Where have all the pledges gone?
 

Where have all the pledges gone?
By Jeffrey Patch - The Daily Iowan

http://www.dailyiowan.com/media/pape...s/2b69i6u2.jpg
UI freshman Jeremy Schreiber is pushed around a circle of Alpha Epsilon Pi members during an initiation for new members Tuesday night. Whitney Kidder/ The Daily Iowan



Leaders in the UI Greek system say the number of pledges has unexpectedly dropped by as many as 100 this fall, puzzling the community as it scrambles to recruit members through less-traditional means.

Some venture to guess that a tuition increase of 18.5 percent is to blame for the low numbers, which is forcing some fraternities to count on informal rush to fatten their numbers.

"Basically, I think numbers were down this year because students were hesitant about doing anything that would cost extra," said Jenny McClure, the vice president of recruitment for the UI Panhellenic Association. "I think right now students are facing a lot of increased prices with the university."

Greek representatives said last year's controversy surrounding a whistleblower's claims of alleged hazing at the university did not factor into this fall's low numbers. They declined to comment further.

The number of sorority pledges dropped from 640 last fall to 540 this year, McClure said. Numbers for fraternities were not available, although many frats reported low figures during formal rush during the week of Aug. 19.

The blame for low recruitment falls on entire fraternities and not select individuals, said UI sophomore Josiah Ball, the recruitment chairman for Phi Kappa Theta.

"A few [fraternities] have had some pretty low numbers, but we're doing really well with our rush," he said. "Prices of fraternities could possibly be a factor."

Membership and living in a frat house runs $4,876 a year, according to the UI Greek Web site. Membership without residence costs $1,037 a year. Sororities charge $4,616 and $1,160 for membership with housing and membership without residence respectively.

Greek officials say the prices are comparable with living in the residence halls, which charge from $2,029 to $5,426 according to room type.

Some fraternities, such as Sigma Alpha Mu, have lost their houses and, in turn, interest in membership, Ball said.

Alpha Epsilon Pi inducted seven pledges last year, and fraternity officials were surprised to see the number rise to 12 this year.

UI senior and Alpha Epsilon Pi pledge Sigil Jenkins said he enjoys the bonds formed in fraternities.

"It's good to have an extended family on campus because when things go wrong, you have people you can count on and trust," he said.

Jenkins admits to having had some second thoughts about joining, but he said he soon became comfortable with the Greek lifestyle.

"I was fearing a cult atmosphere," he said. "I don't have that reservation anymore."

E-mail DI reporter Jeffrey Patch at:

If your school was faced with budget cuts, have you noticed a difference in the number of people going greek?

No kidding. Average fraternity size for Valdosta dropped to 35. With TKE's new guys were at the average. From what I hear one fraternity has only 9 active brothers. How sad. Things have changed since I was active. The sororities seem to be doing quite well. I guess its because the guy/ girl ratio is growing further apart. It is allready 2 girls for every guy and it is growing larger.

I know that we had a slight increase in tuition.

Sorority recruitment was way up this year - over a 100 girls more than last year. Fraternity recruitment was down, but it seems as though the pledge classes are bigger this year than last. We have 25 which is the largest pledge class in the house. Meanwhile I've heard that Delt also had like 26, SAE had 38 :eek: ATO had mid 20's as well as the same for SigEp. So perhaps just a greater % of fraternity rushees signed. Last year the biggest pledge class on campus was Lambda Chi with 30, and we were second at 24...so I'm not really sure what changed.

Henderson State's recruitment is this coming weekend. The deadline to sign up for recruitment was last Friday. I received an email from the chapter advisor, who said that as of last Friday, only 26 girls signed up for recruitment. :( Of course they extended the deadline, but who knows what might happen.

I SO want to increase these numbers, but I just feel helpless right now!!! UGH!! After reading all of the other recruitment threads talking about a record number of girls signing up for recruitment, I was hopeful. I hope that we have more girls sign up, and that all of the chapters play fair and allow the other chapters to take quota (even if it's only 5 PMNs!) without dirty rushing.

Will keep you updated. . .

Hell, and our recruitment is free!

