Sorority recruitment growth added stress to the selection process

First-year Chloe Fagin hugs senior Katie Conklin, vice president of membership, after she flew home to Pi Beta Phi (Photo courtesy of Summer Cameron, Pi Beta Phi’s vice president of communication).

Pepperdine University’s Panhellenic Council saw a record-breaking 326 women register to join a sorority.

This year’s recruitment process made it more competitive for girls to get a bid from one of the seven sororities on campus. Participants reported more stress, but in reality, only 10 more women than last year registered and roughly the same percentage dropped out.

“In the end, everything is meant to be,” said Josie Lionetti, sophomore broadcast journalism and political science major. “If girls didn’t get a bid then something better for them is on the other side.”

The Panhellenic Council initially increased sororities quotas to 45 women to accommodate the higher registration numbers, but women still dropped out if they didn’t get the chapters they wanted. Perceptions of overcrowding and high-pressure stakes left many students feeling overwhelmed.

Perception of overcrowding

Even with only 10 more women rushing than last year, it still impacted the recruitment process.

“I think it made it hard because not every girl was placed in a sorority that they want to be in,” said Blair Bonifield, junior integrated marketing communication major. “Having more people always makes it more hectic and crazy, a lot of names are coming in the room and it’s a lot to keep up with.”

Greek Life Coordinator Allison Green said 30 to 32 percent of women are involved in Greek life each semester.

“So many freshmen were accepted to Pepperdine this year, which made it difficult on both sides of the rush process,” senior advertising major Megan Dell’Amico said. “It limited the number of bids we were able to give out each night.”

The number of potential new members that a chapter can offer bids to during recruitment is based on quotas. Green said the Panhellenic Council determines quotas by dividing the number of women participating in recruitment by the number of chapters. Pepperdine Panhellenic rules tells chapters the quota they can accept.

At Pepperdine, every woman is able to be matched with a sorority if they stay in the process, just not necessarily each woman’s top choice. Women drop from the process when they don’t get the desired chapters they want.

When women drop from the process, the Panhellenic Council lowers the quota to match the number of women left because the chapter sizes can’t be too big.

Women attend five nights of recruitment events to meet with and learn more about the chapters. As the days go on, women decline sororities and sororities decline participants. The sixth night is bid night, when women receive a bid from a chapter.

Dropping and getting dropped

In 2016, 316 women rushed, 201 received bids and 98 withdrew themselves from the process.

“The quota allowed for 25 women to join each chapter,” Green said.

This year, 326 women registered for recruitment, 104 dropped themselves from recruitment and 207 received bids.

“They say trust the system,” said Jacqueline Schott, first-year integrated marketing communication major. “Certain people end up where they want to be, but it doesn’t work for everyone.”

Green said 222 women attended preference night, the last round of events.   

“The girls that aren’t in sororities are still happy and might rush again, but I know for a time it was painful,” said Lily Piekos, first-year integrated marketing communication major and member of Delta Gamma.

Not everyone will stay and go through the process in the end.

“It is a tough process,” Lionetti said. “People need to be open minded, but it’s sad for those girls that don’t get a sorority experience.”

In the rush room, group dynamics mean that sororities are deciding who to keep based on attachments made in moments, Sociology Professor Robin Perrin said.

“In this process of meeting women you are forming friendships and making connections,” Perrin said. “Some of these friendships will extend outside of these greetings. The saddest part for women that drop out is that they are less connected and not in networks, so their relationships are likely to be passed over.”

Sorority rush is a lot like speed dating versus fraternity rush.

Some active sorority members and pledges wish that sorority rush could be different.

“I personally wish the rush process wasn’t just a series of five-minute conversations with just a few people in a room,” Bonifield said. “I kind of wish we did it more how fraternities did their rush. I wish we could spend more organic time with people. I wish that we could just go to the beach with ya’ll and hangout with ya’ll as regular friends do and get to know each other. I think that would be really really beneficial for girls’ rush.”

Fraternity rush involves chapters getting together and really getting to know potential pledges by hanging out at events for an hour and a half. There are usually five or six events that involve activities such as soccer, dodgeball and golf.

Sororities don’t always meet people’s expectations.

