There were a record 185 participants in last month's sorority recruitment, reflecting a growing interest in Greek life over the past several years at Tufts. That figure is up from 172 in 2011 and 166 in 2010, according to Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Su McGlone.
118 girls ultimately received bids, with Alpha Phi giving out 39, Chi Omega giving out 35 and Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi) giving out 44, according to McGlone.
McGlone said she is not surprised about the growing number of participants.
"Membership in fraternities and sororities is on a nationwide increase," McGlone said. "The organizations are making a stronger move to focus on their values and to help students find a home away from home on campus, things that today's college students are looking for."
Chi Omega President Linzy Prudden also offered an explanation for the increased popularity in Greek life.
"Maybe the chapters have been doing a better job at marketing and letting people know about events, but overall I think it's just that Greek life has been getting more popular in general," Prudden, a sophomore, said.
McGlone added that in spite of the high level of interest, the sororities still used the guaranteed bid system, which has been in place for more than a decade.
"Anyone who fully participates in the process would be guaranteed a bid somewhere in the community, but not necessarily a bid to the organization of her choice," McGlone explained.
Although prospective members might not have gotten into their favorite sorority, Tufts Panhellenic Council President Gianna Wilkie believes they were generally pleased.
"Most girls seemed really happy with the bids they got," Wilkie, a senior, said.
The high level of satisfaction among participants is in large part due to the mutual selection process, a computer system that matches girls with their preferred sororities and sororities with their favorite prospective members, according to McGlone.
Over the past couple of years, the Panhellenic Council has been discussing the option of adding a fourth sorority to meet the growing demand in Greek affairs, according to Wilkie, who believes that the sorority would likely be established within the next two years.
Wilkie added that since McGlone filled the vacant position of Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs last fall, talks have progressed, though the Panhellenic Council would first need approval from the National Panhellenic Conference to bring a fourth sorority to the Hill.
McGlone said the process for adding a fourth sorority would last around a year.
The Panhellenic Council responded to the increase in Greek life popularity during last fall's recruitment by raising the total number of members allowed in each sorority, according to Wilkie.
"We hadn't raised the total in a long time, but it was raised this fall, which allowed AOPi and Alpha Phi to recruit some more girls in the fall," she said.
Only AOPi and Alpha Phi were able to host fall recruitment because Chi Omega membership exceeded that of the other two, according to Wilkie.
"All three sororities need to be similar in size and have similar classes for each year," she explained. "Once that happens, I say we'd have a good chance of starting to look at extension and forming a committee to begin the whole process of establishing a new sorority at Tufts."
Now that participants have accepted their bids, the new member period has begun and will last six to eight weeks, according to McGlone.
"It's a really fun time for them to learn more about their organization and what it's founded on," she said.
