This term, 361 women are expected to rush, according to Panhell President Jessica Lane '09, compared to 304 women who registered to rush last fall.
"As more and more women enter with an open mind, the hope as a panel and as a community is to extol the benefits of joining a sorority," Lane said.
Melissa Lokensgard '09, vice president of recruitment for Panhell, said the new system is intended to create a better distribution among the seven houses and to make sure the participants are visiting the organizations they are interested in.
Rush will still consist of three rounds, which will take place over the span of six days. After potential new members complete Select and Rank following the first round, a computer will find matches and generate invitations for the second round, during which participants can visit up to six organizations. For the final round, potential new members return to a maximum of two sororities, after which the women will finalize their choice and wait for bids.
Under the previous system, many participants received more than four invitations for the second round, according to Lane. Panhell hopes that the switch to Select and Rank will result in fewer unused invitations.
"My goal is to place as many girls as I can," Lokensgard said, adding that she hopes the new program will give women the opportunity to visit a variety of chapters.
"The idea is to get to know girls in each house, and the over-arching goal is really to see that stereotypes aren't as simple as they appear," Victoria Maceira '09, president of Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, said.
The computer-generated matches will not be final, Lane said, and modifications may be made to ensure participants are not left out of the process.
"Modifications are sometimes made because some girls don't get matched," Lane said. "If possible, we try to find places for the girls to go."
Fall sorority rush will begin Thursday evening and will last until Monday. The organizations will welcome new members for Bid Night on Tuesday.
Recruitment was scheduled at this point in the term to allow students time to begin classes, and to ensure that Greek organizations had accepted new members before Homecoming. Men's rush will take place Saturday and Sunday.
"I am most nervous about balancing rush week with my academics and my personal life," Grace Taveras '11 said. "However, I am most excited to have more time to spend at the sororities getting to meet upperclassmen."
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, a historically black sorority that returned to campus this fall after five years of inactivity, expands options for those interested in joining a Greek community. AKA is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, and follows different recruitment guidelines than the College's seven Panhellenic organizations.
