Greek recruitment numbers increase at SU, nationally
Syracuse University sororities explain the details of the 2010 recruitment process, which begins Thursday evening. The Panhellenic Council, an umbrella organization for campus sororities, said it expects to see an increase in recruits as compared to last year.
Recruitment Week for Syracuse University’s greek sorority system will officially begin Thursday. Fraternities begin their recruitment Feb. 13.
Anne McCarthy, a senior public relations major and vice president of communications for SU’s chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, said the number of students recruited will be at least as high, if not higher, than the 700 students recruited last year.
Sorority recruitment numbers have been record-breaking in the past, said Kris Bridges, chairwoman of the College Panhellenics Committee. Last year, there were 259,520 undergraduate members of the National PanHellenic Conference, with a record 90,704 new members, Bridges said.
Fraternities across the country have been experiencing similar trends. Membership in the North-American Interfraternity Conference has increased each year since 1998, said Pete Smithhisler, president and chief executive officer of the NIC. Approximately 350,000 undergraduates are apart of one of the 73 member organizations in the Interfraternity Conference present on more than 800 campuses across the country, Smithhisler said.
SU’s chapter of the IFC declined to comment on its recruitment numbers for this article.
The national and SU increases in recruitment are turnarounds since greek life membership slumped in the 1990s, Smithhisler said.
‘I think there were a lot of societal factors that impacted joining, and I think the cohort of students in college then was considered less likely to join,’ said Smithhisler. ‘Today we have the millennial generation in college, and before that was the X Generation. The X Generation was considered less likely to join groups and more focused on individual growth.’
Students continue to join the greek system for individual growth, but the ability to grow alongside your brothers and sisters and acquire valuable life skills is what really draws them to the system, Smithhisler said.
‘The opportunity to interact with, live with and work with a diverse group of students, (and) the transferable life skills that one receives as a result of joining a fraternity are key to success in your future life,’ he said. ‘Fraternities help make large campuses smaller, and folks are able to find a core group of friends that become family.’
Emily Becker, a freshman political science and public policy major, is one of the increasing number of students joining SU’s greek system. Becker said the promise of a core group of friends means the time in a sorority will be more than well spent.
‘You know how you’re supposed to make your friends in college and they’re going to be there for you all your life?’ Becker said. ‘It’s kind of like that. It’s a sisterhood, and I like that.’
Published on January 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Contact Lorne: lefulton@syr.edu
