Greeks felt the loss of former Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Todd Sullivan during their rush this year, but saw a successful recruitment period despite a dip in student participation.
Though the volume of students rushing was down overall, the period proceeded largely without mishap. Sorority recruitment ran from Feb. 3 through Feb. 10 this year, and fraternity rush was Feb.5 though Feb. 14.
Sullivan, who was appointed in 2003 as minister to a system that was then destabilized by pledge violations, left last year for a similar post at the University of Connecticut.
"I feel that the Greek system as a whole has suffered greatly from the loss of the [director]," sophomore and Sigma Phi Epsilon President Per Sandell said.
Sophomore Jessica Lynn Snow, an Alpha Omicron Pi (AOP) member and the public relations chair for the Inter-Greek Council (IGC), called recruitment this year without Sullivan "extremely difficult."
"There's a lot of things that he took care of that we didn't realize," she said.
Sandell said that Sig Ep recruitment numbers were down this year, but that last year's numbers were particularly high and would have been hard to beat regardless. A dip in Greek zeal might not be unique to Tufts but part of a broader trend away from involvement, Sandell said.
"Enthusiasm [to rush] is down in general; I've talked to other presidents and they feel the same way. There's a negative stigma building nationwide," he said.
Senior Rich Matulewicz, rush chair for Theta Delta Chi (123) this semester, reported an enrollment of 17 new members this spring, down from 25 members last spring.
Snow was more enthusiastic about this year's Panhellenic recruitment for Tufts' three sororities.
"We were worried at first because we had very low numbers coming through, but those few people were really committed to being in a sorority," she said.
Snow compared last year's results to this year's, saying that while last year AOP was able to offer 23 bids, only 10 people committed. This year, however, they offered only 19 bids and had 16 commit.
But rush wasn't the only place where Sullivan was missed.
For example, Snow cited organizational problems surrounding a Greek leadership retreat for this past weekend that Sullivan scheduled last year. "We realized this week we hadn't registered yet," she said, stressing that Sullivan would likely have kept them better informed.
Sullivan's post, as well as a study conducted in 2005 by independent consultant Thomas Jelke, came in response to a system which in the past has been ridden with alcohol violations and injurious underage drinking.
"The relationship needs improvement from both sides," Snow said. "There are definitely amends we need to make. We've made some huge mistakes as a system in the past couple years.
"Unfortunately, a lot of the mistakes were more chapter-specific, and yet the entire system felt the heat from the administration," she said.
The administration might have made a hire to fill the position over the summer, but was intent on soliciting student input during the hiring process.
James Ryan, a coordinator for programs and special projects and the interim staff member in charge of Greek life, said that he and Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman put together a "Greek working group" that helped write the job description for the position.
Despite the complaints from Greek members, Ryan said that the students in the working group "were glad they [administrators] waited" to hire the new director so they could be involved in the process.
Beyond that, in Sullivan's absence Snow said that working directly with the administration has fostered a more effective and candid partnership.
"I would say that the problem was more confusion than animosity," she said. "After working very closely with the administration this semester, I think very highly of them. There's clearly still support for the Greek system from the administration. We just didn't really know that."
According to Reitman, the pool of applicants for Sullivan's position has been narrowed down to three people, who will each visit Tufts shortly. He told the Daily that Tufts hopes to make an offer by the middle of March.
