On Nov. 4, the Office of Student Activities announced that the sorority Theta Phi Alpha will join NSU’s Greek community in the winter 2015 semester.
Vice President of Recruitment for Delta Phi Epsilon Nichole Evans, senior biology major, said that NSU decided to bring a new sorority to campus because of Greek life’s success over the past few years.
“It’s time for us to branch out and introduce a new sorority onto our campus for girls who may not have found their homes with the three [social] sororities we already have here,” she said. “We want to give them the chance to reach out to another sorority and see if that’s the right fit for them.”
Although Theta Phi Alpha was founded in 1912 by a group of Catholic women, they accept women of all faith into the sorority. Its mission is to create close comradeship, to advance educational, social and philanthropic interests and leadership training, to encourage spiritual development and adherence to the highest moral standards, and to promote lifelong bonds of friendship.
The official colors of the sorority are silver, gold and blue; the official jewels are sapphire and pearl; the official symbol is the compass. The sorority’s official mascot is the penguin.
The Theta Phi Alpha Foundation supports the Glenmary Home Missioners, a Catholic group that establish a Catholic presence in small towns in the U.S. where the Catholic church is not present, and The House that Theta Phi Alpha Built, which supports organizations that assist the homeless and neighborhood revitalization.
There are 26 sororities who are a part of the National Panhellenic Conference and NSU currently has chapters of three of them — Delta Phi Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma and Sigma Delta Tau. Upon the decision to bring another sorority to campus, the remaining 23 PC sororities who were interested in starting a chapter at NSU were asked to submit a packet for review. The packet includes an application, information about the sorority and what the sorority believes it can bring to the NSU community.
Director of Student Activities Andrea Kovachy, said, “It’s good to see that growth and show that our sorority community can offer a lot for many different women. Adding that fourth chapter will help us encourage other groups to continue to raise the bar.”
Theta Phi Alpha and Sigma Sigma Sigma showed much interest in NSU and were asked to present information about their sororities the week of Oct. 20. After the presentations, the Extension Committee and PC delegates from each sorority voted on who they wanted to join NSU Greek Life.
Theta Phi Alpha will begin informal recruitment to establish their colony in the winter 2015 semester. Once the colony meets the national organization’s requirements for becoming an official chapter, the first students to join the colony will be recognized as the founding sisters.
“It really is an opportunity for someone who is not in a sorority to create their own leadership experiences because a lot of times sororities on campus already have their set traditions that they follow through with, and this gives them a chance to create their own ideas,” Evans said.
Ashley Crews, graduate assistant for fraternity and sorority life, said, “It really is going to be another fit for women. It’s not necessarily another sorority on campus to be competition; it’s another addition to the family.”
For more information on Theta Phi Alpha, visit their national website at thetaphialpha.org.
