Rho Epsilon Pi Re-affiliates With Greek Life as Wesleyan’s Only Sorority

Every two weeks, over a dozen female-identifying students gather on campus to update each other on their daily lives, celebrate one another’s personal achievements, and plan community events. There’s likely a PowerPoint at the gathering, and an assortment of snacks. 

These events are chapter meetings hosted by Rho Epsilon Pi (Rho Ep), the University’s sole sorority, which recently celebrated its reentry into campus Greek life.

The move marks a significant homecoming for the group. Originally established in 2011 as a local chapter, Rho Ep spent the last three years as an independent organization following its disaffiliation from Greek life in 2022. 

Today, the sisterhood is returning to its roots and resuming its place under the University’s official Greek umbrella. In a statement posted to Instagram on April 22, Rho Ep’s official account (@rhoepsilonpi) announced the newest structural change to their followers. 

“We are excited to announce Rho Epsilon Pi’s official re-affiliation with Greek Life at Wesleyan as a Sorority!!” the Instagram post reads. 

Your Campus Sisterhood

Rho Ep’s executive board (E-Board) sat down with The Argus to discuss programming and motivations for re-affiliation.

This year’s E-Board comprises Mira Felder ’27 as president, Kate Battaglia ’27 as vice-president, Lorraine Hillgen-Santa ’28 as secretary, and Ava Nishizaka ’28 as treasurer. The four are in charge of overseeing the sorority’s operations and strategic planning.

Throughout the year, the leadership plans group events aiming to foster lasting connections.

“We always do sister speed dating as our first event after an info session where the new members can get to know all the sisters,” Felder said. “We just tend to do a lot of group activities, like cupcake decorating, PowerPoint nights, study sessions, you know, just things like that. And then more in the fall, when we just have our [sustained] membership and can function without doing orientation, we go on hikes, we go to Miller’s, we go apple picking, [engage in] philanthropy.”

The Road to Re-affiliation

Despite their success in building a tight-knit community, the E-Board recognized a growing campus disconnect from the group in recent years, especially in participation and marketing. 

“The numbers are definitely consistent each year, but I think there’s been a pattern that—we’ve been talking to alumni and everything—since they disaffiliated, that the numbers and participation has dropped just because of less structure and the way we are able to market ourselves when we were a women’s organization,” Felder said. “You have to use [the word] ‘orientation’ and you have to use the word ‘event’ instead of ‘party,’ like certain things where you just can’t properly market yourself.” 

This semester, the E-Board has been focused on addressing the disconnect felt in the group, taking all members’ opinions into account when discussing change. Battaglia took initiative in speaking with the University’s Office of Student Involvement (OSI). 

“I came to OSI truly with all the desires of E-Board, saying, ‘Look, we have this problem, which is we feel like we’ve lost our identity,’” Battaglia said. “We’ve been spending this past semester saying, ‘It feels like there’s something missing.’” 

According to Battaglia, OSI engaged helpfully through these conversations. The idea of re-affiliating with Greek life on campus emerged as a necessary step in solidifying the group’s standing as a sorority in the University community.

“The process was not as difficult as it might sound, just because we were previously affiliated,” Nishizaka said. “And so it was a lot more of going back to our roots and developing our community versus creating a new one.”

The former President and current New Member Co-education Chair Katherine Currie ’26 has seen Rho Ep evolve through the years. 

“I support re-affiliation, but I also supported disaffiliating from Greek life in the first place,” Currie wrote in an email to The Argus. “The goal of Rho Ep has always been to create a safe space for female-identifying students on campus.”

Official, Unofficial, Resilient

Another challenge the sorority faced before re-affiliation was tied to their status as an official affinity group.

“When I was president, I was informed at a Pass the Torch training session that, due to a policy change by the Trump administration, [the University] could no longer allow a women’s organization to function as an official campus club because we were considered to be an affinity group,” Currie wrote.

This obstacle comes with the Trump administration’s executive orders eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across public and private sectors, which has impacted student organizations in higher education. The change meant that Rho Ep had to register as an informal organization as opposed to a formal one, but according to Felder, the change did not affect their operations beyond the constitution.

“This was during the beginning of Trump’s DEI purge,” Currie wrote. “I was instructed to register as an unofficial organization and remove all gendered language from our constitution. I do not blame the University for this change. They did all that they could to help the organization.” 

Why De-affiliate?

