A new sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, will be joining Chico State in February.

Chico State has been looking for a new sorority for about a year, said Malcolm McLemore, program coordinator for fraternity and sorority affairs.

Once the decision was made to add a new sorority, a call went out to the National Panhellenic Conference, an organization of 26 nationally acclaimed sororities.

Alpha Omicron Pi won the bid and will begin rushing new members immediately after the rush week of Chico State’s established fraternities and sororities. Chico State’s rush week starts Feb. 5 and Alpha Omicron Pi will begin its rush on Feb. 11.

Members from the national council of Alpha Omicron Pi will come to Chico to choose members for the new chapter.

“It takes a special maturity to be a part of starting a new chapter” McLemore said.

Alpha Omicron Pi does not yet have a house but they have plans to acquire one and are in the process of searching, he said.

Greek life has been on a steady rise over the last five years. The average number of members in a sorority is 106, while the average for a fraternity is 33, McLemore said.

Chico State has approximately 1,200 students in all 18 campus recognized Greek organizations. McLemore said he expects that Alpha Omicron Pi will meet the average number of members.

“I think that because Chico has a number of leaders, they will not have a problem coming close to or matching that number,” McLemore said.

Alpha Omicron Pi was founded on Jan. 2, 1897, at Barnard College, New York. The sorority has over 190 chapters across the country with about 155,000 members.

Steven Verstelle can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.