For the first time since 2008 Tech will have five sororities on campus.
Delta Phi Epsilon, a PanHellenic sorority founded at The New York School of Law in 1917, is in the process of setting the foundation for a new chapter at Tennessee Tech. This chapter would be the only Tennessee chapter of the sorority as well as being one of only three chapters located in the South, the other two located in Georgia.
Amy Malczewski and Fransheska Pacheco, DPhiE affiliated collegiate development consultants, have been actively tabling in support of their new sorority in the Roaden University Center since January.
“This semester is actually really awesome,” said Malczewski, “As corny as it sounds, the women joining us this semester will be founders. Their names will be on the charter and they will not only be leaving their legacy at TTU but on DPhiE history as well.”
According to their website, DPhiE strives to be “a society for the purpose of promoting good fellowship among sorority women…to help…in acquiring knowledge, appreciation, discriminating judgment and a true feeling of sisterly love through the interaction of sympathetic and friendly natures.”
DPhiE supports philanthropies such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Delta Phi Epsilon Education Foundation and the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
“The new members of Delta Phi Epsilon this semester will get the experience that no other current sorority women at TTU will have, they get the chance to be founders of a new sorority,” said Kelsey Jozwik, a graduate assistant working in the Student Activities Office. “They will get the opportunity to start new traditions, make their own rules, and mold the chapter into the path they would like to see in the future while making history with DPhiE.”
A new PanHellenic chapter has not been added to Tech’s campus since 1980. Last semester, meetings were scheduled among the other PanHellenic chapters — Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta and Phi Mu — to elect a new official chapter to add to Tech.
Tech will officially welcome DPhiE with a ceremony scheduled for next weekend. The event will be located on the steps of Derryberry Hall, and the first 325 students in attendance will receive a free T-shirt, featuring all five chapters of the revamped PanHellenic community.
“I think they will be a great addition to campus,” said Breanna Smith, a junior at Tech and a member of Delta Gamma. “With 11 IFC fraternities and only for PanHellenic sororities, we needed to start leveling the playing field.”
