Sigma Kappa will recolonize its IU chapter in January 2016. It will become the 23rd sorority with the Panhellenic Association on IU’s campus.
“It’s more of a unique situation with IU, because we’ve already had a chapter here before,” said Gabriela Rodiles, an extension specialist with Sigma Kappa’s national office. “We’re excited to be able to really hit the ground running with this chapter.”
The IU chapter is one of five new Sigma Kappa chapters being established at campuses throughout the country this year. The national office of Sigma Kappa worked extensively with IU and the PHA to reestablish the chapter, Rodiles said.
The chapter will be initially led by two leadership consultants from Sigma Kappa, who will move to IU in January.
These leadership consultants will help to circulate information on the sorority throughout campus, recruit students for the sorority and help the new chapter get involved.
“We don’t foresee any challenges with recruiting,” said Brianna McKay, a Sigma Kappa leadership consultant who will be coming to IU. “But because IU is a large campus, we are going to do everything we can to make sure the campus knows who Sigma Kappa is.”
One interested student is sophomore Ariana Adams, whose mother was a Sigma Kappa at IU. Hearing about the strong relationships her mother formed encouraged Adams to consider joining the chapter when the recolonization was announced, Adams said.
“I thought about maybe going through formal recruitment, but Sigma Kappa just seems right,” Adams said. “After looking at who they are and what they stood for, it just seems like a waste of time to do anything else when I know Sigma Kappa will be a perfect fit.”
The recruitment process for a new sorority chapter begins after formal recruitment for the rest of the PHA’s chapters. While Sigma Kappa is more focused on recruiting students who feel connected to the sorority’s values rather than on the sheer number of members it can bring in, it is able to recruit up to the total number of members in any other PHA chapter at IU, Rodiles said.
The goal for the IU chapter of Sigma Kappa is to experience enough growth to have a house within five years of being chartered, and the current level of interest from students is encouraging, Rodiles said.
Adams was drawn to the community experience of a sorority as well as the philanthropy aspect of sorority life, like many other students who join greek organizations, she said. But the different recruitment process and the chance to be a part of her mother’s sorority convinced her to wait until the Sigma Kappa recolonization, Adams said.
“Since it’s a new chapter, the recruitment process seems that it will be even more focused on forming friendships with the new members,” Adams said. “That makes me really excited to be part of a new organization.”
