PAGE 4 // WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 ' ^ ■
Plans for new campus fraternityjinalized,
decision on new sorority expected soon
the pendulum
Gabriela Szewcow
Design Chief
Resulting from Pan-Hellenic
Council’s conversation in Spring 2009
concerning the increasing number of
Greek students at Elon University, the
school will add two Greek organizations
to campus this year.
The first organization is Delta
Upsilon International fraternity. The
second is a sorority, which has yet to
be determined. The chosen sorority is
expected to be announced at the end of
October, according to Shana Plasters,
director of Greek Life at Elon.
“The goal is to add more diversity,
more options and to expand and
improve the overall health of our Pan-
Hellenic programs at Elon," Plasters
said.
In order to achieve these
improvements, Elon’s Greek community
decided collectively to make additions
to the system.
The process involves an open
invitation to all national Greek
organizations to come to Elon and
formally present their organization.
Students and faculty members then
review the respective organizations’
applications, and three fraternities and
three sororities are invited back to give
more in-depth presentations of their
organizations. Elon then chooses the
organization they think is the best fit.
This is how the newest fraternity.
Delta Upsilon International, was chosen.
The new sorority will be chosen in the
same way.
The average size of most sororities'
pledge classes is 30 to 40 people,
with 140 in an entire organization.
The addition of a new sorority will
spread out those numbers, allowing
for personal relationships to develop
among new and existing members,
according to Rex Waters, associate dean
of students.
“We’re hoping that more Greek
organizations will make way for more
intimate classes and reduce the overall
size of each group to ensure manageable
numbers,” Waters said.
With the increasing number of
women involved in Greek Life, the
addition of a new sorority will create
better group dynamics as well as a
healthier atmosphere, he said.
The average fraternity pledge class
size is significantly smaller than that
of sororities. The Greek community
wished to welcome a new fraternity
to campus in order to provide more
choices for prospective male students.
“We’re increasing the number
of organizations to provide more
options for students and to diversify
philanthropy opportunities at Elon,”
Waters said.
Because each Greek organization
has a different focus, the addition of
two organizations at Elon will increase
diversity in philanthropy projects.
“We want the new chapters to be
successful,” Waters said. “And we want
them to have strong national support.”
He also said the number of chapters
and alumni in the area play a role in
choosing organizations that best fit
with Elon.
“The organizations chosen will fit
with Elon’s mission,” Plasters said.
“They will have programs that support
academic rigor and other integral parts
of Elon’s mission as a university.”
The two new organizations will have
different recruitment processes than
the already established organizations
at Elon. Unlike the other fraternities at
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Elon, Delta Upsilon’s ritual of joining is
not kept secret.
“The initiation ceremony is public
and the programs are shared,” Plasters
explained.
The national organization will
be present on campus following fall
break. At this time, they will begin
selecting upperclassmen for leadership
positions.
“The national organization will be
here to select a ‘colony class,’” Plasters
said. “These students will act as the
founding brothers of the fraternity.”
Once the new sorority is selected,
it will be incorporated into the formal
recruitment process with the other
established sororities at Elon.
“The new sorority will be included
in the first round of recruitment, but
then will be removed from the process
afterward,” Plasters said.
SARAH BETH COSTELLO | Graphics Edrtor
If girls are interested in joining
the new sorority, they can drop out of
the recruitment process and become
affiliated with the new sorority after
the recruitment process is over. Girls
also have the option of going through
the recruitment process and then
becoming involved with the new sorority
if they do not commit to another Greek
organization.
“The new organizations will
represent the scope and scale of
students on campus,” Waters said. “And
the newly selected leaders will have
the opportunity to shape and form the
culture of the organizations.”
Plasters said new organizations have
generally been added to Elon’s campus
every few years. The most recent
additions to Greek Life at Elon were the
sororities Alpha Chi Omega in 2000 and
Delta Delta Delta in 2005.
Search continues for new university chaplain
Caitlin O'Donnell
News Editor
The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life
will restart the search for a new university chaplain
in October, to replace the position vacated by Richard
McBride in 2009.
A search committee of students, faculty and staff,
chaired by Anthony Hatcher, associate professor of
communications, originally narrowed the applicant
pool of more than 100 candidates down to three
finalists, who were interviewed on campus last year.
