Two interest groups have formed for potential Cultural Greek Expansion: one for Alpha Phi Alpha, a National Panhellenic Council (NPHC) Fraternity, and another for an Asian-interest sorority.
Malcolm McDaniel, Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life at Stevens, has been aware of the two interest groups on campus since his first day. “When I came to Stevens, expansion was closed,” said McDaniel. According to him, Thea Zunick, the former Associate Director of Student Life, was involved with other aspects of student life, such as community service. However, McDaniel stated his role is primarily fraternity and sorority life. McDaniel has heard from both interest groups. Both of these organizations cover demographics that do not have their own Greek organization to call home yet, despite them being notable populations at Stevens.
In order for a new fraternity or sorority to come to campus and the expansion process to begin, either an interest group needs to be formed or the school needs to recognize a void that could be filled by a potential organization.
Once the expansion process has started, an expansion committee is formed regarding the potential fraternity and sorority expansion. An expansion committee is a group of people that review potential Greek organization expansion candidates that wish to join the Stevens Greek Community. The expansion committee consists of Graduate Coordinator for Greek Life Craig Shook, McDaniel, staff members that are affiliated with Greek organizations, and members from the governing body of the organization’s potential Greek community, the Cultural Greek Council (CGC).
The expansion committee reviewed Alpha Phi Alpha and gave its approval to the organization based on its expansion package, what a potential organization presents to the expansion committee. McDaniel reached out to three Asian-interest sororities, and the expansion committee reviewed two expansion packages before deciding to give its approval to Sigma Psi Zeta.
Primarily, the expansion committee looks at how much support an organization would have on campus, according to Glen Abellana, the President of the Cultural Greek Council and member of the expansion committee. The committee looked at making sure each organization would have nearby alumni and chapters. They would want to make sure a potential organization would have enough support and be able to sustain itself. As President of the Cultural Greek Council, Abellana would give insight and oversee potential organizations.
After a verdict is reached on each potential organization, selected organizations are invited to campus to give a presentation to and interact with the Stevens community. In these presentations, the organizations present their history, why they should come to Stevens campus, their expansion process, and why a potential member should join their organization. At each presentation, attendees are given evaluation forms to fill out about their opinions of the potential organization. The goal of these presentations is to determine whether or not the organization would be a good fit for the Stevens community. Alpha Phi Alpha hosted their presentation on Monday, April 9, 2018, at 1 p.m. and Sigma Psi Zeta will host their presentation on Friday, April 13, 2018, at 1 p.m.
Based on the feedback from the presentation and the expansion committee, an organization may be invited to charter on campus. At this point, the organization is given time, usually a semester, to generate interest on campus. The organization will be able to schedule tabling and attend events such as Meet the Greeks. This allows the organization to develop an interest group and then begin the intake process, more commonly known as pledging or new member education.
However, since Alpha Phi Alpha and the Asian-interest sorority already have interest groups, they would be able to skip the interest period and proceed straight to the intake process. Alpha Phi Alpha has an interest group of nine men and the Asian-interest sorority has an interest group of 14 women. Due to this, the earliest these organization may join the Greek community is the Fall 2018 Semester.
McDaniel oversees the entire process by reaching out to potential organizations, coordinating their schedules, and working with the expansion committee and the governing Greek council to hear their thoughts and recommendations on which organizations to invite to campus. He also serves as a point of contact between these potential organizations and Stevens and organizes logistics for them.
As for the Asian sorority interest group, Ellie Kim, a member of the interest group, first heard of the idea after talking to brothers of Nu Alpha Phi. At first, Kim thought the idea was too ambitious as a freshman, but brothers of Nu Alpha Phi pushed her to pursue it.
One of the biggest draws for Kim was creating a bigger network outside of Stevens and joining a closer community. Kim stated that she does not see herself fitting in any Panhellenic sorority, but she joined all of the Asian ethnic organizations within the Ethnic Student Council (ESC) and enjoyed her time with these organizations. After talking to Asian Greeks outside of Stevens, Kim realized that she wanted to be a part of a bigger community.
However, anyone can be a part of the potential sorority despite it being an Asian interest. “People think they can’t be a part of it if they’re not Asian. On a national scale, there are Asian sisters, black sisters, white sisters,” said Kim.
Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha interest group were unavailable to comment.
The Cultural Greek Council is working to welcome the potential organizations to campus. Glen Abellana, President of the Cultural Greek Council, stated that they are working on creating an expansion document that would serve as an “orientation packet” to Stevens. This packet would include details on how to use DuckLink, how to book rooms, major events on campus, and commonly used acronyms at Stevens.
Abellana, as one of the founding members of Omega Phi Beta, is familiar with the work that the interest groups are putting in. As a first semester freshman, Abellana joined an interest group for a Latina-interest sorority. She went through the same process of learning about different organizations, envisioning what Omega Phi Beta would be on campus, and doing what Omega Phi Beta and Stevens both needed for the organization to become a reality. Abellana doesn’t regret this decision. Omega Phi Beta helped her find a community at Stevens and helped her feel at home. She stated that without the sorority, she “wouldn’t have enjoyed her time at Stevens.” Abellana firmly supports the expansion of the Stevens Cultural Greek Community. She believes the organizations will help fill the void at Stevens for some communities that are lacking their own space at Stevens. It will make the communities more well-known.
There is currently no fraternity on campus designated for the growing number of African-Americans on campus, or a sorority for the growing number of Asian-Americans on campus. These two organizations could help fill the void.
McDaniel does not necessarily think that these organizations will connect the gap between the Cultural Greek Council, InterFraternity Council, and the Panhellenic Conference. McDaniel stated that in order to bridge the cap, the councils need to want to come together and collaborate. However, some events already are starting to bridge the gap, with the IMPACT retreat earlier this semester as a first step, and Greek Week encouraging cross-council collaboration. Chapters should have opportunities to show support for each other; however, not all of the chapters take the opportunity to do this. For example, at the recent Lambda Upsilon Lambda probate, not all of the chapters sent representatives to show their support. According to McDaniel, the presidents have really strong relationships, but the general members of each organization need to want to come together.
“I think this is an exciting time,” said Malcolm McDaniel, “[the new organizations] will bring more limelight and attention to the council.” Glen Abellana shared similiar thoughts: “I am really excited for these organizations to come to Stevens.” We could see these two groups join the Stevens Greek community as early as Fall 2018.
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