Phi Mu arrives at Tulane

Though the school year is coming to a close and most student organizations are training new officers, the end of the year is only the halfway point for Greek life.  Individual chapter officers and those of the Greek councils took office in January and will serve through the end of Recruitment 2010.  My involvement with the Panhellenic Council this semester has given me a new perspective on Greek life at Tulane, and it is hard not to be proud of everything we have accomplished this semester.
This January, a record number of Tulane women participated in formal recruitment and our sororities were thrilled to welcome new member classes averaging more than 60 members.  The increased interest Tulane has seen in Greek life in recent years led the 2008 Panhellenic Council to begin opening up for extension, the process by which a new Panhellenic sorority is added to campus.  After a week of interviews and presentations in mid-April, the Extension Committee voted to invite Phi Mu to campus.  Phi Mu was originally founded in 1906 at Newcomb College and has a long history with Tulane.
Our Panhellenic Council is incredibly excited to welcome Phi Mu back to campus because their ideals and values so closely parallel those of our existing organizations.  Forming a new sorority is an enormous undertaking and requires the support of everyone on campus, not just the Greek community.
In the coming months our council will be looking to the administration, faculty, staff and  students to help support Phi Mu in their early months. The overarching goal of our council’s executive board, which guides all of our actions, is to foster a sense of community between the Panhellenic sororities.  Our hope is that the six current sororities will come together in welcoming Phi Mu and embrace our newly adopted motto of “Seven chapters, one sisterhood.”
In addition to promoting community between sororities, our council has been working to form partnerships between the Interfraternity Council and the National Pan-Hellenic Council.  By working together as a unified community we hope to truly make a difference at our university.  The Greek community at Tulane has undergone a great deal in the past year, and I do not doubt that we will have our fair share of hardships in the future.  I am confident, however, in our members and leaders and know that we will continue to hold ourselves to the high standards our organizations were founded upon.

Elizabeth McCoy is a junior and the Panhellenic Council Administrative Vice President. She can be reached for comment at emccoy1@tulane.edu.