Sorority Numbers Positive
Panhellenic Association Claims More Recruits Than Ever
Sororities gained 187 new members during a record recruitment this year. Thirty-six percent of freshmen women joined a sorority.
Even as Pi Beta Phi joined regular recruitment this year, each sorority that participated averaged 36–39 new members, up from 29–34 from last year.
The success, Panhel Recruitment VP Marta Lynne Milan ’10 said, was due in part to Panhel’s new publicity chairs. They were responsible for designing new posters, starting a new website for Panhel, and creating a recruitment video for the freshmen. Despite the new costs, the overall Panhel budget was cut by $200 this year.
New sorority Pi Beta Phi attracted 31 new members, bringing its membership up to 76 from just 45 last year.
AEPhi switched from formal to informal recruitment this year, changing from the structured five day process to a process that takes place over a few weeks. “[They] prefer to be a smaller sorority and stick to their Jewish heritage,” Milan said, adding that informal recruitment is better suited to a group with more specific interests.
Recruitment this year encountered some obstacles. The W20 student activities’ “Block Party,” which was held on the floors of W20 that were also being used for recruitment, affected the sororities’ schedule since it was “awkward” to have both sorority activities and the party going on at the same time, Milan said. Milan said that it “wasn’t a problem at all, just something we weren’t quite expecting.”
Panhel spends far less on recruitment than what the fraternities spend on their rush. The National Panhellenic Conference sets limits on what each sorority can spend.