Twelve national sororities and 14 national fraternities submitted applications to bring an organization to campus, following October decisions to open Marquette for Greek life expansion and extension.
“It is clear that Marquette is a place where organizations want to be,” said Corey Lansing, assistant dean for student involvement.
Last Friday was the deadline for the national organizations to apply for establishing a chapter at Marquette. The university is not yet releasing which groups specifically applied.
Both Marquette Interfraternity Council and Marquette Panhellenic Association will form committees to review the applications and narrow them down to a list of three, which will be voted on for approval.
The Marquette Panhellenic Association voted to open for extension Oct. 2. Panhellenic opted for extension in an effort to accommodate rising sorority participation. The average number of women in each chapter on campus grew from 65 in 2011 to 94 this past semester. Panhellenic also expects very high participation in formal recruitment, which begins next week. Last Summer Panhellenic formed an extension exploratory committee that reviewed the rising participation in sororities on campus and recommended extension.
IFC is approaching expansion after a three-person interest group approached the organization about bringing a new fraternity to campus.
Jason Kurtyka and Thomas Schick, both juniors in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Matthew Walker, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, first raised the issue with IFC in spring of 2013. In the fall, members of the interest group spoke about potentially bringing something that would have a lasting effect on the Marquette community as a reason for wanting to bring a new organization to campus.
On Oct. 23 IFC voted to open for expansion, after a previous vote not to expand was deemed a violation of national policy by the National Interfraternity Council.
The Interfraternity Council will be made up of Greek system advisers Lansing and Kim Jeffrey, the graduate assistant for student involvement and Greek life; the three interest group members; a representative from each fraternity; three members of the IFC executive board; and a representative from Marquette Student Government. Marquette is not releasing the names of the students on the committee yet.
Former IFC president Eric Eichelberger said the expansion committee would follow the lead of the interest group in terms of what organizations will be chosen to be presented for approval.
Kurtyka, speaking on behalf of the interest group, spoke about the qualities that the three interested parties would be looking for when reviewing the applications.
“We want to see someone who comes prepared to work with us,” Kurtyka said. “We want a chapter that is willing to send people out to help us organize this and willing to stay with us. We also want a chapter that engages well with alumni in the area. We really want someone that aligns with Marquette and would fit in well with the IFC.”
Neither the IFC or Panhellenic committees met yet, but Kurtyka said he believes they will start meeting next week.