Delta Zeta, one of the five candidate sororities left in the Panhellenic Council’s extension process, was the first to make its presentation before students and administrators Tuesday night. Open to all in the Penn community, the public presentations will bring the extension committee one step closer to selecting the newest sorority to join Penn’s Greek community.
DZ’s presentation focused mainly on aspects that set it apart as an organization from the other candidates in the extension process.
“We’re a very innovative organization,” Mandi Wise, the director of chapter services, said during the presentation. “We bring a lot to the table in terms of how we develop our members,” she added in reference to the academic and leadership resources DZ could potentially offer to women at Penn.
Wise said having strong alumna relations, as well as the experience of chartering 159 chapters across the United States and Canada, means DZ is prepared to “hit the ground running” in the colonization process.
According to Sara Boucek, the national extension chairman for DZ, there would also be substantial regional support for the new Penn chapter.
Unlike other candidates in the extension process, she said, there are DZ chapters located on both the Temple and Drexel campuses.
Another feature both Wise and Boucek stressed during the presentation was DZ’s commitment to environmental sensitivity. As part of DZ’s environmental initiative “Pink Goes Green”, the sorority’s new-member education and recruitment processes have online components, Boucek said.Student responses ranged from optimistic to concerned regarding DZ’s online membership-education program. Some feared there wouldn’t be enough emphasis on shared experience, which is crucial to the new-member process and could ultimately take a toll on new member development.
Nursing sophomore Amy Baques, an Alpha Phi sister, claimed that while she appreciates the environmental concern behind the online programming, she feared it would be “detrimental” to the new-member process.
Despite these concerns, students were generally happy with the overall presentation. Chi Omega member and College senior Alexis Williams said she was satisfied with the presentation. “They were very organized,” she said, adding that DZ could potentially offer something new to the Greek community at Penn.
The Panhel extension process will continue with a presentation from representatives of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Hillel Auditorium.
