New chapter on the avenue

Alpha Xi Delta to re-establish at UGA for fall recruitment initiated members and 129 active chapters, according to their website.

The Gamma Upsilon chapter of Alpha Xi Delta sorority will be re-established at the University of Georgia in fall 2023 and plans to recruit a full chapter.

The reinstatement was announced on March 2 via the UGA Panhellenic Instagram account. Alpha Xi Delta will be the 20th sorority in UGA’s Panhellenic Council. The chapter, which was previously on campus from 1960-1974, closed due to a decline in membership. Membership decline was a national trend among fraternities and sororities during this time, according to Kara Rex, assistant director of Greek life and advisor to Panhellenic at UGA.

After the UGA Panhellenic Council contacted Alpha Xi Delta with interest in re-establishing the chapter on campus, the sorority visited campus in February 2023 to give a presentation on who they are and how they would go about re-establishment. They were then selected to join, which catalyzed the organization’s own efforts for re-establishment. In the coming months, they will table and participate in campus events to promote the chapter, according to Rex.

Revving up for recruitment

Alpha Xi Delta will partially participate in formal recruitment, also known as rush, in the fall of 2023. They will participate in the first round, which consists of each sorority presenting a video describing who they are and what the organization is about to potential new members.

Alpha Xi Delta will then put their recruitment on hold until after formal rush is finished, beginning their own events the day after bid day.

They will have their own recruitment process that will be largely similar to regular rush, according to Heather Chibuk, Alpha Xi Delta’s national director of membership growth and marketing. Other chapters across the state and Southeastern Conference, such as Auburn University and the University of South Carolina, will participate in and support the recruitment process since there will not be members already in the chapter to run recruitment. Potential new members can participate in regular recruitment or register just for Alpha Xi Delta recruitment, but they are not guaranteed acceptance.

“I definitely think that joining a new chapter from the ground up is a very unique opportunity,” Felts said. “I think it’s a very special experience that you get to come into this chapter, you get to maybe serve in an officer role right away that you might not have the opportunity to do if you were to join an already existing chapter.”

The organization is looking to recruit freshmen to seniors members in order to have a chapter size comparable to other sororities and to be able to have a full executive board, according to Chibuk.

“Everyone is excited about this opportunity to come back and also be at such a university and a community that values fraternity and sorority life experience,” Lauren Felts, Alpha Xi Delta’s national director of communications and marketing, said.

Alpha Xi Delta was founded on April 17, 1893 at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois. It has more than 162,000

“It is a great experience for those upperclassmen who are already leaders on campus, who want to continue to grow and add more to their experience at Georgia,” Chibuk said.

Alpha Xi Delta is also currently in the process of creating an Alumni Advisory Board for the new Gamma Upsilon chapter, Chibuk said.

Doing things differently

Besides running their recruitment a bit differently than other Panhellenic sororities, Alpha Xi Delta will also put a bit of a spin on another staple of sorority life: bigs and littles. They will have a twin program. Normally, after a year in a sorority, members take on a little. Since Gamma Upsilon will be in its first year next year and will not have any members who have been involved longer than any of the others, members will get a twin.

Like other Panhellenic sororities, Alpha Xi Delta participates in philanthropy. They do not have a partnership with a specific organization but rather a focus, called the Kindly Hearts Initiative, which is dedicated to supporting children experiencing homelessness or foster care. Chapters raise money and participate in service events for organizations that support the focus of the initiative, including ones in their communities.

Alpha Xi Delta currently seeks a house for the Gamma Upsilon chapter. They are hoping to find a house on South Milledge Avenue, where most of UGA’s other sorority houses are located.

Fast Facts

X Alpha Xi Delta’s flower is a pink rose.

X The sorority colors are double blue (light blue and dark blue) and gold.

X BetXi Bear has been the organization’s mascot since 1989.

X Alpha Xi Delta’s motto is “The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword.”

X There were 10 members of the founding chapter at Lombard College.