College junior Becca Iverson has a busy year ahead of her after being selected last night as the next head of the Panhellenic Council, the governing board for the eight sororities that attract about 30 percent of Penn's female undergraduates. A single slate of candidates for Panhel's seven-member executive board was selected by the eight chapter presidents before Thanksgiving, and was sent to the houses before the holiday. The houses only had the option of voting "yes" or "no" for the entire slate. Five houses are needed to confirm the slate. Iverson, the Chi Omega delegate to Panhel this year, said she is excited about her new job and eager to "protect the interests of Greek men and women." The Washington, D.C., native and former Daily Pennsylvanian reporter explained that she wants to improve the current Panhel system. "We really hope to have a wide-scale survey among sororities about what [sorority] women know about Panhel," Iverson said, adding that the results of the survey would determine changes in future programming. In addition, she wants to make Panhel more plugged-in -- by updating the group's World Wide Web page. The new board includes Alpha Chi Omega sister and Executive Vice President Dina Penny; Sigma Delta Tau sister and Vice President of Publicity Jennifer Chanowitz; Alpha Phi sister and Vice President of Rush Cara Schmid; Pi Beta Phi sister and Assistant Vice President of Rush Megan Gallenstein; Delta Delta Delta sister and Secretary Nicole Natoli; and Treasurer Jessica Barag, a Phi Sigma Sigma sister. Penny and Schmid are College juniors, while Chanowitz is a sophomore in the College. Gallenstein and Barag are a sophomore and a junior, respectively, in the Engineering School. Natoli's school affiliation was unclear as of last night. "I think it's a really good mix of people," Penny said, adding that she thought the board would work well together. Both Penny and Iverson stressed their desire to continue the community service partnership with Civic House next semester. "Greek men and women are much more than social groups-- they are community groups," said Iverson. Outgoing Executive Vice President Liz Bernard said she was pleased by the diversity on the new board. "Each position is represented by a different house. Seven of eight houses are represented," the College senior and SDT sister said. Kappa Alpha Theta is the only house without a member on Panhel. Except for assistant vice president of rush, each position had between three and five candidates, outgoing Panhel President Janelle Brodsky said. During the election process each candidate submits an application and makes a speech, then the eight sorority presidents vote on a slate of candidates, the College and Engineering senior said. Brodsky said she was pleased with the results of the elections, and confident about the future of Panhel. "They're really strong," she said.
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