Delta Gamma sorority's alternate rush plan failed to meet its members' expectations last term, enticing only seven new members to join the house.
Last term in an attempt to reverse a trend of falling membership, DG held an information session for members of the Class of 1998, 30 of whom could then sign up to join DG and avoid rushing in the fall.
The information session was the first phase of an alternate rush plan, according to DG President Abbey Henderson '96.
DG's information session attracted 11 women, seven of whom decided to join, Henderson said.
Henderson said she thought the first phase went well.
"It's been great so far," she said. "The information session was very successful and hopefully we'll just build on that."
In the spring of 1993, Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority successfully took over the failing Xi Kappa Chi sorority when 50 women primarily from the Class of 1996 agreed to join KDE.
Henderson said bad timing was partly to blame for the partial success of the first phase.
"But the session came at a bad time," Henderson said. "It was the same night as a Women In Science Program session and it was close to finals. I got blitzes from women who said that they were interested, but couldn't make it to the information session."
The details of the second phase are still being worked out with the Panhellenic Council and DG's national organization, Henderson said. But the second phase will combine DG's alternate rush with the kind of formal rush the other sororities hold Fall term.
"We're hoping to keep the list open, but incorporate it into rush," Henderson said.
DG Summer President Kim Papa '97 said she thought some of the women who came to the session but decided not to join DG this spring had questions about whether or not they wanted to join the Greek system at all.
"A bunch of them decided they wanted the summer to think about it," she said.
Papa said she thought the alternative rush was a good way to improve membership because it offered women an option to avoid rush.
DG member Vicky Martinez '97 said she is looking forward to getting to know her new sisters.
"I'm very excited," she said. "I think it will be really nice to have more sisters in the house."
Martinez said she thinks this form of alternate rush is the best way to improve membership.
"It is definitely one of the best ways we could think of," she said. "It's better than holding rush every term."
She said this kind of block rushing made the experience less frightening because women could join the house with all of their friends.
"The only reason I ended up in a house was because I did it with friends," Martinez said. "It's nice not to haveto worry about the process, because rush can be scary."
