As Zeta Tau Alpha prepares to colonize at Penn, Panhellenic Council leaders are discussing the prospect of expanding their community in the coming years.
There are currently two groups waiting for the opportunity to join the Panhel community. One is Alpha Delta Pi, the Panhel extension committee’s second choice after ZTA. The group was selected for a process called “stacking,” which will allow it to automatically colonize the next time Panhel is open for extension.
Phi Sigma Sigma — a sorority that annouced the closure of its Penn chapter earlier this year — is also waiting for an opportunity to be welcomed back into the Greek system.
According to Greek leaders and administrators, if the level of interest in Greek life continues to increase, the logistics of incorporating these two groups will depend on timing. If Panhel decides to open for extension before 2014, ADPi will be selected. If extension comes later, Phi Sig will be given priority, followed by ADPi.
According to Panhel adviser Stacy Kraus, the earliest Panhel can be open for extension again is 2013, which will allow for a “grace period” following ZTA’s colonization this upcoming spring.
Kraus and College senior Darby Nelson, the president of Panhel, said Phi Sig has entered a “recolonization agreement” with Panhel and may be considered to rejoin Penn’s Greek system in 2014.
Phi Sig was forced to close at the end of the last academic term due to “recruitment concerns and other challenges to success,” according to a press release from the sorority’s national organization.
Nelson wrote in a text message that a tentative 2014 recolonization date will give Phi Sig a chance to “shape its own reputation” on campus.
She pointed to Phi Sig’s last experience recolonizing at Penn. The sorority closed in fall 2002 and recolonized in spring 2004, before a complete turnover of the undergraduate student body.
Phi Sig’s recolonization is not “guaranteed” and will be determined by Panhel, Kraus added.
If Panhel opens for extension prior to 2014, the stacking process will go into effect, making ADPi the next group to come to Penn.
Both Nelson and Kraus say the prospect of extension hinges on whether or not existing chapters on campus are sustaining a healthy amount of members.
“We will maintain a close eye on recruitment numbers,” Nelson wrote in an e-mail. If the numbers remain strong and continue to grow, she added, “we will consider opening for extension.”
According to Kraus, the process of stacking is becoming a very “common practice” within the National Panhellenic Conference.
The stacking process, she wrote, “allows the Panhellenic community to be strategic in their plans for continued growth and allows the stacked group to plan for staffing and financial resources for a colony down the road.”
Kraus also noted that recolonization agreements, such as the one Panhel has with Phi Sig, are also becoming more prevalent.
Nelson suggested this is because of the current high level of interest in Greek life.
“Recruitment numbers have followed a cyclical pattern throughout history,” she wrote. “Right now Greek life is seeing an upturn with a steady growth rate.”
