Ever since the women’s fraternity Delta Delta Delta left Whitman in 2005, Whitties have speculated about the possibility of establishing a new women’s fraternity on campus, an idea which gained momentum last spring after Greek women passed a resolution to begin researching the extension process. On April 25, members of the three current women’s fraternities voted overwhelmingly in favor of moving forward with extension, making it very likely students will see a new sorority at Whitman in the near future.

“This is a big deal,” said Panhellenic President Heather Smith, a sophomore. “This is the crucial step we needed to reach in order to say we’re 95 percent sure we’re getting a fourth sorority in Fall 2011.”

Early planning for extension began nearly two years ago in response to the issue of overcrowding within Whitman’s three women’s fraternities, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma. Membership numbers have been steadily increasing every year since 2005, when Delta Delta Delta left campus because of dwindling numbers, among other reasons.

“The college is growing, but we’re also doing a really good job of recruitment and so we’re attracting a lot of women,” said Smith. “If this keeps happening, we wouldn’t be able to give bids to all the girls who want to join a sorority: not because we don’t want them, but because we just can’t fit them. That’s one of the main reasons the administration has approved this; they hate the idea of not having enough room to give bids to all the girls who want one.”

Delta Gamma is the largest women’s fraternity on campus this year with 106 members, and President Ruby Glaser explained that members were united in their enthusiasm for taking the next steps toward extension.

“Whenever we go through recruitment, we always end up with a huge new member class,” said Glaser. “With such large groups, it’s hard for us to maintain our organization. When the classes are smaller, it makes it more intimate for the members because you really get to know everybody.”

Sophomore Geni Venable, president of Kappa Alpha Theta, said Thetas agreed that membership numbers have grown too large. However, the issue inspired some debate.

“I think there was probably a little more dissension within Theta than within other groups,” said Venable. “Girls who directly expressed concern were mostly freshmen, and they really view Theta as a very eclectic mix of girls; some have said they think Theta gets girls who would never go Greek. I think that’s a skewed perception; I think as they come to get to know the other groups better, they’ll see these stereotypes in a different way and won’t feel like that as much. But they were afraid that adding a fourth sorority with no preexisting reputation would draw girls who may not have gone Greek, or who may have gone Theta away from our chapter.”

Students have also expressed concern that the addition of a new chapter will substantially increase the presence and influence of the Greek system on campus. Smith and Glaser stress that the purpose of the new women’s fraternity is not to increase membership, but to reduce overcrowding within chapters by spreading out the numbers.

“There’s this rumor around campus that if we bring in a new sorority, the Greek system will be taking over campus and there will be an overwhelming number of women in the Greek system, but that’s now how it’s going to work,” said Smith. “We’re getting a new sorority so we can lower the number of women in our chapters. At first, there would be a few more because it would take a while for our chapters sizes to go down, but after three or four years, we would all be around 80-85 members, which would be ideal.”

There are many steps involved in establishing a new women’s fraternity on campus, and Smith anticipates the process will take two years to complete. After applying for extension to the National Panhellenic Conference this past spring, Whitman’s Panhellenic Association received interest from five chapters. Over the next few weeks, the extension committee: made up of Smith and three representatives from each women’s fraternity: narrowed this list to three potential chapters, who will give presentations to the campus sometime in fall 2010.

After the presentations, the selection committee will decide whether or not to bring one of the chapters to Whitman. If the faculty approves the plan, the new women’s fraternity will introduce itself to campus in Spring 2011 and go through formal recruitment the following fall.

Recruitment will be a major challenge for the new chapter because during its first year on campus, it will have to recruit a whole chapter of members: underclassmen as well as upperclassmen: in order to colonize. Smith said one of the most important criteria the extension committee is using to evaluate new chapters is whether they have been successful in the past colonizing at both large and small schools. Nevertheless, recruitment will not be easy.

“I see this fourth sorority as having a lot of trouble gaining people because it doesn’t already have the established reputation,” said Venable. “The existing three sororities are going to have to push this and give a lot of support for this fourth sorority in order for it to get the recruitment numbers it needs for its first year, because instead of 30: our approximate quota for last year: it’s going to need to get about 60 new members for an entire chapter. ”

The new sorority may have an especially difficult time recruiting seniors.

“I do believe it will be difficult to get upperclassmen excited about joining, especially if they’re a senior and it will be the only year they would be a part of it,” Venable said.

However, Venable shared Smith and Glaser’s hope that women will be excited about the idea of joining a new women’s fraternity because it will give them the chance to jump into a leadership role and be a part of something brand new.

“We’re hoping that since the sorority doesn’t exist on campus yet, it would really be like creating your own sorority. This would be the opportunity to start something new and leave a legacy at Whitman. They’re specifically looking for members to take on leadership roles within the sorority, so I think at a place like Whitman that opportunity would be especially appealing to people.”

Despite some Thetas’ concern that the new women’s fraternity will have trouble getting off its feet, Venable believes the new chapter will do everything it can to get women excited about joining.

“Having a chapter of any sort at Whitman College is phenomenal for national sororities,” she said. “Every group here has a phenomenal GPA compared to the national average. National expectations for grades and behavior are far below what goes on at Whitman. Most groups are willing to bend over backwards to get a chapter at Whitman.”