Alpha Gamma Delta (AGD) has delayed its timeline for joining the Tufts Greek community, pushing its extension efforts on campus to the fall 2016 semester.
AGD will officially begin recruitment for its charter class in spring 2017, according to a statement given to the Daily by AGD Extension Manager Jaimie Ware.
"Delaying our extension efforts will give us the same visibility as other established chapters on campus and allow us to recruit a similar size chapter," the statement read. "In agreement with Panhellenic Council, moving the timeline back will enable the Tufts community to prepare for a successful new chapter to be established."
According to Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Su McGlone, the delay was caused by a combination of factors, including the timing of sorority recruitment at Tufts.
"One of the big factors is that we're a deferred recruitment campus, so freshmen or first-year students aren't allowed to join until second semester, and that's really the bulk of the students that were really interested in joining," McGlone said. "I think that it definitely was partially numbers, partially timing and partially just getting to know the campus better and knowing what's best for our campus."
The AGD statement also explained that while the sorority had "found a group of wonderful women interested in joining Alpha Gamma Delta" this fall, the fact that the majority of interest came from first-years who cannot join Greek life until the spring semester made it difficult for AGD to form a fall charter class.
Representatives from AGD were on campus earlier this semester with the intention of carrying out informal recruitment efforts hoping to form a charter class that would participate in formal recruitment with other campus sororities in the spring, according to former Panhellenic Council President Adiel Pollydore (LA ’15). The sorority hosted various informal recruitment events, including an Impact Event on Sept. 24, an Imagine Event on Sept. 27 and an Inspire Event on Sept. 29, according to their Facebook page.
Additionally, AGD hosted interviews during a recruitment week this fall and the sorority's Leadership Consultant Team was present on campus and at major campus events, according to the Tufts AGD website.
McGlone said that she does not think that either AGD or Tufts were at fault for the delays to AGD's timeline at Tufts.
"I just think that the timing wasn't right, that it wasn't anything that Alpha Gamma Delta did wrong, it wasn't anything that Tufts did wrong," she said. "They didn't get discouraged by that at all, and I appreciate that and think that that just really, to me, speaks that they're a great organization that I look forward to having on this campus."
According to Panhellenic Director of Recruitment Erica Warfield, the Greek community at Tufts has been working very closely with AGD to facilitate its transition to campus. AGD representatives have met with Panhellenic members and sorority presidents to visit each of the sororities to discuss recruitment, including those aspects of the process that are unique to Tufts such as the generally assured bid system, she said.
"AGD [representatives] visited each of the sororities (and a number of fraternities and clubs) to teach them about their organization and start building a relationship," Warfield, a senior, told the Daily in an email.
The Panhellenic Council and AGD were working together to help transition smoothly through open communication and cooperation, she said.
“Panhellenic will definitely continue to work with AGD in anticipation of their return to campus, and we will offer our help in any way necessary to make their recruitment successful," she said. "As we did this past semester, we will update them on all of the pre-recruitment opportunities and give them a chance to get involved.”
McGlone said that AGD representatives will also be coming on campus next semester to observe the spring sorority recruitment process.
"They're going to come and visit recruitment this year...and learn more about what our Panhellenic recruitment process looks like and kind of see the sororities in action," she said. "I think that will help with the plan going forward."
McGlone said that she has seen rising interest in sororities on campus in recent years. According to previous Daily articles, 118 students received sorority bids in spring 2012, a number that increased to 147 students in spring 2013 and 216 students in spring 2014. According to McGlone, there were 176 new members in Panhellenic sororities from recruitment in the spring of this year.
She said she believes that when AGD goes through recruitment at Tufts, it will be able to recruit similar numbers of people as other sororities on campus.
"It won't end up being up to the same size necessarily, but...it will definitely be competitive with the other sororities," she said.
McGlone explained that the increase in sororities at Tufts reflects a growing interest nationwide. Due to this increase, the university has been bringing additional Greek organizations to Tufts, such as Kappa Alpha Theta, which was founded on campus two years ago. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) recently considered bringing a new fraternity to campus as well, but ultimately decided not to for the time being in a Dec. 2 vote.
McGlone added that the Multicultural Greek Council, which added five new members in the spring semester, is also looking to bring more organizations to campus.
"Our Multicultural Greek Council is definitely looking at growing and expanding as well, and that would include multicultural sororities as well as fraternities," she said.
The statement from AGD said that the sorority maintains its commitment to working with Tufts and the Panhellenic Council in its eventual arrival on campus.
"The partnerships we have created and will continue to build with the Tufts Panhellenic community will be invaluable as we work to bring Alpha Gamma Delta to Tufts University," the statement said.
McGlone said that ultimately, AGD representatives were able to take a lot away from their work at Tufts this semester, and that overall it was a positive experience.
"In general, my interactions in working with Alpha Gamma Delta and my experiences [have] only confirmed that they were the right selection for this campus, we were able to kind of figure out what works best here and continue the partnership at a time that is right," she said.
