MU colonies hope for chapter status in Greek community
Colonies are student groups that represent a national Greek organization.
Published Feb. 3, 2009
Furthering the long tradition of Greek organizations on campus, new colonies are seeking to become chartered members of the Greek community.
Theta Chi, a social fraternity, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish interest sorority, are two organizations working with the Office of Greek Life to find a permanent home on campus.
"We started as a couple of guys in a dorm," Theta Chi colony president Dan Henry said. "We wanted to start an organization but didn't know how."
Henry and his friends researched fraternities and decided to form a chartered Theta Chi colony, a national fraternity founded in 1856 at Norwich University.
A colony is a student organization that represents a national Greek organization. Being a colony means the organization is not recognized by MU's Office of Greek Life, and a colony does not have a vote in the Interfraternity Council, the Pan-Hellenic Association, Multicultural Greek Council or the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
A fraternal colony vying for a place on the IFC must first gain support on campus and determine how much interest exists for an organization. From there, the colony must put together a presentation for the 27 fraternity chapter presidents on the IFC, who will determine if the colony is valid.
IFC spokesman Ryan Morimura said there are no formal criteria, but the IFC makes the decision based on what it thinks is best for MU.
"We're not just looking for numbers," Morimura said. "We're looking for quality organizations that can make our entire Greek community, as a whole, better."
Although similar, the path to becoming an official MU sorority is slightly different.
"For all Greek letter organizations, the chartering process is done through their national organization," Greek Life coordinator Julie Drury said. "However, when it comes to expansion, the process for PHA chapters is structured by the National Pan-Hellenic Conference, which is the umbrella organization for the 26 national sororities 14 of which we have on campus."
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi is classified as a multi-cultural Greek organization as opposed to a Pan-Hellenic Association sorority. Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi National Board members can swear in the colony as early as January 2010 as long as they can boost their membership to 15 people, freshman colony member Laura Thal said.
Like Theta Chi, the founders of the MU chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi wanted to form a group of people interested in common ideas.
Amanda Rude is a founding member and acts as the colony's president.
"Amanda wanted to start a group that Jewish women could go to, to hang out and stuff," junior Shea Broner said. "Specifically a sorority, because they don't offer one like that on campus."
What is now Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi used to be the Jewish Sorority Interest Group. After a semester, JSIG was allowed to upgrade to a multicultural colony.
The newest sorority on campus to upgrade from colony to full-fledged chartered member of the Greek community is the Eta Chi chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma in PHA, which was chartered Saturday night.