With only one other chapter in Texas to share their sisterhood, the women of Alpha Omicron Pi at Texas Woman’s University are excited to have new sisters at TCU this fall.
Courtney Boyle, president of AOII at TWU, said many of her sisters came to TCU to support last year’s Panhellenic selection process and would participate in the colonization of AOII.
“We’re really honored that you guys chose us,” Boyle said. “And we’re really excited to see where all this goes.”
The new sorority will participate on the first day of formal recruitment but will postpone recruitment until Panhellenic designates a date for AOII to finish recruiting colonizing members, Boyle said. AOII will finish recruitment with the help of AOII staff, alumnae and active members from other campuses.
Laura Cooper, the vice president of AOII membership recruitment at TWU, said she looked forward to recruiting colonizing members at TCU.
“I’m really excited,” Cooper said. “I know it’s a bigger school, so the recruitment is going to be a longer process than ours since we’re a smaller school. But I think it’ll be a cool experience.”
Leah Carnahan, the TCU Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said AOII offered a strong leadership development plan during the Panhellenic selection process last year.
“They had a very structured five-year plan to ensure that coming onto campus here at TCU would be a successful venture for them, and they would be a great contributor to our community,” she said.
Vice President of AOII Jackie Nosenzo said AOII focused on individuality and promoting growth opportunities.
“I wanted to be able to be myself and actually grow,” Nosenzo said. “And actually I have grown into such a great leader.”
Participating in sorority life has been a trend on the TCU campus, Carnahan said. The addition of AOII would help chapters function more efficiently and would align better with the size of TCU.
Kia Igel, a senior strategic communication major and a Rho Gamma during last year’s recruitment, said adding a new sorority would help reduce chapter sizes and create a better environment for new members to bond with their sisters.
“There were a lot of girls going through recruitment (about 800), and we have 11 sororities on campus,” she said. “I think that it will give girls going through recruitment more options to choose from and find a sorority that fits well for them.”
Carnahan said Fraternity and Sorority Life hoped to add another sorority, but no final decision had been made.
