Greeks On the Rise at Ole Miss

Sorority Row at Ole Miss / Google Image

The Greek community at Ole Miss has become so popular that the Panhellenic Council has decided that more organizations are necessary.

“Our pledge classes and our chapter sizes are growing so rapidly that we had to have a new sorority, ” said Elizabeth Burgreen, vice president for recruitment on the Panhellenic Council.

Over the next few years the campus will allow five new Greek organizations to begin recruiting. The sororities will gain Alpha Delta Pi in the fall of 2013 and Alpha Phi in the fall of 2015.

The fraternities will gain Chi Psi, Pi Kappa Theta and Pi Kappa Phi. Chi Psi is said to arrive on campus next year, but there are not yet specific target dates for Pi Kappa Theta and Pi Kappa Phi to join the fraternities.

Burgreen says the new sorority houses will be built across the street from the existing sororities on Rebel Drive. She says it is the Council’s hope that Alpha Delta Pi’s founding pledge class will have around the same number of women as the other sororities.

Shelby Chambliss, a sophomore Chi Omega, says adding two new sororities to the Ole Miss Greek life will be good.

“It will make for smaller pledge classes within each sorority, which will result in pledge classes that are closer and enable girls to know more people within their pledge class.”

Assistant Dean of Students for Student Involvement Coulter Ward says he expects the new sororities and fraternities to bring fresh ideas to campus.

“That’s going to push other sororities to think ‘Oh, well, can things be done differently? Are they successful? Why are they successful?’ Potentially, they’ll look at it like ‘Oh, that was a great idea, can we integrate that into our sorority?’ Ward said.

He also warns that, if the existing Greek community fails to support the first new sorority Alpha Delta Pi, everyone involved will lose.

“It will really affect the national organizations if it fails because they will look at it and say we don’t want to be a part of that, then we won’t have more opportunities for students to get involved and chapters keep growing at an exponential rate.” –– By Emily Gibbs, marketing and communications major, University of Mississippi

Email Emily Gibbs at eagibbs@go.olemiss.edu