Theta Phi Alpha was the first sorority ever to be on the HWS Campus. It was established in 2017 and since then it has been the only sorority on HWS grounds. They have a strong foundation of sisters and every semester they have a strong group of girls rush and get initiated into the sisterhood. Currently there are seven fraternities on campus as well as the one sorority.
For the entirety of the fall 2023 semester and the first eight weeks of the spring 2024 semester, all Greek life on campus was supervised by Matt Roche, then Associate Dean of Student Engagement. However, on Friday March 15th 2024, Roche was no longer employed at HWS and the responsibilities of supervising Greek life temporarily went to Shelle Basilio-Murray, Associate Vice President of Campus Life. The Colleges shared that there would be a national search to fulfill the position of “Director of Student Activities and Greek Life,” however this search is still ongoing. Prior to his departure from the Colleges, Roche contributed to the Greek Life experience, helping to change restrictive policies and streamlined operations.
The sorority house on campus can house up to 13 girls and it is used as the place where they hold chapter, other sorority meetings, and events open to campus. All Greek life has a period of recruitment, or rush week, for new students or current students who want to join a fraternity or sorority on campus. As well as rush week, the sorority also has what is called Bid Day which concludes rush week, where you find out if you got a bid which allows you to join and be initiated into the sorority. But this recruitment process is overseen by the Office of Student Engagement, and they have rules and requirements laid out that all Greek life must follow. Some of the requirements are that potential new members looking to join a Greek organization must be in good standing on campus in terms of class status, GPA, and a good social standing. They also had to have attended one of the Greek Life kickoff events, like a yoga class taught by former president and HWS alum Erin Kluge. These Greek Life kickoff events are new to the Spring 2024 semester and are facilitated by Student Engagement; whereas previously new students only had to attend events hosted at the Greek organization houses. There are many other additional tasks that they must complete such as forms and completing the anti-hazing curriculum.
Joining a sorority on campus can be great for many people, as there are opportunities for many new friendships to peoples lives and can be a great social aspect for everyone. There are many events hosted, they work with the community and overall Greek life creates a robust a community for students to join.
“It adds so much to my life on campus, these are girls I normally won’t see regularly but being sisters has brought us closer and created really strong friendships.”
Lindsey Balman is a Junior at the Colleges and is also a student athlete on the cross country team. She rushed the sorority in Spring of 2023 and she said that it was hard rushing as well as being in season as there is a lot she has to do during rush week. But she noted that all the sisters in the sorority were all very understanding and willing to make accommodations to make sure she could still rush while being in season. They are incredibly open and encourage student athletes to join the sorority and they are willing to make accommodations to make it possible, especially as the former president was on a team on campus.
“The sorority has shown great growth and promise. It is significantly larger than any of our individual fraternities and we have had numerous female-identifying students bring forth proposals for the addition of a second sorority,”
While talking to Matt Roche about the addition of a new sorority on campus, he explained that it is a long process to get it approved and figure out all of the logistics, but it is in the works. As of this moment, they are not sure what sorority will be added to campus as “Greek expansion is a matching process,” Roche explained. They must go through the national bulletin of all the Greek organizations and see who is interested in expanding. From there, they then get more information and meet with the organization to see if it would be a good fit or not.
The reasoning for adding another sorority to campus is to respond to the students and offer what they have been asking for. Because it is such a prolonged process, the colleges aren’t sure where the new sorority will be placed on campus and realistically, they will not be able to pinpoint that until the fall of 2025. The main goal is to provide students with other opportunities on campus that allow them to fully immerse themselves in the Colleges while meeting the needs of the students on campus. Greek life is a crucial factor that plays into the decisions of incoming students, so by adding another sorority and expanding the Greek life on campus, they are making the colleges more desirable for future students.