Recruitment for many sororities and fraternities on campus ended before classes began, and enrollment is slightly less than last fall. Lower participation could be a direct result of the University’s decreased enrollment, a Greek official said. Catherine Harper, administrative coordinator for the Office of Greek Affairs, said the involvement in sorority rush, which saw an 8 percent drop, is lower because the possible participation pool is smaller. “There are 736 girls participating this year, and there will not be any more girls recruited,” Harper said. “The deadline for potential members to sign up was July 28.” Harper said a little more than 800 women participated last year. “Of course there is not a set amount of girls who we let participate, but the numbers are proportionate to the University’s enrollment rate,” Harper said. Interfraternity Council adviser Jonathan Sanders said the fraternities are in a similar situation with their participation numbers. Sanders said that as of Aug. 17, a week before the deadline to register, about 300 men signed up to participate in fraternity rush. “Last year’s numbers were about 411 participants,” said Sanders. “So the numbers are down about 8 percent this year.” Sanders said the interfraternity organizations are trying to recruit at least 100 more members. “We have extended the sign-up date a little further than usual,” Sanders said. The deadline for sign-up was Aug. 24. Sanders said the extended deadline was an effort to increase participation. “Just like any other organization, we don’t want to see our numbers decrease,” Sanders said. “We want our organizations to grow.” Both Harper and Sanders said the decreased enrollment rate will not adversely affect funding for the organizations this year, but some adjustments will have to be made to next year’s budget. “IFC collects money from the members, so if numbers are down, it could have an effect on the money and budget for next year,” Sanders said. “But this year’s budget is already in place.” Valencia Walls, the National Pan-Hellenic Council adviser, said participation numbers for the traditionally black Greek organizations have not been determined because recruitment takes place in the spring semester. “The activity and recruitment schedules for the NPHC organizations are due Sep. 1,” Walls said.
—–Contact Garesia Randle at [email protected]