The sisters of Rho Alpha Chi must meet new requirements before becoming the most recent addition to Otterbein’s Greek family.
A new sorority has not emerged at Otterbein since 1921, but Rho Alpha Chi is an interest group that is attempting to change that. Rho Alpha Chi (known as PAX) is self-defined as an “alternative sorority” with a mission that focuses on “expanding awareness of any nonacademic innovation, including the fine arts.”
Currently, the interest group has 19 fully committed members, 11 shy of the 30 required for colony status.
On Nov. 30, Haley Amicon, president of PAX, went before Otterbein’s Panhellenic Council to apply for associate membership.
Over the holiday break and J-term, the council reached a decision and informed the PAX interest group of its consensus last week. The Council decided to turn down the interest group for now and provided a list of requirements for the group to complete before reapplying for associate membership.
“(The changes are) really doable. We planned to do some of the things on the list after we became associate members, but if they want us to do them first, that’s fine,” Amicon said.
Some requirements on the list include Q&A sessions with all of the current sororities, forming a working budget, planning a fundraiser, sending executive members to a leadership conference in the spring and abiding by university and Panhellenic Council policies.
President of the Panhellenic Council Nicole Putnam said, “The constitutional changes by the Panhellenic Council are to assure PAX would be successful when/if they choose to make them and become a sorority.”
She said that the Council would hold PAX to the standards that every other active sorority is held to. Putnam is a senior nursing major and represents Theta Nu.
According to Amicon, PAX will be fulfilling the requests of the Panhellenic Council as soon as possible.
The leadership training does not take place until mid-April, but Amicon is hopeful to reapply for associate membership soon after the conference is over.
Once associate membership status is granted, the sorority will be given a year’s probationary period before becoming an active sorority on campus.
PAX was created by Amicon and fellow member Ellie Hoffman.
Both students participated in Greek recruitment this year and said they “didn’t find what they were looking for.”
They then developed the idea for PAX, a sorority for girls who are passionate about something.
The committed members they have range in majors from biology to art and are all passionate individuals, Amicon said.
“The whole process was a lot harder than you’d think it would be. Finding an adviser was probably the biggest challenge, though,” Amicon said. English professor Tammy Birk is now the adviser for PAX, and Amicon looks forward to the new challenge of the requirements list.
“I know that more requirements means we will be more successful when the sorority is put into motion,” Amicon said.
