The Office of Student Affairs at Stanford University has granted approval to Alpha Epsilon Phi, a traditionally Jewish sorority, to become the sixth Inter-Sorority Council member beginning this fall. The sorority is due to open a chapter on campus beginning in the fall semester.

“We are so excited to bring this to Stanford, since we have been working on getting approved for months.” said Molly Weiss ‘09, who plans to be an AEPhi officer next year. “We really hope to have a strong presence and become as well known as the other five ISC sororities.”

AEPhi joins five other sanctioned sororities at the University, of which Kappa Alpha Theta, Pi Beta Phi and Delta Delta Delta are housed and Kappa Kappa Gamma and Chi Omega are unhoused.

“We felt that there was not a place for Jewish women in the current Greek system on campus,” Weiss said. “While there are certainly Jewish women in the other sororities, [AEPhi] will provide a real home.”

While the new sorority may seem nearly identical in ideology to AEPi, the campus’ Jewish fraternity, Weiss was clear that the women of AEPhi “do not want to be seen as simply the fraternity’s female counterparts.”

Unlike the fraternity, AEPhi will not be exclusively Jewish and has several prospective members who are not Jewish. The sorority’s organizers do, however, plan to hold some events with AEPi, in addition to other fraternities on campus.

There are currently fifteen sisters in the chapter, and the sorority expects a pledge class of at least that many next year when it is eligible to participate in the formal rush process.