Now, the chapter is preparing for its first large philanthropy event to benefit the sorority’s national cause, the Arthritis Foundation.

“We’ve been working really hard to get our philanthropy off the ground,” said senior Sandy Chen, chapter president.

According to information published by the sorority, 70 million American adults are affected by arthritis, and several types are more prevalent in women than in men.

“Arthritis is one of the most widespread diseases in the U.S. It affects a lot of people—one-third of all adults—and yet is really one of those that fly under the radar,” said senior Alex Choi, philanthropy chair for AOII. “You don’t hear a lot about it or see a lot of fundraisers for it.”

The entire philanthropy effort consists of a week of events for fundraising and raising awareness about arthritis. The week will culminate in a flag football game on the Swamp next Sunday called the Rose Bowl—named for AOII’s rose symbol.

The football event will draw participants from other campus Greek organizations—the 12 fraternities, six sororities, in addition to AOII, and other Greek organizations.

The new charter members of Alpha Omicron Pi pose at last April’s Rose Banquet, a formal dinner following the initiation ceremony that took place earlier in the day. The sorority is preparing for its first charity event, which will benefit the Arthritis Foundation. (Scott Bressler | Campus in Focus)

Chen said that in the future, the event will feature participants from other student organizations and the broader campus community as well.

“We want to set the trend of trying to be more inclusive to the community as a whole,” Chen said.

Since the event is the chapter’s first one of this scale, the decision was made to have Greek organizations participate only.

The sorority is encouraging University students to attend its fundraiser dinner on Thursday night at Racanelli’s Cucina on the Delmar Loop. A portion of the proceeds from that night will go to the Arthritis Foundation.

“A lot of our event is about incorporating campus groups into this particular philanthropy event,” Choi said.

To raise awareness about arthritis, Choi said the sorority will be encouraging students on campus to get arthritis facts from its members for points.

“Education is so important in this particular cause, because if you start taking medication early for arthritis, it is pretty much treatable.”

According to Chen, the chapter’s women have done a great deal of work during the colonization process, as well as after the chapter became recognized under the national Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) sorority, such as writing bylaws and several other important aspects of starting a new chapter.

“Last year was crazy. Usually it’s a 10-month process [for colonization],” Chen said. “We had three months to do the work of 10 months.”

—With additional reporting by Kat Zhao.

Correction Appended Below

Washington University welcomed its newest sorority into the Greek system this month.

Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) began its recruitment of first members among University women this week.

The University chapter will become the 187th chartered chapter of a women’s fraternity that was founded in 1897 at Barnard College.

Prior to the adition of AOII, the University’s Greek system included six sorority chapters and 12 fraternity chapters.

Unlike the University’s other sororities, which began formal recruitment one week before the start of the spring semester and finished their selection process at the end of that week, AOII will conduct its recruitment this year through the end of January.

The women’s fraternity, however, will engage in regular recruitment next year, according to Lucy Morlan, coordinator for chapter development in the Greek Life Office (GLO).

“Generally, the national organization has their own way and process of colonization,” Morlan said. “What we [GLO] do is essentially help with the PR efforts and give them advice on the best methods of giving out information.”

An e-mail was sent out to all University women from AOII’s international headquarters to promote the chapter’s opening and invite women from all four classes to join.

According to Jenna Gregory, resident consultant for AOII International, the women’s fraternity is hoping to recruit women “who are looking for the opportunity to start traditions, give back to the community, build bonds of sisterhood and be leaders on campus and in the sorority.”

In addition to e-mails, AOII representatives are also making a PR push for the new chapter with fliers, tabling and chalking on the second floor of the Danforth University Center in the Fun Room.

The national representatives are not alone in their efforts to promote AOII.

“We are talking about making buttons or T-shirts for our current members to wear just to show support for our new sorority,” Morlan said. “Our current sororities are also helping by compiling lists of names of their friends or women they know who may be interested and passing those along to AOII.”

While Morlan said she does not know how many women will participate in AOII’s recruitment, she estimates that the number will be more than 100.

“We do have a list of names and a large bulk of that list is made up of women who had responded to the e-mail from the national organization and had expressed interest,” Morlan said. “It is hard to come up with the number of how many women will go through recruitment.”

According to Morlan, the Women’s Panhellenic Association (WPA) has considered expanding its program to accommodate the needs of more women on campus and the increasing average chapter size.

WPA voted this week to allow AOII to admit 153 women, the average membership for Washington University sororities, instead of 115—AOII’s previous quota.

“The main reason [for the addition] is that we thought we had room for a new sorority. Currently, our average chapter size including the members abroad is around 150,” she said. “Also, it’s just another place for the women of the University to go to. We may have been missing a niche that some students are looking for and AOII would nicely fill that niche.”

Panhel came to the decision to introduce a new sorority to the University last semester. After informing the National Panhellenic Council, the University received applications from 11 organizations. The decision to select AOII was reached at the end of November.

“Our University, given our caliber and campus, is obviously a very ideal place for any organization to want to colonize,” Morlan said. “We finally settled on AOII because many of their core values, including sisterhood, scholarship, leadership and respect for human dignity, align with the values of our Panhellenic community, the Greek Life Office and the University itself.”

Because AOII does not yet have a unique identity on campus, it has a specific draw for prospective members.

According to Gregory, AOII colony members will have the opportunity to create their own chapter name and sub motto.

“It’d be cool to be a part of the start of it so you can kind of have an influence in what the sorority will become,” freshman Christina Correa said.

Recruitment events for AOII will take place on Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. in the Lopata Multipurpose Room, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. in McMillan Hall and Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Lopata Multipurpose Room. The final bid day is scheduled for Jan. 29.

This article has been changed to reflect the following correction
An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to the umbrella organization for women’s Greek activities on campus; it is the Women’s Panhellenic Association, not council, which is a member of the National Panhellenic, not Pan-hellenic, Council. Also, the article mistakenly referred to the Greek Life Office as the Greek Life Organization. Student Life regrets the error.

The women’s fraternity is set to join campus in Spring 2009, with representatives coming to the University in one week. Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi) will work with the Women’s Panhellenic Association (Panhel) on a public relations campaign and colonization schedule over the coming weeks to detail the process of joining the Greek community.

Local alumnae of the fraternity and a full-time consultant will also work with Panhel to transition AOPi onto campus.

The decision this past April to add a seventh women’s Greek organization, according to a press release sent out by the Greek Life Office, resulted from increased enrollment at the University, coupled with rising interest in the school’s sororities.

Panhel selected AOPi over Delta Delta Delta and Gamma Phi Beta, which also applied to be the newest women’s Greek organization here.

“Alpha Omicron Pi is an international women’s fraternity promoting friendship for a lifetime, inspiring academic excellence and lifelong learning, and developing leadership skills through service to the fraternity and community,” the press release stated.

AOPi was founded in 1897 at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City.