Sorority rush numbers hold steady

The number of students planning to rush sororities this year has stayed about the same as last year, but is still substantially higher than two years ago.

Approximately 500 women registered for rush this year, up from about 480 last year, said Stacy Kraus, associate director for programming at Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

Last year, the numbers increased by 11 percent from 2005.

Fraternity rush registration does not end until bid night on Jan. 22 - when each house will extend formal invitations to prospective brothers to join - but InterFraternity Council officials say that they have seen large registration numbers thus far and expect that number to stay high.

Some credited a more effective public relations campaign as a reason behind frat rush's continued popularity.

For example, Kraus said that OFSA sent out more postcards to students promoting the rush process this year than last.

Frats also worked this year to attract all kinds of freshman men - not only guys who came to college thinking they wanted to join one.

"We are . focusing earlier on letting freshmen know that the frat system will be different from what they expect when they . come to college," said College senior Max Dubin, outgoing president of the IFC.

Sigma Nu, for example, hosted a wide range of events - including a party to celebrate the construction of their porch - in order to increase word of mouth about their house.

"There's a place for every student in the Greek system . and the more we get that message out, the more people want to join," Dubin said.

Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Scott Reikofski said that there are between 500 and 600 spots for students in Penn's 29 fraternities this year, and that there are currently 1,100 frat members on campus and 885 sorority members.

But frat members say they are less interested in filling a certain number of spots and are focusing on snagging a cool group of guys.

"We're looking for as many high-quality men as possible," said Wharton sophomore Ben Molever, president of Zeta Beta Tau.

Engineering junior and Alpha Epsilon Pi president Gabe Kopin echoed these sentiments.

"We usually don't set a limit," he said.

Kopin added that last year 31 new members joined AEPi, the second-biggest fraternity on campus, while his class consisted of 22 men.

Smaller fraternities have a different number in mind.

"Usually we try to limit it to 10 or 15, but this year we're trying to get at least 15 because we have a large graduating senior class," said College sophomore Noah Weiss, who is the rush chair for Sigma Nu.

College sophomore Brian O'Connell, Rush Chairman for Lambda Chi Alpha, said the fraternity has 21 members and is looking to add between 10 and 15 new guys.

"It's been a smaller size in recent years," O'Connell said. "We only have one or two seniors graduating this year, and the size has doubled in the last few years."

The average size of a fraternity on campus is 50 men, while each sorority typically includes 148 women, Reikofski said.

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