Towson University will welcome Alpha Epsilon Phi, a predominantly Jewish sorority, on campus in the next academic year.

AEPhi made its pitch to an audience composed of members of the Student Government Association, Activity Board members and perspective sisters last Monday.

The National Panhellenic Association, which had previously decided on the possibility of allowing another sorority on campus, along with Towson’s Panhellenic extension committee, voted and agreed Alpha Epsilon Phi would be a good fit for the campus.

AEPhi will absorb members of the female Jewish interest group, Achot, who formed with the intention of bringing a Jewish sorority to Towson’s campus.

The members will then have a ribboning ceremony, officially declaring the group a colony of AEPhi, and work on becoming a chartered chapter at Towson through the usual recruitment process. Stacey Cohen, current president of Achot, will continue on as chapter president until the colony holds elections in the upcoming fall semester. Achot will no longer exist when AEPhi comes to campus, but Cohen says that it won’t matter.

“To me, we aren’t leaving Achot behind,” she said. “We are growing and becoming stronger, and Alpha Epsilon Phi coming is just the next step … we already feel like a family and I am sure the future is going to be great.”

All of the sisters of Achot, as well as any new members initiated in the fall, will go through an education program brought in by the national organization.

“There’s [also] a summer leadership training that the recruitment chair will be a part of and they’re going to learn how to do a formal recruitment process on campus … the national organization is going to bring in the necessary publicity and train the current members,” Alison Levine, director of engagement for Towson Hillel, said.

Levine played a large role in bringing the two organizations together and said she received a positive reaction from the student body.

“It’s taken a little while, but the campus seems on board,” she said.

Any Towson University woman interested in joining the sorority is invited to join in the recruitment process next semester.