“I dropped a month after bid day because being in a sorority adds a lot of stress,” said Abby Battin, a first-year undecided major. “It is very time consuming and not all of us have that time. I’m involved in intramural volleyball and different clubs too.”

Data courtesy Greek Life Coordinator Allison Green.

Expanding quotas/getting new chapters

Pepperdine is home to seven chapters with 60 to 80 women in each, but Greek Life is small compared to other universities.

The University of Southern California has 11 panhellenic chapters and 1,866 women are in sororities. The university doesn’t release chapter size. Chapman University has eight sororities and 176 women on average are in each chapter. Loyola Marymount University has seven sororities and about 99 women are in each chapter.

“It would be incredible to add more chapters,” Bonifield said. “There are a lot of chapters that are missing here that other schools have.”

To help more women find their home and give them an opportunity to be in a sorority, some students want to expand the chapters.

“I would personally love to accept a larger quota of 40-50 girls per pledge class,” Dell’Amico said. “I know Delta Gamma specifically would love to have more girls. More friends, more sisters, why not?”

Others don’t think that Pepperdine should expand the quota and add new chapters.

“We currently do not have the numbers to bring a new sorority to our campus and have all chapters recruit to full capacity,” Green said.

Green said all but one sorority made full quota. She declined to confirm which chapters did or did not because she said it is private chapter data.

“I think it’s good the way it is because there’s already so much diversity in each sorority,” said Tasia Geotas, first-year liberal arts education major. “It is not necessary but it could have a positive outcome.”

Others think the smaller the chapter the better.

“I think 25 is a good size pledge class because it allows everyone to get close,” Lionetti said. “With more girls it’s harder to become friends with everyone.”

Advantages and disadvantages of grade levels

First-years are typically the biggest rush class, but they don’t always have an advantage over upperclassmen.

“Sometimes I think older girls have an advantage,” Bonifield said. “I know a few girls who had rushed before, dropped and rushed this year that knew a bunch of girls in the room, so it was a very comfortable experience for them.”

During rush, active members meet so many women that they don’t have the time to get to know them well, so having an introduction that first-years don’t have benefits potential new members. However, the quota systems saves more slots for younger students.

“There’s a primary quota pool of freshman and sophomores and a secondary pool of juniors and seniors, so it doesn’t impact one’s chances to get a bid,” Dell’Amico said.

Pressure

A lot of women go into rush with an idea of what sororities they want.

“We follow certain sororities on Instagram, see their posts, and know that certain girls are more well-known in the sororities,” Lionetti said. “I think that gives us preconceived notions of what we want.”

Sororities can make women feel insecure during the rush process.

“I hate the thought that some people go through rush and feel unaccepted by people because they are getting cut from sororities,” Bonifield said. “I think the process can make people feel unwanted. You end up leaving feeling like they didn’t want you.”

A lot of women want their sorority to define their social standing.

“Sororities are not the end all be all,” Bonifield said. “I think it’s funny how I’m in a sorority and  love it so much and am friends with people in other sororities, so I don’t think that anyone should be finding their identity in a sorority.”

Left to right: (First row) First-years Lexa Risjad, Alex Pann, Olivia Plank, Jax Lecourt, Eve Gay and Emory Ritsco; (Second row) first-year Grace Barton, senior Jessica Rollins, senior Daryn Sinclair, senior Megan Dell’Amico, sophomore Erika Hoang, senior Morgan Arnett, junior Giuliana Roggero, senior Hunter Chancellor and sophomore Riley Yeary all found their home in Delta Gamma (Photo courtesy of Megan Dell’Amico).

 

Bid Day feels

Bid day is the happiest day in the recruitment process when women find their home in the chapter they love.

“I wouldn’t rush anywhere other than Pepperdine,” Piekos said. “I love that it’s small here and focused more on sisterhood and philanthropy.”

Battin added that Pepperdine makes rush a good experience because students get to meet a bunch of women and everyone is friendly in the rush room.

“Even if you don’t join one in the end you got to make friendships,” Battin said. “It was a fun experience.”

Miranda Battaglia completed the reporting for this story under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield and Dr. Theresa de los Santos in Jour 241 in fall 2017. Dr. Littlefield oversaw the web story.