NIU now has a greek system with 10 sorority chapters after Phi Beta Chi sorority received chapter status from its national chapter Feb. 11.

Phi Beta Chi President Kathy Ryan said the sorority has about 30 active members and 11 pledges. Ryan said the sorority needed 30 actives to achieve chapter status.

“We want to keep building and getting stronger. Rush went pretty good, but Spring Rush is never as good as Fall Rush,” she said.

The sorority hopes to participate in Formal Rush in the fall, Ryan said.

“I think because we’re a small house the unity is really strong. The girls get along great. I hope this continues in the future,” she said.

The sorority began as a colony on April 17, 1988, Ryan said. Ann Chapman, a “founding father” of the NIU chapter, said the interest group began in the spring of 1988.

Chapman said an alumni chapter of the sorority in the area wanted to start a colony at NIU. She said 17 women were initiated on April 17, 1988, but the group “lost people over the summer.”

In the fall of 1988, the colony had four members and three of them became actives, Chapman said. “It was a hard struggle from there,” she said.

“Obviously, it’s (the sorority) grown in numbers. We’ve grown individually and as a house together. You can really feel the sisterhood,” Chapman said.

“Chapterization was a big step for us. It’s a big thing for our national chapter and us,” she said.

yan said the sorority will try to get a house on Greek Row in the fall of 1991.