MU hosted a National Panhellenic Conference summit Saturday on the second floor of the MU Student Center. Representatives from all 14 PHA chapters attended the one-day event.
A representative of Sigma Kappa, a sorority returning to campus fall 2012, was also in attendance.
“They were brought up to speed on how the campus operates, which is crucial to their success and colonization on campus,” PHA spokeswomen Crystal Richardson said.
Richardson said the Office of Greek Life thought they should host the summit, which is not a regular event, so they could have conversations with the national chapters.
“It was time for change, and we wanted to include all the organizations’ (input),” she said.
Coordinator of Greek Life Dustin Page said in an email that the summit allowed all chapters to engage in coordinated dialogue.
“It was an opportunity to update the national representatives on our Panhellenic community and discuss how to strengthen the community in the future,” he said.
Many of the topics discussed will comply with MU’s Greek Life strategic plan. The Office of Greek Life came up with the plan after NPower, an outside consulting agency, assessed the strengths and challenges of MU’s Greek Life community.
Topics discussed at the NPC summit included recruitment class sizes, alcohol policies and risk management policies.
Richardson said the creation of an extension plan was discussed. With a record number of freshmen participating in formal recruitment this fall, the extension plan would help new chapters become established on campus and get member numbers down to a more manageable size per chapter.
“We’re trying to get (chapters) down to a safer number where members know girls more and manage the risk that comes along with having such big chapters,” Richardson said.
Page said PHA did not immediately make changes.
“The NPC summit served as an initial conversation for brainstorming and goal setting,” he said. “No changes were made during the summit. However, as we continue these conversations, the community may decide to make changes that would better serve the Panhellenic community.”
The Office of Greek Life will meet with student leaders for the remainder of the fall semester. Conversations held at the NPC summit will be continued during these meetings.