MU Greek Life is in the process of expanding, especially with the continuous increase in students on campus each year.
With this expansion, one new sorority chapter, Sigma Kappa, has colonized at MU.
“It is exciting to welcome a new sorority at Mizzou,” Greek Life coordinator Julie Drury said in an email. “The Panhellenic Association community has been steadily growing in membership numbers for the past five years and it is time to add a new organization to accommodate this growth.”
Sigma Kappa has been missing from the MU campus since 2004, when the sorority had to close its chapter due to low membership, said Melinda Mettler, a representative from Sigma Kappa Nationals Headquarters.
The sorority is now back in full force, reporting more than 200 new recruits after its Sept. 14 bid day.
“We are so excited to welcome over 200 new members to our colony class!” Sigma Kappa tweeted Monday night.
Mettler said Sigma Kappa’s return to MU has been planned for a while.
“In fall 2010, (the) Panhellenic (Association) began considering the extension process, thus inviting a new sorority to campus,” Mettler said in an email. “In April 2011, the Panhellenic Association at Mizzou voted to officially invite Sigma Kappa to recolonize in the fall 2012 semester.”
Freshman Kara Simon, a new member of Sigma Kappa, said she was excited to be a part of Greek recruitment at MU.
“I heard about Sigma Kappa during formal recruitment week,” Simon said.
She attended some meetings and said she knew she wanted to get involved with Sigma Kappa.
Although the MU Sigma Kappa chapter has been disbanded for almost eight years, Simon said she was not afraid to join the new sorority.
Simon said she was hopeful for the future of Sigma Kappa. She said every woman who is a member really wants to be there.
“You had to get yourself out there to get in (Sigma Kappa),” Simon said.
Mettler said Sigma Kappa Nationals will provide on-site support for the new chapter for the first three years of its existence.
“Since closing our chapter in 2004, Sigma Kappa (Nationals) has completely revised our support for new chapters,” she said. “With this structure in place, we have seen tremendous success at all of out recent colonizations.”
Sigma Kappa will have its own house for members located in Greektown, slated to be ready in August 2013. Sigma Kappa will be taking over Pi Kappa Phi’s old house and will renovate it for the sorority.
“A local corporation board is working with Sigma Kappa’s National Housing Corporation to plan and execute renovations to the chapter house,” Mettler said.
Members already have an idea of what the new house will look like.
“They had a diagram of the new house at the first meeting,” Simon said.
Since Sigma Kappa is just getting started on the MU campus, the sorority had a separate bid day along with its own events for Spirit Night and Sisterhood Night.
With Sigma Kappa’s new sisters now formally inducted into their chapter, the sorority has already planned events for its members. Upwards of 200 sisters recently went roller-skating together as a bonding activity.
While a new sorority is an exciting addition to the MU campus, Sigma Kappa does not have its charter yet.
“Sigma Kappa is only a colony at this point,” Mettler said. “Our initiation and installation of the chapter is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 1. Chapter members will receive a physical charter next summer at Sigma Kappa’s Regional Leadership Conference.”