Originally formed in 2011 as a local chapter, Rho Epsilon announced their dis-affiliation from Greek life in 2022 also via an Instagram post following a member vote that previous year. 

“We disaffiliated because Greek life has a deep history of racism, homophobia, classism, and misogyny,” Currie wrote. “The organization spent years discussing these issues and what we can do to make everyone feel as safe as possible during our events.”

The Argus reported that then-members felt Greek life values at the time did not reflect the organization’s mission on campus. But dis-affiliation did not mean Rho Ep stopped programming or functioning as a social organization; it simply signified their identification as a women’s organization as opposed to a sorority. 

“At that point, a lot of our policies changed,” Currie wrote, referring to 2021. “Members paid what they could for dues, and we always explained that cost should never be a barrier to being in Rho Ep. Additionally, Rho Ep discarded the voting process. If a potential new member wants to join the organization, they only need to complete the orientation requirements. We also stressed our disdain for hazing, which has no place in our organization.”

Nonetheless, current members stated Rho Ep received institutional support from the University even as a women’s organization.

“[But] ever since we disaffiliated, we’ve always been included in the Greek life training and stuff that the University puts on,” Felder said. “We’ve never been like not invited to those, even though we’ve been classifying ourselves as a women’s organization. So I feel like they’ve always recognized our identity and how we function.”

Since the pandemic, a lot has changed for Rho Ep members and Greek life at the University. Current members attributed the ease of affiliation decisions to Rho Ep’s independence, being a sorority local to only the University.

“When we originally disaffiliated, they were very easily able just to say, ‘Look, we’re just affiliated, and this is the right decision at that time,’” Battaglia said. “That ease of being able to make decisions that are suitable for everybody—and for a just cause—is really valuable. I don’t know how that would work with the National chapter…and being Wesleyan Greek allows you to do that.”

Can Wesleyan Greek Spell Inclusivity?

Felder added that Rho Ep’s current functioning aligns with the vision that former members had for the organization when they disaffiliated. 

“Sororities do have a history of being like, not really inclusive…and [former members] wanted it to be a super inclusive community, and that’s what we have now,” Felder said. “And so I would say it was absolutely successful, but I do think that we’re at a point where we have this community we’re able [to continue being] inclusive while still having the Greek title,” Felder said.

Rho Ep’s E-Board believes this independence acts as a stronghold for their current mission of inclusivity too. 

“We’re Wesleyan Greek, we’re not a multiple-chapter Greek organization,” Battaglia said. “So we can really define what that means for us.”

While all residential fraternities at the University are required to be co-educational, those requirements do not apply to sororities at the University. In a 2014 mandate by the administration and the board of trustees, co-educational became the policy following concerns over inclusivity and allegations regarding female-identifying student safety. 

“We were originally formed because Greek life at [the University] was not accessible to women,” Currie said. 

Today, the University’s Greek organizations consist of Rho Ep as the sole sorority and Psi Upsilon, Eclectic Society, Alpha Delta Phi, and Delta Kappa Epsilon—informally—as the fraternities. 

While the E-Board is elected annually in the spring, there are many opportunities for all members to get involved in leadership positions, including being on the general board, as well as becoming a member. 

How Can You Become a Sister?

The sorority recruits and orients freshmen in the spring, and sees sustained membership in the subsequent fall. For upperclassman, one becomes a member by attending three events hosted by Rho Ep over the semester. 

Intriguingly, Rho Ep relies on no alumni donations and no University funding. Rather, suggested member’s dues are what make the programming possible.

“We’re also very flexible, because we never want financial reasons to be a burden or a barrier to anyone who participates in activities and joining,” Nishizaka said. “We have a program where if you can’t pay for the semester or for future semesters, [you] just let me know, and no questions asked. It’s very much, like, we do need dues to support the organization, but it’s never like a central part of Rho Ep.”

Rho Ep tries to connect with the wider community. In recent years, the group has partnered with local Girl Scout organizations in the Middletown area to help with resume building and college applications. 

At its core, Rho Ep serves as a community focused on uplifting female-identifying students. While the sorority’s official status has faced constant changes since its inception, the purpose of Rho Ep remains the same.   

“Now, Rho Ep is beginning a new chapter,” Curie wrote. “Our mission stays the same, only our title is changing.” 

Maggie Smith can be reached at mssmith@wesleyan.edu 

Janhavi Munde can be reached at jmunde@wesleyan.edu 

Ava Nishizaka is a Production Manager for The Argus.