Women at Dartmouth searching for the perfect Greek fit are currently faced with far fewer options than their male counterparts. Despite the fact that approximately the same proportion of eligible males join Greek houses as females, only six residential selective sororities exist as compared to 13 fraternities.
In response, many student Greek leaders and administrators are working to establish a seventh sorority in the hopes of alleviating the problems of oversized sorority pledge classes and women receiving no bids.
Christina Jimenez '06, a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, is spearheading the project, working with the Panhellenic Council and members of the administration. Jimenez decided to take on the venture as a result of her own Greek experience and frustration with a system that allows girls who can't find their niche to fall through the cracks, she said.
"I saw it as a problem of not engaging women because it was too big," Jimenez said of the sorority houses.
Jimenez went on to explain that an additional Greek opportunity for women would allow for sisters to have a more personal experience at their house, which would cause improved meeting and event attendance.
Shannon Troutman '06, president of the Panhellenic Council and a member of Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, echoed Jimenez's dissatisfaction with Dartmouth's limited sorority options.
"It's really hard to create a strong sisterhood when you have between 120 to 145 sisters in a house," she said.
To these women, the issue goes beyond that of numbers and has turned into one of inequality, given the existence of 13 residential selective fraternities and only six sororities, despite the fact that the each system boasts approximately an equal number of male and female members.
"We've been noticing an inherent inequality in the Greek system," Troutman said.
The culmination of these various factors acted as motivation for Jimenez to take action. From there, Jimenez began to work closely with the Panhellenic Council and Megan Johnson, the Office of Residential Life's CFS advisor, to deal with the logistics involved in developing a Greek establishment.
The creation of a new chapter must follow the limitations created by the College's Student Life Initiative, instituted by the Board of Trustees in 1999. The SLI set a moratorium on the founding of traditional Greek houses, stating that a Greek organization could not be newly instituted if it is residential, single-sex and selective -- but could potentially exist if it followed only two out of these three boundaries.
Troutman said that the College administration -- the traditional scapegoat for Greek issues -- is not necessarily her opposition in the battle for a new sorority.
"We have a lot of support from campus and the administration. The major battle will ultimately be with the trustees," Troutman said.
According to Jimenez, the ideal plan is for a national charter to be chosen in the fall by the new sorority members, who will consist of any women interested, as the customary selective process will not yet exist. The sisters will rank the 23 national organizations not currently present at Dartmouth, and from there will jointly reach a conclusion.
Support for the creation of a new sorority extends from a diverse group of students, including both those affiliated and not, according to proponents of the plan.
"I heard from so many different people that they were in favor of this," Jimenez said.
An information session will be held Tuesday night to discuss the process of establishing a seventh sorority. The meeting, which will be held in Carson L02 at 6:30 p.m., is open to the entire campus. It will feature a presentation on the history of sororities, followed by a panel of members from four different sorority houses.
