New organization to colonize in Fall 2014
After five months of work, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has chosen three finalists in its search to add another sorority to the USC campus.
Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Omicron Pi and Alpha Xi Delta will be considered for a Fall 2014 colonization, said Chelsea Ostebo, chairwoman of the Sorority Council’s extension committee.
The extension process was opened with a vote from the presidents of USC’s existing Panhellenic Conference in August, just before formal recruitment began.
The approval of additional extension after the colonization of Alpha Gamma Delta came due in part to the consistently rising number of women going through sorority recruitment and the growing sizes of existing chapters, with some exceeding 300 members.
“The next sorority at USC really needs to be strong because our chapters have such a large size, and we really need to take the pressure off of them,” said Ostebo, a fourth-year marketing student and former Sorority Council president.
The extension committee chose the three organizations out of many others based off a set list of criteria designed to find a sorority that would be successful at USC.
“We created several factors that are very important to us, such as alumnae support in the area, academics, their prevalence in the SEC and how they would be able to handle the size of our chapters was especially important to us,” Ostebo said.
Alpha Omicron Pi and Pi Beta Phi are both prevalent in the SEC. Two-thirds of the SEC have Alpha Omicron Pi chapters and USC is the only school in the SEC without a Pi Beta Phi chapter. Alpha Xi Delta has only one chapter in the SEC but two in South Carolina: one at nearby Newberry College and another at Coastal Carolina University.
While the soonest colonization could take place is Fall 2014, that is not the only time one of these organizations could come to campus.
“We can select up to all three organizations if we want to bring them all to campus,” Ostebo said. “They would colonize in alternating years, along a timeline that works both for us and their organization.”
Pi Beta Phi and Alpha Omicron Pi both have history at USC. Pi Beta Phi’s South Carolina Alpha chapter was chartered in 1927 and closed in 1985. While no longer an active chapter, many of its alumnae are in South Carolina and former Grand President of Pi Beta Phi Sarah Ruth “Sis” Mullis is a member of the South Carolina Alpha Chapter.
Alpha Omicron Pi’s Delta Phi chapter was active at USC from 1937 to 1977. After a failed attempt at reinstallation, its charter was revoked in 1983.
All three organizations were required to have a plan to build a house within two years of being notified that they had been chosen to colonize, Ostebo said.
While expansion of the Greek Village is currently waiting on the acquisition of that land — most likely what is currently serving as a parking lot near the Carolina Coliseum — Ostebo said the organizations are all eager to build a house if selected.
“They would love to recruit in their house, so they want to build as soon as possible,” she said.
Currently, the extension committee is going through the presentation process. Representatives from each organization’s national or international headquarters will present to members of the extension committee, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the general public this month, and the extension committee will decide which organizations to choose based off those presentations.
Pi Beta Phi was the first to present Wednesday night to a packed Russell House Theater, filled mostly with members of USC’s 17 existing sororities. Assistant Director of Collegiate Services for Pi Beta Phi Leigh Thiedeman described the organization’s colonization and recruitment processes and said Pi Beta Phi had already begun its philanthropy in Columbia. During their extension committee’s visit, members donated 500 books to the Columbia community in efforts to promote literacy, their international philanthropic cause.
Thiedeman was confident in Pi Beta Phi’s ability to successfully colonize at USC.
“We are very proud of the fact that we have a 100-percent success rate in terms of extension. Pi Phi only pursues opportunities where we can ensure financial support,” Thiedeman said. “At a typical extension, Pi Phi commits more than $150,000 to the success of a new chapter. But we know ... this is more than a typical extension opportunity. We want you to know that we’re financially prepared and committed to a chapter at USC.”
Alpha Omicron Pi and Alpha Xi Delta will both present in two weeks. For each one, Ostebo and the extension committee have high expectations.
“We really need a group that’s going to market to the type of girls that are interested in joining a sorority here at USC,” Ostebo said. “They’re going to be really intelligent, so we’ll need academic support; they’re independent, so we need leadership roles. We definitely want them to compete with our strong sororities here at USC.”