franklin Friday, March 7, 2014 • TheFranklinNews.com
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Danielle Faczan: The Franklin
Franklin College is currently home to three sororities, but a fourth suite remains empty. The Greek Life Panhellenic Council will vote at the end of the semester to possibly begin thinking about adding an additional sorority.
Fourth sorority may join Franklin College community
By Danielle Faczan
danielle.faczan@franklincollege.edu
The addition of a new sorority has not been determined; the Greek Life Panhellenic Council will vote at the end of the semester to potentially begin thinking about the process. Natalie Brewster, coordinator of Greek Life and activities, said the process for adding a new sorority, also called campus extension, would take at least a year and a half, assuming Panhel votes to go ahead with the process. Brewster said right now the council isn’t even to step one; they’re only thinking about step one. “At this point, they don’t know yet if they want another sorority; they’re just considering the option and learning about what that would look like, then voting whether to make a committee to put information together,” Brewster said.
If Panhel decides they are interested, then the members would begin a fivestep process, starting with the formation of an exploratory committee. Made up of alumna from each chapter and interested faculty members, these women would gather information and statistics from the last several years about college enrollment, the number of women going through recruitment and recruitment statistics on women who drop out or aren’t matched at the end of the process. The exploratory committee would spend at least a semester putting this report together. Then, they would make a recommendation about whether or not adding a new sorority is feasible for Franklin College’s campus. Then, Panhel would contemplate it, which is step two.
“When you add a sorority, you want to make sure it’s going to survive,” said Bri Humphries, junior and Panhellenic Vice President of Recruitment. “The last time we did this type of research to see if it was healthy for us was in the 90s. Franklin is obviously different now than it was in the 90s. And when you look at the recruitment we have at Franklin, we have tons of women coming in next year. So we’re in a healthier spot with our campus.” Brewster said the number of women nationally joining sororities as new members, interested in joining sororities and attending college in general has been skyrocketing during the last several years. Humphries said last year during formal recruitment, the number of girls who either dropped out
of the process or weren’t matched at the end was equivalent to a fourth new member pledge class. “It was sad because it was girls who could’ve gone Greek and should’ve gone Greek, but there’s nowhere to put them,” Humphries said. “The reality is we’re starting to outgrow the three sororities we have. Our chapters have reached that point.” After receiving the exploratory committee’s recommendation, Panhel would vote whether or not to open the campus for extension, which is step three. If yes, then step four begins – officially announcing that the campus is open, and national sororities can look into Franklin College and vice versa. At any time during the process, Panhel can change its mind and close the campus again. See “Fourth sorority” on Page 10