After this initial process, the committee decided it
would serve well to take time off from the search and
develop a common mission statement for the direction
of religious life on campus, said Smith Jackson, vice
president and dean of Student Life.
“It was a time of discernment," Jackson said. “When
you have a chaplain for so long, you don’t always
quickly replace them."
A committee was subsequently appointed by
President Leo Lambert to develop a vision statement
for a further search for the chaplaincy.
“The idea was to evaluate what the needs of our
community are and predict what they will be, including
demographic data and shifts in population,” said Phil
Smith, associate chaplain and director of Religious
Life.
Jackson said the developed plan aimed to consider
the needs of not only individual students, but also
their needs within their particular community of
faith and how that played out in a larger context.
“In the statement, the movement begins with self
and ends with the world, to make a conscience effort
to look inward, around and then further outward,” he
said.
According to Jackson, a committee is currently
being formed to restart the search. He said it should
conclude next spring and the new chaplain will begin
his or her work that summer.
“We want someone who is experienced working
with different faith values, who will honor and support
each tradition and religion and also create programs
among different traditions,” he said.
Jackson said the overarching responsibility of the
chaplain is to oversee, provide for and facilitate the
overall spiritual well-being of the campus.
“It’s a person who’s called on sometimes when
there are difficult issues, to speak a word of comfort
and deal with crisis,” he said.
One part is attending to large ceremonies and
services on campus. Smith said, and making sure
students have access to resources needed for spiritual
growth.
“It’s about pastoral care, being involved with and
engaged in lives of the university community and
walking with people through difficult circumstances
and helping them celebrate times of joy in their lives,"
he said. “There’s this interconnectedness with student
life.”
Because of Eton's history and heritage, Jackson said
the position of Chaplain on campus is a significant
one.
“Not just because we’re founded by the church, but
there’s been this idea, this approach to education that
it’s about the total student, including the mind, body
and spirit,” he said. “There needs to be some level
where that’s somebody’s job and not left to chance.”
At such a critical time of life, Jackson said students
are often working to create their own, individual faith,
away from the communities that helped them form
it.
“You’re solidifying your own beliefs and
philosophies, not abandoning what’s been given to
you but determining what’s yours and what you will
own,” he said.
As a part of this goal, Jackson said the committee is
considering an interfaith learning community as well
as religious life houses, such as the Newman House,
designated for Catholic students.
After a survey of students, Jackson said people
responded well to the proposal, particularly to a house
for Jewish students on campus.
“For people a part of religious communities, the
value is being with people who share similar views,”
he said. “It’s a resource and a place to belong.”
Jackson said he considers religious communities a
benefit for those who reside in them and educational
for those who are part of other communities.
“It’s an identified place to learn,” he said. “The
more we understand, the less we misunderstand each
other.”
With the addition of a multi-faith center to campus,
Jackson said the center and communities will
complement, rather than compete, with one another.
“The community houses would be more for
development and growth of those (communities), but
there would still be programming available at the
center,” Jackson said. “It’s a place that is specific and
dedicated with the idea that events are also in the
multi-faith center.”
To Jackson, an important aspect of all of these
plans is the inclusion of all traditions, including
nonbelievers.
“Part of the office’s role is to do our best to help
all of our students wherever they are and whatever
they re seeking,” Jackson said. “We’re going to make
sure students have resources to the extent we can
provide them or point them toward those resources.”
Poll uses updated techniques to gauge public opinion
ELON POLL from PAGE 1
understand each person’s outlook.
“Few policies are black and white,"
Bacot said. “You can’t just ask one
question and figure out what people
think."
Operating through the department
of political science, the Elon Poll
depends on students to operate.
“Elon students, being who they are.
are very engaged and very motivated,
high achievers,” Bacot said.
The poll depends on students to
volunteer and work their chosen
hours, but they are paid for their
work.
Using a stratified sample of
households across the state, the
584 interviewees were selected
considering their location including
state, county and zip code. Doing so
allows the poll to effectively sample
a large population, resulting in
accurate poll findings, Bacot said.
Students complete the
interviewing associated with the poll
To Henry Young, a junior political
science major, students get a unique
understanding from working the
poll.
“1 think it’s good for us to see
how this side of politics works.
Young said. “You get something
from interviewing that you don't see
in the data, a better understanding
about how people feel than by just
coding the numbers.”