New Colonies!!

[juliet123]

The SDSU coloney is pretty small. We are only about 20 girls right now. I believe we are also recolonizing. It is hard because all the other sororities on campus have about 150 girls or more. We are the only ones without an offical house too. We are renting a regular house that Alpha Phi owns. We are looking for a house right now but it is hard. Especially since Delta Zeta is coming to our school now next fall and they already own a house (they are recolonizing too but kept their house and just rented it out). Some of the houses are also being torn down soon to build this mini mall thing and Sorority Row was cancelled. Anyone know of any organizations out there to help? We were joking about going on Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

[Lily1909]

AEPhi Colonizes on Three Campuses this Spring

National Council is pleased to announce that Alpha Epsilon Phi will be colonizing on three campuses this spring. We will be returning to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and to the University of Connecticut in January. Later on in the semester, a new group will begin at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Watch for more stories on our website or in Columns.

So exciting!!!

[AEPhiSierra]

That is awesome news!! I had heard about the interest groups at UConn and Miami but the Virginia Commonwealth is news to me. It's really great how much we have been expanding lately!!

[juliet123]

Here is SDSU's AEPhi website. The picture hasn't been updated since last spring though, hehe. http://www.geocities.com/sdsualphaepsilonphi/
We now have 27 girls! We got 7 new girls during spring recruiment and are going through formal recruiment for the first time this fall. We are very exicated!!

[norcal aephi]

Just wanted to let all the Phis know that Stanford has started up a colony and will begin recruitment this week! (Insider knowledge--I'm one of the advisors)!
LML

[Phine]

Another update...
UConn colony was officially rechartered last weekend as Alpha Xi chapter! It was so exciting. We started as an interest group almost five years ago so last Sunday was amazing and I was so happy to be able to be there.
LML

[Scully]

Congratulations to the ladies of Stanford and UConn! LML

[SigmaSarah328]

Hi All! I'm actually a member on the new National Board of SAEPi and came across this discussion thread one night, and have decided to reply (hope ya'll don't mind). Since this seems to be half discussion about AEPhi's new colonies and half discussion about what happend to the SigmaAEPi chapters there, I feel my comments to be at least interesting.

SDSU was before my time in the sisterhood actually. I'm not terribly sure what happend there, but I know they left before any semblence of a national board. ASU was initiated after the national board formed, and they were given the letter Alpha. Well, if ASU is Alpha, and UCDavis is Chater, then what the heck was SDSU supposed to be? Since their time as a chapter was so short, that first board decided that they would (sadly) be lost to the sands of time.

Our chapter at ASU always had intentions of becoming AEPhi. We knew this when they were initiated as one of our chapters. Why they "settled" on us instead of just waiting, I'll never know. But settle they did, and then when they had their oppertunity they left. They, unfortunatly offered us no explaination or warning. We felt a little betrayed when they left, but there was nothing we could really do except regroup.

It was around this time that our (full) chapter at Oregon also decided to leave. They left because they really wanted to have Panhellenic association, and their Council told them that they'd have a better chance of getting it as a local, than as a chapter in a non-affiliated national. So, they are now Sigma Mu Omega (I think), and seem to be doing quite well.

There was a comment above that stated something to the effect of we were growing too quickly to hold on to our chapters. There is a degree of truth in that. The first incarnation of the national board made a lot of desiscions without thinking of the long-term consequences. My later incarnation paid the price for that. But now we have our act together and are growing and a slower, more reasonable pace. We now holding strong at 5 chapters, including our newest at UCLA!

I hate to think of Sigma and AEPhi "competing" for a similar market. Sometimes that may be the case. But I think that overall, our organizations have similar goals in mind; to create a warm and welcoming place as well as a unique Jewish experience for anyone who wishes to contribute. And to that end, I believe we should be allies. I'd love for our two sisterhood to have future collaberations.

Everyone have a great rest of summer!

