Approximately 75 percent of the 401 women who registered for sorority rush received bids at the conclusion of sorority recruitment on Wednesday, Panhellenic Council rush chair Lauren Pace said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Ninety-seven women or about 24 percent dropped out of the rush process, according to Panhell President Ellie Sandmeyer '12. Of those women, 66 dropped out after they were invited to the final night of rush, or "pref night."
Of those who attended pref night, only women who "suicided," or indicated a single house on their preference sheet instead of the standard two, did not receive a bid, Pace said.
The proportion of women who received bids marks a slight decline from last fall, when 78 percent of women received bids. The number of women who registered for rush also decreased from last fall, from 420 to 401 women, according to Sandmeyer.
Under Panhell regulations, each house offered a minimum of 36 bids to potential new members, Sandmeyer said.
Alpha Phi sorority offered 37 bids, Alpha Xi Delta sorority offered 39, Delta Delta Delta sorority offered 36, Epsilon Kappa Theta offered 36, Kappa Delta sorority offered 38, Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority offered 36, Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority offered 39 and Sigma Delta sorority offered 39. All sororities extended a total of 300 bids.
Pace cited both the record affiliation numbers of the Class of 2013 and an expanding, more inclusive system as reasons for the high turnout.
"The Class of 2013's success in rush might have made '14s excited about the rush process," Pace said. "It might also be because girls are realizing, especially with the recent addition of [Kappa Delta sorority], that the Panhellenic system is becoming more accessible on campus."
The numbers of women who participated in sorority rush in the last two years represent an increase from past years, as 335 women registered for sororitiy rush in 2009 and 365 women in 2008. Dartmouth's Kappa Delta chapter was created in 2009.
In addition to the official five-day recruitment process, EKT held an alternative rush event on Thursday, Sept. 30. Sandmeyer declined to give the exact number of bids that were issued at the event.
Pace and Sandmeyer praised the outcome of EKT's event, as both said it likely helped stabilize the house's membership.
"I feel like the new process that Theta tried out this year with the open rush process and allowing girls to shake out boded really well for them, and has the potential to be a really good thing for their sisterhood this year," Pace said.
Sandmeyer said she did not think the new system will be adopted by other sororities before it is more thoroughly established at EKT.
"It was a positive experience for the house, but it isn't yet realistic for that change to happen with other sororities," Sandmeyer said. "We've heard some different options, such as holding rush over two weekends and structuring parties differently, but we haven't quite figured out a more fair and balanced way than the current system yet."
This year's numbers represent a slight decrease from the numbers of bids offered last year by KDE, Kappa, Tridelt, Alpha Phi and Sigma Delt. Kappa Delt, which offered 25 bids in last year's fall rush, significantly increased its number of bids offered this year.
Although some girls who participated in the rush process did not receive callbacks from any house, Pace said that they were encouraged to participate in the future.
"It's one of the things that happen with the system, and it's unfortunate," she said. "But they went through the process in good faith, and they are eligible to participate in the rush process again."
A representative from EKT was not available for comment by press time.
