To the Dartmouth Community,

    As we begin another recruitment cycle today, we, the Panhellenic Presidents and Council executives, would like to take this opportunity to openly discuss our views on reforming Greek Life. We commend the Inter-Fraternity Council for eliminating fraternity pledge term. By implementing this policy, they have recognized and defined hazing as the number one issue in their community. We, too, have been working to remedy the issues that we find to be most paramount in the Panhellenic community

    We recognize that Panhellenic recruitment is not a perfect system: no algorithm could ever accurately distill the full complexity of the amazing, inspiring women we embody. Recruitment is a work in progress. We fully acknowledge that not every woman who has participated in Recruitment has had a positive experience in the past and, as a result, we are dedicating our time and energy to improving our process.

    In our effort to move forward and better our system, we passed a set of alterations to our Recruitment process last spring to increase transparency and accountability, minimize the cost of recruitment, level the playing field between both houses and Potential New Members, and make the entire process more genuine (please see attached document). Of course, our work is not done. We will continue to improve Recruitment throughout the year, and in that vein we will continuously seek feedback on our changes from members of the Dartmouth community.

    While we focus heavily on recruitment this time of year, we have not forgotten our duty to the affiliated women we represent. Since we took office in the Spring, the Panhellenic Council has taken concrete steps toward financial inclusivity, in support of President Hanlon, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Bill Helman, and Moving Dartmouth Forward:

• We have eliminated “Working for Dues.” All scholarship in every Panhellenic sorority is now awarded on the basis of need, with no additional obligations placed upon the sisters receiving aid.
  
• We have more than quadrupled the amount of scholarship we set aside to give to women for whom sorority dues are a barrier to joining or staying in our community. Each sorority also has its own scholarship system in place.
  
• We are collaborating with Interim Dean of the College Inge-Lise Ameer to institute a Panhellenic scholarship fund. We are determined to make the Panhellenic system 100% financially accessible to any woman who wishes to join or remain in our community. This new initiative will allow us to establish a substantial and consistent source of financial aid for current and Potential New Members of the Panhellenic community.
  

    When you love an institution, you should constantly question its value for the sake of its own viability. The women of the Panhellenic Council are committed to the continual improvement of this community, which we believe has welcomed us and positively shaped our Dartmouth experience. Together, we can work with the greater Dartmouth community to strive towards a vision of a better, stronger, and more inclusive Greek presence on campus.

Sincerely,

​

The Panhellenic Presidents:

Courtney Wong, President of Alpha Phi

Aditi Kirtikar, President of Alpha Xi Delta

Camila Vigdor, President of Delta Delta Delta

Emily Reeves, President of Epsilon Kappa Theta

Bay Lauris Byrnesim, President of Kappa Delta

Emily Uniman, President of Kappa Delta Epsilon

Myrel Iturrey, President of Kappa Kappa Gamma

Annie Gardner, President of Sigma Delta

The Panhellenic Council:

Rachel Funk, President

Tracy Wang, Vice President of Organization

Sara Heard, Vice President of Recruitment

Kathleen Wahl, Vice President of Recruitment

Alison Pierce, Secretary

Delia O’Shea, Treasurer

Jessica Ke, Vice President of Public Relations

Molly Chodakewitz, Programming Chair

Emily Brody-Bizar, Programming Chair

Natalie Shell, Philanthropy Chair