Got an ethnicity? This sorority wants you

There are 12 multicultural fraternities and sororities on campus, most of them small.

Recruitment can be difficult, members say. One sorority last year only had one member, who has since graduated and left the organization empty at Penn.

But another multicultural sorority has popped up this year, and this one thinks it can survive.

The recruitment strategy is to focus on real diversity - they want women of all kinds.

They're looking for "every single ethnicity there is. Minority, majority it doesn't matter," said College junior Ava Leung, who is planning to join the sorority, Delta Xi Phi. She has been involved with its formation since the summer.

To set itself apart from more typical sororities - which also accept women of all ethnicities - Delta Xi Phi plans to focus on cultural events and community service.

Currently 12 multicultural fraternities and sororities make up the Bicultural Inter-Greek Council, most with historic ties to a specific ethnicity.

Sororities and fraternities in the BIG-C tend to be smaller than those in the Panhellenic or InterFraternity councils.

Recruiting "is definitely harder because people just haven't heard of your sorority," said College junior Phyllis Yang, who is a member of the 23-sister-strong Sigma Psi Zeta. "It's all about reaching out and trying to let people know we exist on campus, and we have something different to offer."

But Delta Xi Phi members say their focus on diversity sets them apart from other BIG-C groups.

"Delta Xi Phi is really all-encompassing," the sorority's national expansion director Vicki Nelson said. "I don't know that it's better than any other organization, but it's different."

The sorority has 16 chapters nationally, most with 10 to 15 active members.

Leung said she expects to have around eight sisters in the sorority initially, and she thinks the idea of a pan-cultural sorority will catch on.

"The Penn campus is very diverse," Leung said. "I've heard of a lot of students who are interested."

Last year, several students, including Engineering junior Andrea Loayza, decided they wanted a sorority committed to diversity at Penn. They contacted several sororities over the summer about coming to campus, but they finally settled on Delta Xi Phi.

"We just found that we wanted something smaller than the Panhellenic sororities," Loayza said. "We wanted something multicultural."

Over the summer Delta Xi Phi started working with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs to begin the colonizing process, and they submitted an application to become an official colony Sept. 30.

The group, which currently consists of four potential members including College juniors Jennifer So and Yewleh Chee, will work over the next several months "developing the sisterhood part of things" and meeting the national sorority's requirements before becoming an official sorority in the BIG-C, said Stacy Kraus, OFSA's associate director for programming .

The national sorority's requirements include getting a base of members as well as holding new member training and some multicultural and community service events. Nelson said that period usually lasts about three months.

And everyone involved seems to think recruiting girls interested in diversity shouldn't be too big of a challenge at Penn.

"I think Penn is a really good climate for it," Kraus said. "This is a campus where people want a multicultural experience."

College sophomore Sherene Joseph was excited to hear about the new, diverse option on campus and may be interested in joining.

"I've looked into [other multicultural sororities], and they don't quite represent every culture out there," she said.

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