Ju11iol's Morie-Pierre Locoss a11d Kutrirw i1·eir, and sophomore \Jurisu Htl'iny jerseys so{)homo,·e Presley Nixon to welcome her to the club on Auq. 2..J. Members jel'seyed thC'il' six 11cw sisters aftC'r club 111<.!C'tings. I Photo by Owen Brnwn Freshnwn ,\lex Petty. S0pho11w1·e Bre1111a Castlebcn·y undfl'eshnwn Sydney Duckdsjoin in u11 the cheel'ing as the nzemhers of Deltcz Nu welcome them inlo the club. Della !Vi, ·s nume W<lS inspired by the fil111 "l.egully Bln11de." I Pholo by Owen Brown This year, women's social dub Delta Nu accepted six jumps, or new members switching from their original dubs and bypassing the traditional induction process. Freshmen Alex Petty and Sydney Duckels, sophomores Brenna Castleberry and Presley Nixon, junior Amanda Floyd and senior Katy Wilkerson made the decision to jump feeling they could better connect with the members of Delta Nu than to their original dubs. Six was the most jumps a single dub had accepted within a year in over five years according to data provided by Assistant Dean of Students Kara Abston. No dub had surpassed four accepted jumps since 2010. The incoming members came from four different women's social clubs: Delta Gamma Rho, Phi Kappa Delta, Pi Theta Phi and Zeta Rho. Members of Delta Nu found the large number of jumps as a happy surprise. Senior Iliana Gonzalez had been in the club for three years when the jumping of the new members occurred. "I think we were all shocked at that many jumps but excited too," Gonzalez said. "They've helped our name grow and they've been really active and excited B11 Claire Hl'.[/fry J,foeghen Cal't<'I' about being in our club." The jump process varied from club to dub as defined in their constitutions. Senior Delta Nu president Janae Mock said women who wanted to jump were required to write a letter to be read aloud during a dub meeting. After reading the letters, the members voted either for or against each prospective jump. "Delta Nu is whatever the girls of Delta Nu want it to be," Mock said. "It's where I found home on Harding's campus, so I'm really glad that other girls feel the same way." Junior Bridget Casey, who joined Delta Nu in the induction class of 2013, believes the club's unique jumping procedure largely attributed to the number of jumps accepted. "A lot of girls would be unwilling to (go through the induction process) again," Casey said. "So I'm glad we get these girls we would otherwise miss out on." Wilkerson jumped to Delta Nu as a senior. Living in a suite with one Delta Nu member and two Delta Nu jumps, she said almost all of her friends were already members of the dub. "One of my hesitations and why it took me so long was that I still wanted to have that loyalty to my first club CL l' B FE .\ Tl' HE fi I because yes, I did pick this club in the beginning," Wilkerson said. "With it being my last semester, I thought to myself, I want to be where I feel most comfortable, where I fit in, and make my last semester count." The members welcomed the jumps in a style similar to traditional "beauing," surprising the women and cheering while putting a jersey on each new member. The jumps wore their club jerseys the following day to represent and to celebrate their new sisterhood. "(The current members) called four of us to the Administration building and came running out of nowhere and jumped us with jerseys and hugged us screaming 'Welcome to the club!"' Petty said. Wilkerson said she enjoyed the club's genuine enthusiasm in person and through positive comments on her social media posts. Petty said she jumped in the fall of 2015 because she got along better with that year's induction class but felt welcomed by all of her new sisters. "Yes, not every dub will take in jumps, and some would have to (rejoin), but I like that it's not a bad thing to change your mind later on," Petty said.
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