ZTA extends bids to new sisters

As of Thursday, a new group of Penn students have officially become sisters.

According to Zeta Tau Alpha Extension Director Marlene Conrad, the sorority extended bids to new members at its preference round party hosted at Houston Hall’s Hall of Flags Thursday evening.

While the number of bids has not yet been finalized — as some students were in class, taking midterms and interviewing for jobs — Conrad said ZTA accepted individuals from all four classes and that the number of girls should be “really comparable” to the seven existing sororities on campus.

“It was definitely our goal to come in and be right at the same size,” she said, adding that she hopes ZTA will integrate into the Greek community “right from the beginning.”

“We’re really pleased with the results,” she said.

For College freshman Molly Sloss — who dropped out of formal recruitment in January the night before it began because she felt overwhelmed by the process — getting a ZTA bid was “an exciting moment,” as it came as a surprise to many of the other girls.

“Nobody thought that they were going to get a bid,” Sloss said. Although she suspected that bids would be given out Thursday night, “I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to jinx it.”

She said prospective members came in and sat in rows of white chairs with black bows before hearing ZTA’s executive director speak and lead songs about sisterhood. National representatives then told the girls to look under their chairs, as they had all received bid cards.

“It was like Oprah,” she said. “You get a bid, you get a bid, you get a bid.”

Sloss explained that ZTA representatives told the girls to sign their cards before they left the party unless they had any reservations. She decided to sign that night.

College junior Kalla Gervasio also signed her bid card Thursday.

While she said, “it seemed like most girls signed right away,” she noted that several prospective members hung around to ask more questions before deciding to accept their bids.

“There was definitely a crowd that was unsure,” she added.

Gervasio rushed because she regretted not rushing as a freshman, and was looking for a way to “make Penn feel a little smaller.” She added that she was particularly drawn to ZTA because its philanthropy cause is breast cancer awareness, and her father passed away from cancer.

Many women, like Gervasio, are excited to be members of a founding class of ZTA. “They told us that it’s pretty much up to us how we shape this sorority, so I’m really looking forward to that,” she said.

Sloss agreed the best part of joining ZTA’s founding chapter is “to be part of that process.”

“I’m excited to do something new, to make Zeta Penn-relatable,” she said.

ZTA will host its bid-day event Friday where the new sisters will get to know each other. Since the sorority has no older members, “crown sisters” will replace what other sororities refer to as lineages through “peer-mentoring relationships,” according to Conrad.

She added that new members will be initiated in early April.

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