Kappa Delta sorority, which accepted Dartmouth's invitation to become the College's eighth Panhellenic sorority in May, will participate in its first formal rush process this fall. In interviews with The Dartmouth this week, several sorority presidents expressed hope that Kappa Delta's participation will help reduce membership quotas for all sororities involved in the rush process, resulting in smaller pledge classes for each organization.
Sorority rush begins on Oct. 8.
Kappa Delta currently has 10 members, according to national chapter development consultant Katie Snodgrass. The members, who were officially initiated into the sorority during Summer term, did not go through the formal rush process.
The chapter is currently a colony and will be installed officially as a full chapter in November, Snodgrass said.
"We have communicated the Dartmouth practices to Kappa Delta the tone of rush, what type of parties and recruitment events [are acceptable]," Panhellenic Council President Amaka Nneji '10 said. "[Kappa Delta] is very on page with the rest of the sororities."
The sorority will work to overcome its relatively smaller membership size during the rush process, Kappa Delta President Adriene McCance '11. Members of the Northeastern University chapter of the sorority plan to come to Dartmouth to help with rush, McCance said.
Michelle Chan '10, vice president of recruitment for the Panhellenic Council, said the council hopes the addition of an eighth sorority will reduce the size of each Panhellenic sorority's membership quota and ensuing pledge class.
During the rush process, membership quotas are determined by totalling the number of women who express an intent to rush, and dividing that total by the number of sororities on campus. Chan and Nneji cautioned, however, that adding an additional sorority will not necessarily decrease those quotas or the number of students who end up joining each organization.
"We're hoping it's going to allow for smaller, more intimate groups," Chan said. "But what [recently added sorority] Alpha Phi has shown is that with a new sorority there are more people who choose to rush."
As it joins the rush process the fall, Kappa Delta will hold its rush events on campus, although the specific locations have not yet been determined.
The sorority does not plan to have any registered pre-rush events before fall rush, McCance told The Dartmouth on Wednesday.
The seven Panhellenic sororities already on campus were given the opportunity during Spring term to register open house pre-rush events for the Fall term, and Kappa Delta was given the same opportunity during Summer term.
Only Alpha Xi Delta and Delta Delta Delta sororities chose to register pre-rush events.
McCance said Kappa Delta is "not thinking in terms of quota," but is rather "excited about rush and new members in general."
The quota for any particular house is the maximum number of bids that each house can distribute to new members at the end of the formal rush process.
Several members of campus Greek organizations expressed confidence that Kappa Delta will easily become integrated into the Dartmouth community.
"The reason the extension committee selected [Kappa Delta] is because it has a really great recent track record for colonizing other schools and doing it really quickly," Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority President Zakieh Bigio '10 said. "I trust their judgement that it was the best choice for Dartmouth at this time, so I trust that [Kappa Delta] is going to do well."
Bigio said she is excited about the addition of another sorority to campus, but that she would like Dartmouth to add new local sororities as well.
"For now, this is what makes the most sense for the school, and we'd rather have a national than no [new] sororities," Bigio said.
Bigio added that she is confident Kappa Delta's arrival on campus will not affect KDE, despite the two organizations' similar names.
"Although we have similar names, we have completely different histories and organizational identities," Bigio said. "We don't think things will change too much on our end. This is really Kappa Delta's moment to show campus who they are."
Several Greek leaders said that Kappa Delta's presence on campus will bolster programming and community service events.
"If anything, [Kappa Delta] will just help us have more sororities to partner with on events and bring the entire sorority system together," Sigma Delta sorority President Isabelle Schless '10 said.
