In mid-October, the Colgate Bookstore will receive its first shipments of Greek apparel. The Bookstore will sell apparel and various other items sporting the symbols of Colgate’s nine Greek organizations.

“We’re really trying to give the Bookstore a facelift,” Director of Off-Campus Retail Operations Leslie Pasco said. 

All Greek goods will be in a ‘Greek Store’ on the second floor of the bookstore. The space currently holds electronics, water bottles and various other Colgate-related odds and ends, but it will all be moved to accommodate design changes and the new lines of goods. This change follows the addition of products on the first level of the Bookstore that include culinary products from the students of Morrisville State College, high-end jewelry and apparel, including the North Face brand. Another section of the first floor will also be revamped as part of the aesthetic changes this year at the Bookstore.

Only students who can prove their affiliation to a Greek organization will be able to buy that organization’s goods, and each organization will have different products available. Pasco explained that she is working with each fraternity and sorority on an individual basis to find which products and designs would suit each organization. 

Pasco said she was delighted by the high response from all Greek organizations. Each organization is slated to have at least 20 unique items on sale, with Theta Chi Fraternity having the longest list.

Student reaction regarding the inclusion of Greek items in the Bookstore was mostly positive. 

“The Bookstore is providing high-quality merchandise with lots of options to choose from. It’s cool that there will be a whole section of the bookstore dedicated to Greek apparel, with everything from mugs to bathrobes,” Theta Chi Fraternity Apparel Committee member junior Jordan Shenker said.

“It will allow for continuity among Greek members because you could have the same sweatshirt as an alumna from 10 years ago. It will also be great because the Bookstore will have access to huge distributors that single sorority chapters don’t, so it will make ordering clothing a cheaper and more seamless process,” Financial Vice President of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority junior Elaina Atallah-Yunes said. 

“We have listened to the community for years, and now we’re giving them what they want,” Pasco said.

Pasco hopes that the convenience of the Bookstore, along with its new look, will draw in people around the area and create a more closely-knit community.