During the first week of February, the UCLA colony of the Jewish sorority Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi will become initiated as a full chapter.
The group has been at UCLA for three quarters, with one quarter as the student group “JUSY,” or “Jewish Unofficial Sorority Yes!” and two quarters as a colony of the national Jewish sorority Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi.
In the beginning the group had just five members, and later grew to 11 women who were interested in starting a Jewish sorority, Jacqueline Rafii, president of Jewish Unofficial Sorority Yes! and Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, said.
The group formed initially over the end of winter and the beginning of spring 2006, Paraphernalia Chair Elana Simon said.
“A couple of girls wanted to be in a sorority that was Jewish … so they decided to start Sigma,” Simon said.
Simon said that the group started off by having an all-women’s seder meal.
“For Passover, it’s eight days, and the first day you have the seder, a festive meal, and it begins with talking about the symbolics of food that were in the story of Exodus,” Simon said.
Rafii said though they began as a student group, their intention was always to become a recognized sorority.
“Their goal is to achieve Greek letters. … That’s very admirable as far as I’m concerned,” said Mike Cohn, their advisor in the Center for Student Programming.
They considered applying to several national organizations, but picked Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, Rafii said.
The group also met separately with the Center for Student Programming, which houses the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Relations. They are working through a lengthy process to become officially recognized by UCLA, although they applied to the Multi-Interest Greek Council, so they went through a different process than a traditional Panhellenic sorority, Troy Bartels, Greek advisor in the Center for Student Programming, said.
“We encourage them to spend a year with the CSP (Center for Student Programming) to understand the proper procedure. … Once they get established through policies and procedures … then they can apply for council status through the respective Greek council,” Bartels said.
The group also differs from the typical Panhellenic sorority in holding Jewish religious and cultural events in addition to normal sisterhood activities, though the group is non-exclusive and has one non-Jewish and many half-Jewish members, Rafii said.
She said that in the past, they have worked with Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters, volunteered in soup kitchens, planned discussions at Hillel, held date parties, and baked challah, a traditional braided egg bread.
Rafii said through activities fairs, Hillel and word of mouth, other girls heard about the unofficial sorority and their rush pool has grown. In the beginning, the Hillel organization provided the girls with some funding and a place to hold meetings, Simon said.
“Hillel is what got us started,” she said.
Now they number about 50 girls, and are holding an invite-only spring rush in order to control their growth, Rafii said.
The group is not yet recognized by UCLA, and must retain student group status and the name “Jewish Unofficial Sorority Yes!” in campus events, such as fall rush, Simon said.
“They’re not officially called that (Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi). They’re called JUSY, the Jewish Unofficial Sorority Yes!” Bartels said.
Bartels said the members are working with a national organization, and are going to become official in February.
Though colonies usually have to wait three quarters to become initiated as full chapters, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi has accelerated the process for the UCLA group to span two quarters, Simon said.
“Because of the rate of expansion, it was important for it to become official,” Rafii said.