It’s official – Alpha Delta Pi [ADPi] received its charter last weekend to become the newest sorority chapter at UM.
“This provides the opportunity for a significant number of more women to go Greek and join the Greek community,” Callie Simon, Panhellenic president, said. “It provides another option for women who weren’t necessarily satisfied before-these are awesome women.”
ADPi was the first sorority ever in the U.S., created by six women at an all-girls college in Macon, Ga., in 1851. “We live for each other” is the motto which all ADPi women follow. They work with the Ronald McDonald House as their philanthropic cause.
The process of bringing ADPi to campus started last year, when the University made the decision to add a sorority to the University. The 20 national sororities currently not on campus were invited to apply for selection, out of which three were chosen to make presentations at UM. ADPi was ultimately selected to colonize on campus.
This fall, ADPi recruited after the formal recruitment period for all other sororities was over.
“They wanted to get a well rounded group of women with diverse interests,” Simon said. “They looked for potential in women.”
“There was just something about it, the whole new feeling they had,” Jackie Hessel, sophomore, said. “The motto was ‘Come home to ADPi.’ It was very inviting and really made me want to join a group of people who all felt the same way.”
Ninety-eight women-average chapter size at UM-were chosen for the new member period, during which they learned about all aspects of ADPi from its history to its structure.
“It’s pretty cool to be a founding member-I don’t know anyone else who’s done this before,” Hessel said. “It’s a good feeling.”
ADPi’s Black Diamond days-three days of initiation-officially began last Thursday. The new officer installation and campus reception were Friday evening, and 88 women, ranging from freshmen to seniors, were initiated in an all day ceremony Saturday. The chapter installation closed out the initiation weekend with a banquet at Hotel Sofitel, where friends, family, alumni and the entire international council of ADPi joined as the sorority received its new charter.
“It’s an awesome experience to have no standards behind us,” Jamie Fiorentino, sophomore, said. “There is no stereotype of a sorority yet, which leaves us in charge of determining our own standards.”
“I’m looking forward to strengthening my new friendships, working together with the Ronald McDonald House, and starting a whole new chapter and being the newest sorority on campus,” Hessel said.
This isn’t the first time ADPi has been on campus. The sorority received its original charter at UM in the 1950s and left campus in 1976. During the ceremony Saturday, the sorority received two charters-the original charter and the new charter, which contained the names of all 88 new members.
“The alumni are so excited to see that it’s back. There were founding members from the 1950s at the banquet,” Fiorentino said. “Just to see them all there, to see what they accomplished, we are just starting what they did so long ago.”
Megha Garg can be contacted at m.garg@umiami.edu.