This semester, Iona’s fraternity life has been shaken up by the welcoming of Pi Kappa Phi onto our campus. Next semester, sorority life will feel that same shakeup with the addition of a brand new group.

Alpha Sigma Tau, a national Panhellenic sorority, will be initiated in the Fall 2012 semester. The interest began when a few girls on campus created a proposal last year to add a new national sorority onto campus, and resulted in two sororities showing interest in coming onto our campus: Alpha Sigma Tau and Delta Phi Epsilon. At a Council for Greek Governance (CGG) meeting on Monday, Jan. 30, the group voted to select AST as the group to extend an invitation to.

After this point, much confusion was shared across Iona’s campus about what exactly would happen next. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the sorority was not able to attend Meet the Greeks for this semester. This meant that while girls could show interest in being put on a list to be a part of the organization in the future, they could not join this semester as they originally had thought.

However, this confusion hasn’t stopped many girls. Being a national sorority, AST needs founding sisters, and a large number stepped up to the plate in order to be included in this opportunity. One of the aspects of the group that attracted many girls was their firm stance against hazing. Shannon Hagan, the major advocate of bringing the sorority onto campus from the very beginning, stated, “When I put the proposal in, my intention for this group was to be a group of women of value and a group of women that can really bond as sisters. Hazing has no place here…You cannot have respect for another person and treat them as sisters if they have abused or mistreated Taus.”

Many current Greek life members criticize the decision to bring new organizations onto campus, specifically at a time when many of the current organizations are suffering. They feel that resources that will be going towards the new organizations will be draining the current organizations. However, they have been assured that this will not be the case.

No matter what the reaction, women are definitely excited to have the opportunity to shape this new group on campus. Junior Kirsten Knott, a potential member of the founding class, stated, “For me the main draw to be a part of Alpha Sigma Tau is having a group of strong, driven, and compassionate girls come together to become the foundation of something new, fresh and influential on the Iona