The Panhellenic Council -- the self-governing body of the College's sorority system -- elected Soojung Rhee '04 the organization's new president at the council's elections last night. New leaders said they would continue efforts to found a seventh sorority.
Rhee, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma who is active in the Campus Presbyterian Church, will take office in February. According to sources in the council, Rhee has been a vocal member of Panhell for the past year.
Rhee said her foremost goal is to help sororities "become united both as sisters and as the good people we are."
She also asserted her desire to more positively involve the Greek system in the life of the College as a whole. "Sororities need to have more campus-wide events because I think it's important that we go out into the community and set ourselves as an example," Rhee said.
Multiple Greek officials commented that competition for officer positions this year was more heated than usual. There were multiple candidates for all positions, unlike in past years in which some candidates have run uncontested.
Outgoing members of Panhell leadership expressed great satisfaction with the outcome of last night's elections. "All of the officers elected are beyond qualified to do an amazing job," said Anne Chang '03, the current Panhell president and also a member of Kappa. "I can't even tell you how happy I am."
The newly elected officers plan to continue past Panhell leaders' investigations of the feasibility of reviving an additional sorority. "If it's possible and we can work with the administration ... a seventh sorority would give girls a greater chance to get involved with the system," Rhee said.
Panhell had scheduled elections to occur at a meeting two weeks ago. However, representatives from multiple sororities were then engaged in recruitment activities and were unable to cast ballots. Panhell's bylaws require that a delegate from each of the College's six sororities be present at all officer elections.
A total of nine Panhell leaders were elected last night, with officers coming from each of the six houses.
Diana Hwang '04 of Delta Delta Delta became Panhell's new vice president of organization; Julia Keane '04 of Epsilon Kappa Theta was elected vice president of recruitment; Sarah Hess '05 of Sigma Delta is the new treasurer; Sabrina Singh '05, also of Sigma Delt, will be the secretary; Reena Dutta of Tri-Delt will be programming manager of philanthropy; Andrea Abeita '03 of Kappa Delta Epsilon will be programming manager of education; Megan Newton '04 of Epsilon Kappa Theta will be new member education manager and Rebecca Aledort '04 of Alpha Xi Delta will be publicity chair.
