By Allison Opson Clement
News Editor

Representatives of Alpha Chi Omega national sorority visited Western Monday, Dec. 1 in preparation for opening a chapter on campus by next year.

Jen Patterson, director of collegiate growth for Alpha Chi Omega, and Courtney Schmidt, associate director of collegiate growth, toured campus and conducted focus groups to gather a sense of the campus culture and local community.

“When we come to a campus, we want to learn from the beginning,” Patterson said. “We want to build a chapter that’s a solid part of the community.”

The national brand for Alpha Chi Omega is “Real. Strong. Women.” Founded in 1885, it has over 135 chapters nationwide.

“We partner with the university to build a plan that’s right for each campus,” Schmidt said.

Alpha Chi Omega will work on empowerment of women, social issues and increased education. Members take on philanthropic work, including raising awareness of domestic violence and helping local organizations around each chapter.

Sofia LeVernois, treasurer of Kappa Delta Chi, said that what she took away from the focus groups is the type of sorority that Alpha Chi Omega is: one with strong values that they strive to fulfill.

“We want to inspire them to learn how to be the best they can be,” Patterson said.

Patterson said that Alpha Chi Omega has a very strong, well-rounded experience to offer members. Schmidt added that they work to make Alpha Chi Omega membership exemplary, not mediocre, which includes investing in the highest quality advisors and building a very strong community.

“It’s really exciting to come to a new campus,” said Schmidt, adding that she enjoys learning about the specific culture of each. Schmidt said that she wishes she could have been at Western for the tree lighting, since that was one of the things that students seemed to be excited about.

“Western has a campus culture that is friendly and caring but also provides motivation for students to succeed,” said Cody Kollar, treasurer of Kappa Sigma fraternity on campus and participant in one focus group. “That goes along with what Greek life is all about.”

Focus groups helped Patterson and Schmidt get a sense of the current desire and need for another sorority on campus, to give them a better idea of Western’s culture and a sense of the community they are looking to join, and what Alpha Chi Omega could bring to it, as well as what it takes to be Greek on this particular campus.

“We’re familiar with this part of the country and we’re excited to grow that brand and that sisterhood,” said Patterson. Several Oregon universities have their own chapters of Alpha Chi Omega already.

These are very preliminary stages, said Schmidt. The next step is marketing to raise awareness, and eventually formulate chapter life with new members.

Eventually, the first women involved, who are the founding mothers, will create the initial interest group and work towards establishing Alpha Chi Omega on campus.

“It’s your time to figure out who you are,” Megan Habermann, assistant director for student leadership and activities, explained of the interest group, which will become a colony with more pledges.

She added of the founding mothers, “They’re going to have their work cut out for them because they’re going to have to figure out how Alpha Chi Omega will work on campus.”

The colony, after a period of about six months to one year to allow enough time for raising membership, will become the Western Oregon University chapter of Alpha Chi Omega. The fall of 2015, Habermann explained, will be the real beginning of the official chapter.

“Every organization is different,” Habermann said. “It really depends on the women who start the organization.”

According to Habermann, a sorority will maintain certain membership standards, such as in academics and professionalism, but will generally be open to all women within those standards.

Choosing potential pledges will be a matter of making sure the women’s values match those of the organization, so that everyone gets the most possible out of the experience Habermann, said.

“I think that adding Alpha Chi Omega to campus would be a good thing for women who are interested in joining a sorority because it gives different ladies on campus the chance to choose between Alpha Chi Omega and Kappa Delta Chi to see which one will best suit them,” LeVernois said.

“I was excited to hear about another chapter coming to WOU,” Kollar said. “There is something out there for everyone and Alpha Chi Omega on campus will help even more students find that experience they are looking for.”

A sorority has national organization dues for its members, in addition to a $15 fee per person per term through Western; these funds go towards paying for building use and other group necessities.

Habermann said that not every organization is interested in expanding, perhaps in part because the Greek system at Western is small and young, which may make some cautious as well. Expansion may be approached carefully.

“Greek life is a great way to get to know people on campus and make future business connections,” LeVernois said. “Members get to meet many people that they possibly would not have met if they had not joined Greek life. From volunteering to just hanging out with your chapter, Greek life is a ton of fun.”