Kappa Delta sorority, which accepted the College's invitation in late May to become the eighth Panhellenic sorority on campus, will begin recruiting members and holding events with other Greek organizations this summer, according to Jen Ochsner, one of the national organization's chapter development consultants.
The group will hold a recruitment weekend from July 17 to 19 to provide information about the sorority to women who are not affiliated with a Greek organization and who are interested in joining Kappa Delta, according to Ochsner.
Until the national organization grants a charter, the Dartmouth group will be considered a colony. The group will determine the logistics of its Fall recruitment based on the number of women recruited this ummer and the number of members on campus Fall term, Ochsner said.
Kappa Delta will begin holding events with other Greek organizations after the recruitment weekend, according to Ochsner and the social chairs of several Greek organizations.
The colony's events are currently paid for by the national organization, according to Ochsner. Members will start paying over the next few months when Kappa Delta determines how much money the Dartmouth chapter will need, she said.
Ochsner will meet with sorority interest group members to determine their talents and interests and begin involving them in the colonization process.
"I think the representatives who came to campus in the spring got them all very excited about Kappa Delta," she said.
Ochsner said members of the Dartmouth community have been supportive of the new organization, including the officers of the other sororities who have offered assistance and advice.
"I met with the presidents all of the Greek organizations [Thursday] and had individual meetings with many of them to get a sense of Dartmouth culture and Greek culture and start building some connections for the new group," she said.
The College's administration has also been supportive, Ochsner said, especially Deb Carney, director of Greek Letter Organizations and Societies and assistant dean of Residential Life.
Chapter development consultants from Kappa Delta's national organization will help the new chapter through the colonization process that will take almost all of next year, "providing all the support they need developing their own advisory board," according to Ochsner.
"I will be here for the next week to lay the foundation for the other [chapter development consultants] who will be arriving on July 6," she said.
Ochsner is currently looking for a space for the colony to hold meetings this term, she said, and the group will look later this term for a fall meeting space.
"It pretty much depends on what is available on campus," she said.
The College's Panhellenic Council formally began extension, the process of inviting a new sorority to campus, on March 19 and voted to offer an invitation to Kappa Delta on May 25.
Members of Kappa Delta could not be reached for comment by press time.
