Alpha Phi sorority was officially recognized by the College as a sorority on Saturday, making it the first new Greek organization to enter the Dartmouth community in around seven years. The formal initiation of the Iota Kappa chapter of Alpha Phi into the international Alpha Phi organization ended its year-long status as a colony.
"It feels really good," Lauren Orr '08, fall and winter term president of the former colony, said. "It feels like everything we've done up to this point is now legitimized."
The current president, Vanessa Cruz '07, expressed similar emotions.
"It's an awesome feeling to know that all the stuff we've done has come to a point where we're able to stay here and fit into the Dartmouth culture," Cruz said.
The College approved the addition of Alpha Phi to the Panhellenic community on March 3, 2006, following a lift of the moratorium on the establishment of new Greek organizations.
While there is no set formula for moving to sorority status, it typically takes a colony about a year to become initiated into a national organization, Cruz said.
"This past weekend was a celebration of the work we had done over the past year and it was great to receive recognition from the college and our International headquarters," Chelsea Mehr '08, vice-president of chapter operations, said in a BlitzMail message.
"Especially for the '07s and the original members of the sorority who've been part of it for so long, it's something we've been looking forward to and waiting for," Lauren Hassouni '07 said. "It's really exciting."
Alpha Phi will now be an official sorority on campus, but most sisters believe that their own involvement in campus activities and responsibility to the international Alpha Phi organization will not change.
"We've been treating it like we've been a chapter the whole time, in terms of our activities on campus and our responsibilities," Hassouni said.
Members of other Alpha Phi chapters from all over the country attended the initiation, Cruz said, including a sister from Colorado and another from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Unaffiliated mothers of the newly initiated Alpha Phis were eligible to be initiated alongside their daughters, and three seized the opportunity. The mothers signed the Alpha Phi Charter along with the other 59 members.
All the sisters expressed relief at finally being an official sorority on campus.
"Sometimes colonies just don't work and people don't see them as the type of chapter that fits their school," Cruz said. "It's good to know that the Greek community at Dartmouth has recognized us and that all our dedication has paid off."
