiades.

Theta and DG members said they hope to meet the demand to participate in Greek life by increasing the number of sororities as well.

“As a freshman girl you get caught up in the final club scene, and you think to yourself how great it would be if you could have an equivalent,” said Chelsea S. Simmons ’06, who attended the rush orientation.

—Staff writer Jeslyn A. Miller can be reached at jmiller@fas.harvard.edu.