Sincerely,
Sarah Gamma Chapter '04
Spirit ~ Strength ~ Sisterhood

[greekgirl2343]

Congrats on the New chapters! I'm an incoming freshman working with a ton of friends working to restart AePhi at Kent State. I was wondering if you had any advice on how to get a chapter restarted or started since we aren't having much luck with ours. The Greek Advisor said yes, but the PC said if the other chapters are full, so I don't know what else we can do. it's kind of unfair it's not in their consitiution other chapters have to be full before starting a new one. Anyone have any advice, it might be really helpful. We have 33 members in the AEPhi interest group, one wanting to be an advisor, and tons of people wanting to join. I hope it works!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by greekgirl2343

Congrats on the New chapters! I'm an incoming freshman working with a ton of friends working to restart AePhi at Kent State. I was wondering if you had any advice on how to get a chapter restarted or started since we aren't having much luck with ours. The Greek Advisor said yes, but the PC said not if the other chapters aren't full, so I don't know what else we can do. it's kind of unfair it's not in their consitiution other chapters have to be full before starting a new one. Anyone have any advice, it might be really helpful. We have 33 members in the AEPhi interest group, one wanting to be an advisor, and tons of people wanting to join. I hope it works!

If the campus is not open for expansion, you have to accept that fact.

This rule is not "unfair" - it helps to keep all chapters on an equal playing field and prevents chapters from closing just based on the whims of the students. It's not just a Kent State rule, it is a National Panhellenic rule.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by greekgirl2343

Congrats on the New chapters! I'm an incoming freshman working with a ton of friends working to restart AePhi at Kent State. I was wondering if you had any advice on how to get a chapter restarted or started since we aren't having much luck with ours. The Greek Advisor said yes, but the PC said if the other chapters are full, so I don't know what else we can do. it's kind of unfair it's not in their consitiution other chapters have to be full before starting a new one. Anyone have any advice, it might be really helpful. We have 33 members in the AEPhi interest group, one wanting to be an advisor, and tons of people wanting to join. I hope it works!

Hello there, I'm a KSU sorority alumna, and I wanted to give you some insight on how the process works.

Adding a new sorority involves a process that is outlined in the NPC's bylaws (the governing body for all 26 Panhellenic sororities). So these procedural guidelines must be followed by ALL Panhellenic Councils, including Kent State.

You can view the NPC expansion resources and process guidelines here: http://npcwomen.org/extension-info/resources.aspx

Since you all are an interest group interested in bringing AEPhi to KSU, I'd suggest reading this detailed packet (about expansion and interest groups: http://npcwomen.org/resources/pdf/Lo..._Steps_1-3.pdf

Sometimes girls think that starting a new sorority involves just getting the members and then the school will allow you to become a chapter. Not so. The school must vote to allow the campus to be open for expansion before a new sorority can be added.

This process in a nutshell:

In order for ANY school to add a new sorority, they must be declared open for NPC expansion.

In order for the school to be open, ALL chapters must reach campus total and remain at total for a few years. The school must also notice an increase in quota for formal recruitment (indicating an increased interest in Greek Life).

Once conditions are approriate, the Panhellenic Council must VOTE for the campus to become open to expansion. Without the vote, a new sorority cannot be added.

Kent is currently not open for expansion at this time. What this means is that right now, the Greek Life staff do not feel that conditions are appropriate for another sorority (the interest hsas to be there to support a new colony, and the other sororities must be consistently reaching total).

It's not that they're being unfair or making things difficult for you all, but as of right now, they are not adding new chapters. I hope this helps.

[Phine]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If the campus is not open for expansion, you have to accept that fact.

This rule is not "unfair" - it helps to keep all chapters on an equal playing field and prevents chapters from closing just based on the whims of the students. It's not just a Kent State rule, it is a National Panhellenic rule.

This is seriously delayed...Sorry!

We had the same problem at UConn. We had a decent sized interest group which grew on average of 10 women a semester but we had to wait for all NPC groups to reach total and then for the PHC to explore and vote on opening expansion. Eventually, all conditions were met and our interest group officially became and AEPhi colony and now has been a chartered chapter for over a year.

I wish there was more I could offer but keep hope!

[loveofviolets28]

Does anyone know what years AePhi was at Kent? Most sororities at Kent either last a long time, or very short time.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by loveofviolets28

Does anyone know what years AePhi was at Kent? Most sororities at Kent either last a long time, or very short time.

As far as I know, 1927-1938

[loveofviolets28]

I think that was Alpha Sigma Alpha. The Aephi website only says Chaptered in 1965. And I know Alpha Sigma Alpha was one of the first ones started at Kent. I bet the one that lasted the longest is the one they'll take. Too bad the interest group of Aephi disband....