Over the weekend, the Panhellenic Council hosted its Fall Open House event for women interested in Greek life and formal recruitment. All campus sororities, including Penn’s newest group, Zeta Tau Alpha, opened their doors to welcome freshmen women to the Panhel community.
Women in attendance received “passports” stamped by student leaders at each of the houses. Those who visited all eight open houses were eligible to win a $150 Anthropologie gift card.
Though currently without a house of its own, ZTA also participated in the festivities, hosting its event at the Alpha Chi Omega chapter house on Spruce Street. A team of ZTA’s national consultants gathered Saturday at the AXO house over refreshments to educate interested students about the new group.
Kat Lopez, a ZTA national consultant, was happy with the group’s debut at Penn and was impressed with the level of interest in Greek life on campus.
“We were pleased with the amount of women that seem to be pursuing Formal Recruitment here at Penn, as well as wanting to learn more about Zeta Tau Alpha as a whole,” Lopez wrote in an e-mail.
Lopez also noted that there were women stopping by from a variety of class years to learn more about ZTA.
According to Panhel adviser Stacy Kraus, “attendees were knowledgeable about the addition of Zeta Tau Alpha to the Panhellenic community and had a number of insightful questions.”
ZTA’s national consultant team will return to campus after Thanksgiving break to meet with Greek leaders and learn more about the Penn community.
Wharton senior and Chi Omega president Jennifer Costello was also pleased by the level of interest expressed by freshmen at her chapter house. She estimated that 200 women came through the doors during the event.
“The freshmen women seemed very enthusiastic about Greek Life, and the Chi O sisters were more than happy to tell them a little bit about their experiences,” Costello wrote in an e-mail. “From the mood yesterday, it seems like Recruitment 2011 is going to go very well.”
Echoing these sentiments, Becky Heller, College senior and president of Delta Delta Delta, said the open house was a success.
“There were a lot of Freshmen women that came by,” she wrote in an e-mail, adding that the event was a good way for freshmen to “get to meet the sisters in a more casual environment before Formal Recruitment in January.”
The Interfraternity Council is also in the process of holding events for students interested in joining the Greek system at Penn.
IFC open houses were held last week, with more scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. Engineering senior and IFC Vice President of Recruitment and New Member Education Jake Ferber said he is expecting a large turnout to the upcoming events.
