Ripon College Days

As rush kicks off once again, one Ripon sorority won't be part of formal recruitment events.

At the end of the fall 2004 semester, Delta Psi Delta chose to no longer be part of Panhel, the organization designed to foster inter-sorority relations, promote Greek life on campus and oversee rush.

"We decided that it would be better for us as a local sorority to do kind of our own thing, sort of make ourselves stand out more," says senior Jen Baker, president of Delta Psi Delta. "It gives us a little more freedom to do whatever philanthropies we would like to do and bolsters our own independence."

Unlike Ripon's national sororities, Alpha Chi Omega and Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Psi Delta has no national affiliation, and therefore is not required to be a member of Panhel.

"If you're a national sorority you have to belong to Panhel because it's set up with guidelines national sororities have to follow," says senior Amanda Nattinger, president of Panhel.

By nature of no longer being part of Panhel, Baker says the sorority will now have the opportunity to have a more informal and relaxed approach to the rush process instead of following the guidelines and rules mandated by Panhel.

"I think [the decision to leave Panhel] will benefit us because we're given the freedom to be more laid back," she says. "Being in Panhel you're on a strict schedule, whereas now we can plan our parties around what's best for the girls, both the recruits and us as a sorority."

Baker does note one potential drawback to no longer being part of Panhel, as Delta Psi Delta will not be able to participate in the Panhel preference party, and instead will have to host its own.

"We'll do our own party, our own separate thing. So it seems like it's not going to show unity even though we all still work together. I think that's going to be the only thing that's going to show that we separated," she says.

However, Baker doesn't expect leaving Panhel to hurt the sorority's recruitment.

"We never really got girls through formal recruitment," she says. "We always got them through open bidding."

Although no longer a united front through Panhel, Baker and Nattinger agree all three sorority houses will continue to work together and communicate.

"I think this situation [Delta Psi Delta leaving Panhel] is sad. For me, I feel that it's a sad thing, but they did it for reasons that they felt were good, and I totally respect that and all of our members respect that," Nattinger says.

Article Tools