More bids offered
Frats and sororities saw more interest in Greek life
Both fraternities and sororities saw more interest in Greek life this year and gave out slightly more bids.
More men participated in rush this year, and fraternities extended more bids — even as two fraternities were expelled from Rush. A total of 470 bids were extended to 367 men, compared to 437 bids to 338 men last year.
Fewer women registered for Recruitment at the outset this year, but four more stuck through the process to receive a bid. This year, 340 women participated, and 196 received bids; last year, 359 participated, and 192 received bids.
According to Spencer J. Parra ’11, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) recruitment chair, fraternities have actually been operating below occupancy, and so many have been trying to increase their membership.
Two fraternities, Beta Theta Pi and Phi Beta Epsilon (PBE) are currently undergoing judiciary procedures by the IFC for violations, were not allowed to extend bids. Last year, PBE had the largest pledge class out of all the fraternities. PBE had a class of 23 brothers while other fraternities averaged a class of 9.7 brothers. This year, all fraternities allowed to rush had an average freshman class of 10.7 brothers.
Men who rushed received on average 1.28 bids, about the same as last year, when the average was 1.29. Women may not receive bids from multiple sororities, and all women who complete the entire 4-day recruitment process are guaranteed a bid.
Trends in choosing where to rush and when to pledge changed slightly from the year before. According to Parra, more freshmen decided to begin the day by rushing on-campus fraternities on the first day of rush and going to off-campus fraternities at night, a reversal of past patterns.
Additionally, Parra said, “across the board, I hear that freshmen are waiting longer to pledge.” So far, 257 of the 367 men offered bids have accepted.