Fraternities and sororities extended bids to 33 men and 87 women in winter recruitment this past week.
The Panhellenic Council, which governs the sorority rush process, held a week-long rush process, a process that ended Sunday with "Bid Acceptance Day." The Interfraternity Council held rush last weekend.
As of last Saturday, when women's recruitment began, 89 women entered rush, marking the highest turnout for winter rush since the main recruitment period was moved from Winter term to Fall term three years ago. Two women dropped out of the process, and another two were released before Preference Night, meaning they were not invited back to any of the sororities. All women who attended "Preference Night" received a bid to one of the houses they attended.
Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority extended bids to 14 women; Alpha Phi, 13; Delta Delta Delta, 13; Kappa Delta Epsilon, 13; Sigma Delta, 13; Alpha Xi Delta, 12; Kappa Kappa Gamma, 9.
Last winter, sororities extended bids to 43 women. Of the 45 women who entered the process then, two dropped out, with no women being released.
Winter sorority recruitment, like fall rush, involves three rounds held on five days throughout one week. Women attend all sororities during round one, return to up to four houses for round two, and may visit two houses on Preference Night. Since the majority of women choose to rush in the fall, some women feel that the small nature of winter recruitment makes it less chaotic and more personal.
"I didn't rush in the fall because it felt very intense, and I didn't want to do it just because everyone I knew was doing it," said Abi Ashcraft '09, a new member of AZD. "I'm so glad I waited until this winter because it was more relaxed overall, and there were less rushees at each event so we could talk to more sisters and they could get to know us better. I think in the long run that really helped us to end up in the right house."
Joanne Nachio '09, who rushed this term because she attended a foreign study program Fall term also said she was satisfied with her recruitment experience.
"I felt that the process was overall a lot less stressful than what I had heard about fall term's recruitment. I was expecting it to be a lot more painful, but had a wonderful time," said Nachio, a new member at Alpha Phi. "I would attribute it to the smaller nature of winter rush because I felt that I was able to speak with many sisters at each house."
While women generally praised the small-scale, low-key nature of winter recruitment, some acknowledged that certain rush parties had low turnout by sorority sisters. And since many of the women who participated in winter recruitment had dropped out of rush in Fall term, some participants expressed dissatisfaction about the stress of repeating the process and the time commitment.
"Sorority rush can be really exhausting, as it seems to occupy your entire week," Jenica Lampl '09, a new member of Tri-Delta, said.
In addition to attending recruitment parties, some women said that talking about rush with friends, choosing what to wear, the anticipation of receiving invites, and dissatisfaction with invites made the process especially time consuming.
Melissa Lokensgard '09, a new member of Alpha Phi, however, said that rushing again was worthwhile, and is satisfied with her outcome.
Another aspect of winter rush that differs from the fall process is the colder weather, as participants often wait outside sororities as the members prepare for each round. Lindsay Steinbach '09, a new member of Sigma Delta, identified the frigid temperatures as the only drawback of winter recruitment.
As for the men, they sunk bids at eight fraternities during winter recruitment, with Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity seeing 7 men sink bids, Alpha Chi Alpha, 3; Phi Delta Alpha, 5; Psi Upsilon, 4; Sigma Nu, 5; Kappa Kappa Kappa, 4; Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 4; Theta Delta Chi, 1. Alpha Delta and Chi Heorot did not extend any bids during winter recruitment.
