Panhellenic Council representatives and sorority presidents said last night that prospective members of the proposed seventh sorority will not have to go through the formal rush process, but will be able to join on a first come, first serve basis.
Members of Panhell, the governing body of the College's six sororities, discussed the rush process and the formation of the new sorority with a group of about 40 freshmen women last night.
A formal sign-up will be held on April 24 for all women interested in becoming members of the new sorority.
"The first 50 or so women to sign up will be invited to form the sorority," said Panhell Vice President Marcie Handler '97.
Panhell President Jess Russo '97 said 50 members is just an arbitrary number, based on the number of members who signed up to form Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority three years ago.
"The number of women forming the sorority will be based on how much interest there is," Russo said.
One of the sorority's first decisions will be whether to apply for local or national recognition, Russo said.
The new members will also have to find a permanent location for their sorority next fall.
The six existing sororities have pledged their support of the seventh.
"We will allow the new sorority to have activities and programming at our houses," President of KDE Joanna Whitley '97 said. "And we'll also guide the sorority through the different aspects of life."
Russo said that existing sororities are simply too large.
The average size of a fraternity pledge class is about 20, while the size of the average sorority pledge class is 40, she said.
"That makes the sororities so large, that you can't possibly know everyone," Russo said. "The largest fraternity has 80 members, and there is one that will only have nine members this fall. The largest sorority has 120 members."
While the numbers of males and females rushing are nearly equivalent, their representation in terms of houses is not. "There are 17 fraternities and six sororities on campus," Russo said.
"It is a really great opportunity for the '99s," Whitley said.
"There are no precedents with a new sorority, and they'll be able to be really creative and pioneer. They'll also be working very closely and will get to know each other well."
After the discussion, an informal, non-binding list was made available for prospective members to express their interest.
"I'm was very excited to see so many women sign their names to the informal list tonight," Russo said. "It's a great encouragement for us."
Kerry Bystrom '99, who attended last night's meeting, said the idea of creating a new house was very exciting and bypassing the rush process was appealing.
"We won't have to deal with the 'we want you, we don't want you' attitude of the rush process," she said.
