Alpha Gamma Delta sorority no longer coming to campus

Despite efforts to bring an Alpha Gamma Delta (AGD) chapter to campus last fall, the sorority is no longer establishing a Tufts chapter, according to Meaghan Annett, president of Tufts Panhellenic Council.

Annett, a senior, said that AGD representatives came to Tufts during the fall of 2015 to hold informal recruitment events. Despite students' demonstrated interest in this programming, she said that AGD did not form a class from the informal recruitment process. Accordingly, the sorority decided to postpone its recruitment and continue the process during the fall 2016 semester instead, according to Annett.

Since then, however, the sorority decided this past summer to suspend its efforts to form a chapter at Tufts, according to Su McGlone, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

"Ultimately the AGD made the decision [at its national level], but we were in support of [the choice] as it seemed like the mutually best option," McGlone told the Daily in an email.

Annett agreed that the sorority's decision to discontinue the process made sense given the time that has passed since the initial recruitment efforts.

“A lot of time had lapsed since the decision was first made for them to come to campus, and both Tufts and Alpha Gamma Delta have grown … in different directions, so we’re no longer a good fit for each other,” she said. “It just no longer made sense for [Alpha Gamma Delta] to continue.”

Tufts began to search for additional sororities to add to the three Panhellenic sororities that were already on campus in 2012, according to a Sept. 5, 2015 article in the Daily. This process led to the arrival of Kappa Alpha Theta on campus in 2013 and the decision to bring Alpha Gamma Delta to campus in 2015, Annett said. 

Annett said that while the Panhellenic Council is looking into offering new opportunities to people going through formal recruitment, there are no current plans to bring another sorority to Tufts.

“[We want] to give our campus time to think about what we … want in an organization. It’ll just take some time," Annett said. "But we do definitely want to extend options for people because member classes are so big and there are so many women … which we recognize does not fit all the people who are interested in Greek life."

She explained that new options would bring with them different values and prioritized causes, which could provide new outlets for students to express themselves.

“There is this need within Greek life to … expand people’s options, because everyone is different and every organization is different, so the more options you have per person, the better,” she added.

This sentiment was echoed by McGlone. Both she and Annett also said that the Panhellenic Council, in order to provide more opportunities, is looking to decrease the size of existing organizations.

“The smaller they are, the more you get a chance to form intimate connections with all of the people that are in your chapter, which is not impossible in a larger chapter but a smaller size is more conducive to doing that,” Annett said.

Erica Luzzi, a sophomore who went through formal recruitment last spring and is now a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, said that another sorority would accommodate the growing number of women who participate in formal recruitment at Tufts. During recruitment, Luzzi said she saw many of her fellow Tufts students show interest in being a part of Greek life.

“I think another sorority would prevent the new member classes from becoming too big, and provide another community that girls may connect with,” Luzzi said.

According to Annett, the decision for AGD not to return was made amicably and was in the best interest of the Tufts community, the Greek life community and the sorority itself.

“There are no hard feelings," Annett said. "It was a good experience … for them to [gain] insight into what our Greek life was and for us to show them what our Greek life is as well."