Zeta Psi Sigma looking to acquire national status

Zeta Psi Sigma has the distinction of being the only local sorority at Carnegie Mellon University. But sisters in Zeta may soon end their local history as they try to become part of a national sorority.

According to Monica Bebie, Coordinator for Greek Affairs, there are two main reasons for this. ?By becoming part of a national sorority, Zeta can become a part of a large support network,? she said.
Bebie added that by becoming a national sorority, Zeta can gain access to resources that national sororities have, such as training and advising for members. ?Zeta also has access to more job connections and traveling consultants by becoming part of a national sorority,? Bebie said.

According to Anne DiGiovanni, a senior professional writing and anthropology major and the president of Zeta, the sorority usually takes in 12 new members per school year through Formal Membership Recruitment (FMR) and Informal Membership Recruitment (IMR). This year, though, Zeta did not have any new pledges through FMR. By joining a national sorority, Zeta would become more attractive to potential pledges.

All other sororities on campus are part of national organizations, Bebie said, which gives them access to greater networking opportunities than those are available to Zeta. By becoming part of a national sorority, Zeta would have access to networking opportunities on a larger scale than they presently do.

Started in 1992, Zeta Psi Sigma was created when Chi Omega decided to shut down its Carnegie Mellon chapter. The members decided to create their own local sorority, which was officially recognized by the school in 1995 and continued to grow. In 1999, Zeta began to consider joining a national sorority. However, it was not until recently that it decided to go ahead with their plans.

Under the leadership of DiGiovanni and Jamie Moroco, Panhellenic Vice President of Membership Development and Zeta?s Ritual Chair, Zeta started looking to join a national sorority. As Moroco stated, ?We have existed on this campus as a strong local organization for over 12 years and we feel that now is the time to take our organization to the next level. Becoming a part of a national organization would be the way to do that because they can provide us with the resources we will need. We have much support from the current sisters, many alumni, and the University administration.?

Bebie added, ?By February of next year, Carnegie Mellon hopes to welcome a new national sorority to campus.?