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The New Sorority on the Block

By Melanie Spina
Staff Writer

Delta Zeta has been added to LIU Post’s Greek life, joining the two Panhellenic sororities already on campus. According to the 22 founding members, they had shown interest in being a part of Delta Zeta during annual spring recruitment, and were assisted by Educational Leadership Consultant Cindy Park.

Founding sisters of the Delta Zeta sorority chapter on campus. Photo: Khadijah Swann
Founding sisters of the Delta Zeta sorority chapter on campus.
Photo: Khadijah Swann

According to the Constitution of the Delta Zeta Sorority, the organization seeks to unite its members and create long lasting bonds of friendship and sisterhood, which is something that founding members already feel after just three weeks.

“Delta Zeta is committed to providing educational programs and leadership opportunities that enrich the lives of young women,” a spokesperson from the National Headquarters of Delta Zeta said. “The Delta Zeta experience is a transformative one for [it’s] members, and we look forward to bringing that experience to the women of LIU Post.”

“I’ve only been a part of the sorority for a short period of time, but I can already feel a connection with the other girls, and I now understand that aspect of being a [part of] sisterhood,” Marisa Kofmehl, a junior Public Relations major said. “I knew a couple of the girls before I was officially in the sorority, and they were kind of the final push I needed to decide to actually join. But I didn’t know a lot of the girls before, and although we’ve only been sisters for a few weeks, I already feel like I’ve found my home.”

Kofmehl stated that although there were other sororities on campus that she could have joined, she never really felt interested until she started to go to some Delta Zeta informational events. “I feel like there was a different vibe [with] this group of girls. There were always good vibes coming from the other sororities on campus, but when choosing a sorority, you pick the one where you feel at home with, and that’s what I felt with Delta Zeta. It just felt more like where I belonged,” said Kofmehl.

Delta Zeta’s bid day took place on Wednesday, March 4. Kristin Esbin, a senior Education major, another founding member of the sorority, said, “It was very different from what we normally see, and it was exciting because we didn’t know if we were going to have the support, but it was really nice to see that we actually did have it, and that a lot of people came out to bid day for us.”

The Greek organization had its first sacred event on Monday, March 16, which was their pinning, the beginning stage of the new member process where the girls pledge their time and effort to the sorority. Although the founding members stated that they can’t share the ritual with non-members, they seemed to be very content with how it turned out.

Since they are a new sorority on campus, the founding members received a Panhellenic big sister, which means girls from other sororities on campus were assigned to be “bigs” for the sisters of Delta Zeta. “I think that was a fabulous idea because we are all new to Panhell Greek Life, and we don’t really know what it’s about, so it’s nice to have those big sisters to guide us in the right direction,” said Kofmehl. “We’ve seen things, we’ve read things, we have a general idea of what Greek Life is about, but having [a] big is nice; it’s guidance.”

Delta Zeta has two main philanthropies, for which the girls in the sorority would do community service for; these are the Painted Turtle and the Philanthropy of Speech and Hearing. “The Painted Turtle is a year-round summer camp in California, and its main mission is

to give ill children the camp experience without them having to feel misplaced [or] different [from] the other kids,” said Esbin.

Both Esbin and Kofmehl believe that being a founding member of the Delta Zeta chapter at Post is a great thing. “I feel that being a founding member is quite the honor,” said Kofmehl. “It’s a big responsibility, but it’s a great one, and I am proud of not only being able to be under that title, but to be a part of such a great family.”

“Founding members, not unlike Delta Zeta’s own founders who established the sorority in 1902, lay the groundwork for future chapter members to build upon,” said Delta Zeta’s National Headquarters representative. “Each founding sister signs the charter, which represents the chapter’s beginning and the special meaning of founding a sorority on the LIU Post campus, [It] inspires not only the charter members, but all members of that chapter, and its future members as well.”

Students interested in becoming a founding member should contact Park at cpark@dzshq.com, who will also be on campus to guide and help any interested students.

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