Four Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) chapters and one returning National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) chapter are in the process of potentially joining campus Greek life this spring.
NPHC's Sigma Gamma Rho African-American interest sorority hopes to reestablish its Pi Omicron chapter on campus this spring after members graduated in 2007, leaving the organization inactive five years after it first came to Emory.
MGC, on the other hand, has initiated an expansion effort this year in an attempt to aggrandize the council, which currently consists of just three chapters, according to Arthur Doctor, adviser to both MGC and NPHC.
Doctor said the two councils' growth is beneficial to the Greek community and the councils themselves.
"Both [MGC and NPHC] have done a lot to get their names out there and expand their presence here at Emory," Doctor said. "Experiencing growth is a great thing. It'll give people more options during spring rush if they haven't yet found their perfect fit."
Doctor worked with MGC's executive board and president Grace Xia ('14C) to produce an expansion packet and application for each national organization that included information on chapter requirements and membership at Emory.
After approval by the MGC, the packet was sent to executive directors of the three national MGC umbrella organizations: National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC), National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO) and National Asian Pacific Islander American Pan-Hellenic Association (NAPA), all of which disseminated the expansion packets to their member organizations.
Eleven of those organizations applied by the Oct. 1 deadline for the opportunity to officially join Emory's Greek community, but only four were chosen by Emory's Multicultural Greek Council for a chance to visit campus and give upcoming presentations about their chapters.
All Emory students can attend these presentations throughout October. Surveys will be distributed to attendees and collected by MGC. The council will use the surveys to help make its final decision on about which ones to welcome to Emory before notifying the organizations of their final status on Nov. 11.
According to Xia, the council's goal right now is to have a more diverse group of chapters.
"MGC is still a small part of Greek Life," Xia said, adding that each year typically yields between two and 10 pledges for the entire council of three chapters.
After this year's expansion process, according to Xia, MGC will need time to allow selected new chapters to establish their presence at Emory before undergoing a similar expansion, which will not occur again for at least another two to four years.
This year, MGC's expansion effort will include four organizations giving presentations: NMGC Fraternity Sigma Beta Rho, NMGC Sorority Theta Nu Xi, NALFO Fraternity Lambda Upsilon Lambda and NALFO Fraternity Lambda Theta Phi.
South Asian interest fraternity Sigma Beta Rho, founded at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, will hold the first of the four presentations Friday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. in the Dobbs University Center (DUC) in room E338. According to the national organization's website, their alumni network reaches companies like Bank of America and Citigroup, as well as graduate schools at Harvard and Yale.
Theta Nu Xi, an NMGC sorority presenting in the Few Multipurpose Room on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m., pioneered a Graduate, Alumnae and Professional (GAP) Program in 2002 – the first of its kind – after its founding at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997, according to its university chapter sites.
NALFO fraternity Lambda Upsilon Lambda, also called "La Unidad Latina," will hold their presentation on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in Harland Cinema.
Each year, this fraternity, founded at Cornell in 1982, travels to the Dominican Republic for a medical mission trip, according to the national organization's website.
Lambda Theta Phi, another NALFO organization presenting in the Few Multipurpose Room on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m., gained notoriety for their philanthropy at national disaster sites in Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Colombia.
The American Red Cross commended Lambda Theta Phi for its global service efforts, according to the national and university chapter websites.
Angelica Calderon ('14B), president of MGC Latina interest sorority Lambda Theta Alpha, said she thinks adding several of these chapters in the spring "will make MGC's presence on campus stronger" and will allow for "a more diverse council."
"I think the addition of two or three of these chapters will give those who didn't consider rushing before an opportunity to join a fraternity or sorority," Calderon said. She decided to join an MGC chapter not only for the tight-knit community feel, but also because it allowed her to better get in touch with her Latin roots.
Calderon, whose chapter returned just last spring, said the potential chapters will have to work hard to educate the Emory community about what they have to offer if they want to colonize effectively and help to aggrandize MGC.
"To me, the expansion indicates that MGC will thrive at Emory," Calderon said. "We will continue to be a close collaborative council."
– By Lydia O'Neal
