Brothers of Kappa Sigma Colony Montclair State University founders.
Photo courtesy of Kappa Sigma Fraternity
Montclair State University’s Greek community is 37 strong, growing swiftly and becoming stronger by the day.
Through the colonization of five organization in the last year alone, Montclair State Greek Life is looking to expand to an even larger community and welcome more students into their Greek family.
Emily Cordero, the Coordinator for Greek Life commented on the Greek expansion trend, saying, “I want to continue to expand and grow our community. New organizations give students more places to choose from and a larger opportunity to join the Greek community and find a home.”
The current Greek colonies at Montclair State are Sigma Phi Rho, Delta Sigma Iota, Alpha Chi Rho, Kappa Sigma and Alpha Phi Delta.
Jaden Jackson, a Junior and brother of Alpha Chi Rho colony was asked about advice he would give campus students if they were looking to colonize an organization: “Do it. Ignore how long it might take and that people might not like you or take to you at first. Just go for it. This campus is more receptive than people give it credit [for] and it will allow you to create something bigger than yourself. With the support of this community and my brothers, I have a family even though my biological family is miles away.”
For some organizations, colonizing is an opportunity for them to bring back an organization that had once been a member of the MSU community, but has since become inactive.
Joshua Crespo, a Junior and brother of the Sigma Phi Rho colony, is a member of an organization that is recolonizing and bringing back a brotherhood that once existed on Montclair State’s campus. When asked about the recent revitalization of his organization, he said, “I want to show our alumni that we are starting fresh, but we want them to know that we care about the organization and that they can count on us to bring it back and make it just as strong as the organization they became a part of.”
Revitalization is not easy, however. “Being a colony is a lot of work and you have to have the dedication and work ethic to stay on top of everything,” Crespo said. “In the end, I don’t even want to think about not being colonized. The work is worth it.”
Jackson said “Last year, we had 130 students show up to the [colonies] event when we expected only 30. We want as many people to see how unified our Greek community is and our biggest goal is to reach every outlet on campus with this event. People who live on campus, commuters, Greeks, athletes, everyone is welcome and we encourage people to not only get to know the colonies, but the whole Greek community.”
To meet some of the colonies at Montclair State University, visit the Greek Affairs page on HawkSync and read up on their “Camping With the Colonies” event.
