The Inter-Sorority Council saw a decrease in the number of girls involved in this year’s formal Spring Rush process in contrast to previous years, during which a steady increase in participation had been observed.
ISC President Stuart Berkeley said 819 women registered for recruitment this year, about 785 of whom began the recruitment process and about 540 of whom received bids or snap bids, which are invitations to join a sorority that did not meet its recruitment quota after initial bids were accepted or denied. Those numbers represent a slight but meaningful decline from last year, said Ashleigh Carson, ISC vice president for recruitment, who also noted that open recruitment will continue to take place at a number of houses that still have openings.
Last year, 603 of the 829 women registered to rush received bids.
Before this year, Carson said the number of women rushing had been increasing significantly from year to year.
“Last year it seemed to reach its peak,” Carson said.
To learn more about the reasons for this year’s lower participation rate, the ISC will complete a post-recruitment evaluation, said Michael Citro, assistant dean of fraternity and sorority life. Part of this evaluation will involve looking at reasons why individuals chose to join or not join sororities, Citro added, noting that, “the ISC evaluates the recruitment process on an annual basis in an effort to better the process and the experience for both chapters and new members.”
Reasons for decreased participation may include the recent economic downturn, Berkeley said, although financial constraints are always a concern when women are considering whether to join a sorority.
“Sorority expenses can be tough — especially new member fees — and that is why the ISC is hoping to expand our offerings,” Berkeley said, adding that ISC scholarships are something the next ISC executive board will look to develop.
These scholarships would complement scholarships already in place within individual chapters, Berkeley said, and would aim to offset some of the cost of joining a Greek organization.
Berkeley noted, though, that the exact amount of sorority expenses that the potential scholarship might cover is still undecided.
“We would hope to have what we are prepared to offer by the end of this semester,” she added.
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