Our problem is still the anti-Greek attitude inherent in the snotty liberal arts school environment.

...........not to mention the hazing (obvious and hidden), the "ladder" mentality, "reality" TV, the negativity in the news headlines and all the other crap that many of our Greek organizations perpetuate without realizing the impact it has on all of us!

Don't get me wrong........there are plenty of chapters and organizations doing wonderful things, however, it's the negativity that gets the most attention. That "image" spills over into the non-Greek population and makes them hesitant to want to be a part of it (not to mention parents).

Iris

Well Bros and Sis the main Prob is that we as Greeks are Animals!

So does any one agree with that!

We do not promo what the hell we really do!

That is called PR! Charity Events, Homecomming!


NO NO We are young and Old People ( Alums ) that work with the The People! Da Mine And Your Groups So what you as Alum Groups or active Chapters- Get off your damn asses and do good and PR it!

Yeah because of stuff like that. Treat people with respect and they will respect you.

Though fraterity recruitment seems to be improving in our area, it's a drop in the bucket compared to how things USED to be. Why?
Parental support is disappearing-hazing, alcohol deaths, sex related bad PR AND economics. The money involved is a bigger issue than some families may admit.

The recruits- If we have been somewhat successful as parents, we've raised our sons to be independent thinkers. They have a wider circle of friends and confidence in social situations. They are aware of the hazing and have enough self respect to say "I don't need that". They are still aprehensive about the unknown and hesitant when they hear stores of getting beatup for the hell of it or beatings with paddles, forced to drink to death, the stories of "hell week". ( It isn't JUST the parents who fear these things.)

When you have a young man leave for college, he isn't given the same send off as our dauhters. We expect almost as much from them as they expect from themselves. Who can THEY turn to when they are uncertain. Sometimes it's easier to AVOID the risk of failure by foregoing a fraternity than to join and quit because you don't like the physical violence that MAY be involved and being perceived as a "pussy".

Edited to add-So any people have been RUINED financially. Not only were retirement funds wiped out, but many people put money into stock funds for college and now, the money is GONE!
Fraternitiesand sororities are the LOWEST priority on a very, VERY long list!

As usual, JAM brings up excellent points. Her last paragraph really struck me between the eyes -- I really hadn't thought of that. It's certainly true for us. Thank goodness for big scholarships, or we would be in trouble paying for our son.

I've seen some stats -- can't remember where or from whom they came -- that a majority of fraternity members (60 plus percent, I think) hold down a job to help pay for school and their fraternity expenses. In the past it was more common for parents to pay the entire bill. (Although that wasn't the case in my situation) I wonder if more guys aren't thinking something like, "Why should I spend my hard earned dollars to get hazed?"

One quick comment about Betarulz report on the Delt rush numbers at Nebraska. I had the opportunity to spend a few days at their shelter one summer while my son attended a conference on their campus. They rush all summer as prospective Freshmen come through campus for their pre-college orientation. I had the opportunity to attend one of their rush functions -- very nice, low pressure, BBQ and chat. (Absolutely no hint of alcohol, etc.) I took a look at the sheets the prospects had signed the next morning. Unbelievable. Almost all were NHS members, athletes, student body officers, on the honor roll, etc.

I understand that the chapter generally has 25 or so committed by the time school starts. What a great situation to be in when formal rush comes around -- little or no pressure. (I'd be interested to know from Betarulz whether the other chapters at Nebraska actively recruit in the summer)

It's no wonder in my mind why that chapter has won at least 16 Hugh Shields Awards -- the highest award a Delt Chapter can win.

hmm
 

Recruitment numbers at our school are way up this year. Recruitment week doesn't start for us in another three weeks, but already we have more girls signed up than last year, so I'm not worried. Don't give up hope, numbers are always going up and down. The greek system has been dealing with harsh stereotypes for over twenty years, but we're all still here. So be confident, cause we're gonna be okay ;)
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~*KD For Life*~

bump

IowaHawkeye is never not funny.

She was online with her fake Mullet screenname a few times last week, I kind of wanted to IM her and see what was new in the land of bariatrics.