After a semester in a new house and this year’s recruitment process just around the corner, Alpha Gamma Delta President Colleen Baker feels the women finally have a place of their own.

‘I definitely think having a house brings the whole picture together,’ said Baker, a junior communications and rhetorical studies and psychology major.

The women of AGD moved into the Butterfield House on Comstock Avenue last fall after a 10-year hiatus. The sorority left Syracuse University in 2001 due to a low member count, but was asked back to the university in April 2010. They were without a house until fall 2011 when they took over Butterfield, an old residence hall.

AGD was founded in 1904 as the third women’s fraternity on campus, making it an Alpha chapter and part of the ‘Syracuse Triad’ along with Alpha Phi and Gamma Phi Beta, according to an Aug. 30, 2010 article published by The Daily Orange.

Baker said having a house has helped to organize meetings and hold recruitment training. The sorority has a new TV and laundry room in the house, which was closed off when the building was a residence hall. There is also a new kitchen where all members can eat together, which has helped strengthen the sisterhood, she said.

‘With being president, I’m so fortunate to have this house because I saw how hard it was last year for our president to figure out where we were meeting and how we were meeting and all of that,’ Baker said.

Before AGD members resided in Butterfield, the sorority’s recruitment activities were held in the Sheraton University Hotel and Conference Center on University Avenue and the Schine Student Center. Baker said for the first rounds of recruitment, the women had to stand on the steps of Schine’s Panasci Lounge and constantly worried about tripping and falling in their heels.

This year, rounds will feel a little different, she said.

Now, everyone meets at the house and trains for a couple of hours. Baker said being able to use their new entryway and foyer makes them feel at home.

She said though recruitment is still stressful, having a house has made the process much easier and will allow the sorority to recruit more women. They will also get to show off and utilize all the new rooms. Having a new house might even help bring in more recruitment, she said.

‘Everything’s brand-new. The inside is absolutely gorgeous,’ she said. ‘So I do know that once girls walk in, I imagine they’re going to be pretty impressed and excited.’

Kristin Wiegand, AGD’s vice president of recruitment and a junior psychology major, said the sorority is looking forward to having the house as a home base during the recruitment process. She considers it a place where everyone can sit down and find comfort in one another.

Wiegand said she hopes the women who come during recruitment will get to experience what the house means to the sorority. While seeing the house is crucial for recruitment, she said, something intangible is more important.

‘The house itself will not recruit women,’ she said. ‘Our energy and excitement about this year’s recruitment will do that.’

Baker said that one of AGD’s recruitment songs included the lyrics: ‘Come on in, enjoy the fun.’ Although this used to mean Schine’s Panasci Lounge, it now refers to AGD’s home in Butterfield.

Now, Baker said, ‘The song feels right.’

mjberner@syr.edu 

Published on January 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Maddy: mjberner@syr.edu