By Tejal Patel
Student participation in greek life has dipped this semester, creating less of a “rush” to join sororities at the University.
“The men are doing very well and the women are doing okay,” said Dennis Camacho, assistant director for Student Activities and head of Greek life.
The University’s sororities recruited 125 women this semester. They typically recruit up to 200, Camacho said.
Fraternities on the other hand, are doing very well in their recruitment. This semester, over 105 men were recruited, surpassing the average number of 50.
Camacho said this is the first year they have seen numbers go below average, and added that many people are “turned off by the time commitment, the stereotypes, academic requirements and parental concerns.”
“Greek life seems to take up a lot of time,” said Lauren Keough, a freshman education major.
A student who de-pledged this semester said she was stressed because of the speed of the process and felt really pressured to do everything the sorority wanted.
“They did a poor job of setting up rush,” the student, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “Compared to the fraternities, you don’t feel like a part of anything.”
A similar trend can be seen in other area schools.
This semester at SUNY Old Westbury, a total of 15 students registered to join a fraternity or sorority.
“Because of the amount of pressure, numbers were low this semester,” said Megan Kathleen Stolarski, a member of the sorority Alpha Theta Beta, adding that when she was a new member last spring, there were 300 girls.
“This semester they started [recruitment] on the second day of class, which was too early,” Stolarski said.
Some students cited reasons other than academics for not joining campus Greek life.
“I feel that it’s unnecessary for me and that not being in a frat presents more opportunities for meeting a diverse and varying group of friends,” said Daniel Richford, a sophomore applied physics major.
At this semester’s Round Robin students said they just wanted to look, but did not expect to be tied down.
In order to join a fraternity or sorority, the University requires a minimum 2.3 GPA and at least 12 credits per semester. There is a seven-hour daily minimum commitment to one’s fraternity/sorority during the recruitment period, according to the University’s rules.
Four of these seven hours are to be spent in Rathskellar and three of them in the library during library hours.
With the decline in sorority numbers this semester, the Rathskellar is quiet during the “pledge” period. (Harry Tanielyan/The Chronicle)