The Penn State Greek community recently grew. A lot.

Last Saturday, the Beta Eta chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma, the newest member of Penn State’s Panhellenic Council, held its bid day at the Nittany Lion Inn, extending bids to 201 new members.

Phi Sig kicked off its own separate recruitment on Sunday, Oct. 5, after formal Panhel recruitment already ended. The recruitment process spanned a period of one week and included a kickoff party, an informational event, group interviews, and meet-the-sisters events. The selection of new members narrowed down at the end of the week with an invite-only preference party, followed by bid day.

Since there were no Phi Sigma Sigma members on campus at the time, two leadership consultants from their national organization, Meagan Salvadore and Sarah Delucia, recruited the new class. The two have been living on campus since August, working to garner interest among Penn State women.

Their outreach definitely paid off when close to 600 women showed interest in joining the sorority. Phi Sigma Sigma’s 201 new members bring the total number of women in the Penn State Panhellenic community up to a whopping 3,398 members.

Upon seeing a growth in the number of women interested in sorority life, the Penn State Panhellenic Council Delegates voted to open an extension, inviting Phi Sigma Sigma and Delta Phi Epsilon to join the Greek community.

Phi Sigma Sigma, founded in 1913 at Hunter College in New York City, had previously had a chapter at Penn State, which started in 1946 but closed in 1970. Therefore, the lucky new members of the recolonized Phi Sig are considered founders, and they have the opportunity to create their own traditions.

“The Greek community has supported us since we arrived on campus,” said Salvadore. “They’ve been wearing ‘Go Phi Sig’ t-shirts that we handed out, along with posters for their windows and lawn signs for outside their houses.”

Despite not participating in formal recruitment, the new class of Phi Sigma Sigma will experience all of the things that come with Greek life, including a sorority floor in Hoyt Hall next year. The chapter holds sisterhood events every week so that the new members, ranging from freshmen to seniors, can get to know each other.

“Phi Sigma Sigma will be integrating into the Penn State Greek community throughout the year,” said Pamela Gramlich, Vice President of Communication for Panhel. “They will not be participating in Greek Sing this semester, but they will be participating in THON 2015, along with a number of other events.”

The sisters are excited to “hit the ground running” with involvement in the Greek and Penn State community, Salvadore said. Their national philanthropy supports school and college readiness, and they will hold various events to support that cause, as well as attend other organizations’ philanthropic causes throughout the year.

“Phi Sigma Sigma is thrilled to be a part of Penn State’s Greek community,” Salvadore said. “We hope we can continue to foster relationships with all of the other groups on campus and really add to the sense of community that Penn State has.”

Congratulations to the new members of Phi Sigma Sigma!