The recolonized Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and Phi Sigma Sigma sorority are focusing their attempts to increase their presence on Penn's campus with continual recruitment efforts.
"Sammy" officially recolonized in the spring of 2004 with the initiation of eight new members.
The chapter had been suspended in 2000 following dry rush violations while on probation from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.
College senior Adam Lampert said that the recolonized group had been granted full chapter status this spring without the usual probation period.
Lampert, who was one of the original eight members, has been the leader of the fraternity since last March, when the founding members held their first elections.
"I considered it an opportunity to improve on the current fraternity system," Lampert said.
Phi Sig recolonized in the fall of 2003, following a yearlong hiatus.
"There [was] not some big, shady event" that led to the hiatus, said College junior Jennifer Fowler, current president of Phi Sig.
In the fall of 2002, both Phi Sig leaders on campus and the national organization decided to disband the Penn chapter for a year.
Fowler said that this decision was made because of Phi Sig's sense of "not [being] as big of a presence, not as well known" as some of the other chapters.
Fowler joined in the first group of approximately 12 new members in the fall of 2003. The following spring, Phi Sig held formal recruitment outside of the structured Panhellenic rush, obtaining 60 to 70 new members.
Currently, following this past spring's rush and the loss of some members from semesters past, Phi Sig has approximately 65 members.
Sammy initiated 10 new members last night and now has 32 brothers in its chapter.
Lampert said having no centralized location made recruitment more difficult. Sammy does not currently have an on-campus house but will be moving into 3817 Walnut St., currently occupied by Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, this fall.
However, Lampert also said that because of its startup status, Sammy can be very selective in its choice of new members.
He described "an intense, rigorous evaluation process" resulting in a collection of "individuals with a fairly strong interest in leadership."
College freshman Andrew Glantz is one of the 10 new members and said that he agreed with the extreme selectivity of the process.
"The values of the brothers are very much in line with my own," he said.
Glantz had no qualms about joining such a new organization, saying that he had "complete confidence in their ability to get the fraternity back on its feet."
College freshman Dominique Poncelet is one of the nine women initiated into Phi Sig last month.
"I was invited back to Phi Sig and another house for pref night," Poncelet said, referring to the final stage of sorority rush preceding bid night. "The details that I could remember were from the Phi Sig house -- I felt comfortable there."
Fowler agreed that Phi Sig's status as an upstart made recruitment numbers somewhat lower.
"There's an inherent risk," she said. "People are wary of joining something new."
Fowler mentioned that the small size of the chapter allowed members to pursue leadership opportunities earlier than in other chapters.
Lampert hopes that "strong ideals of leadership will become a legacy of the chapter."
"I've always been in leadership positions," Glantz said. "I think it's kind of neat to be in a position to shape where a fraternity goes in the next few years."
Lampert said that he thinks the "devoted, motivated initial group," combined with the high standards of present recruitment, will result in a very strong organization.
As for Phi Sig's future plans, Fowler said that the chapter is focusing on re-establishing itself in the Penn community and integrating itself into the Greek system.
"We're a Penn tradition with a new identity," she said. "We've gotten to the point when we're defining our identity."
