2008 Woodie Awards
No recruits might kill some frats, sororities
Marist Greeks lack separate housing; hurting for new pledges
Julie Brown & Sarah Spainhoward
Issue date: 11/30/06 Section: News
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Declining numbers for fraternities and sororities could eventually cause closures to certain chapters if minimum requirements are not met.
Marist College's Greek life is significantly smaller than those of large universities, and the numbers of pledges are now widening the gap. At Marist, there are four sororities and three fraternities compared to a larger school like Syracuse University, which has 27 fraternities and 17 sororities according to USNews.com, a site which ranks America's best colleges for 2007.
According to Christine Rochelle, Vice President of Standards of Kappa Kappa Gamma and student in charge of sorority recruitment for last semester, the number of pledges has steadily been dropping the last few years for sororities.
"About three years ago there were at least 50 girls coming out for recruitment," she said. "This semester we had 16."
The problem is not selectivity, but the lack of girls making the decision to pledge. The sororities only require a G.P.A. of 2.5, and that girls attend at least two out three recruitment nights. Karen Wolff, a fellow member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and in charge of recruitment for this semester, said she felt that the negative media portrayal of Greek life hurts the membership drives. Brian Halabuda, Greek Council president and member of Alpha Phi Delta, said that the negative image of fraternities could be a large part of membership drops, but said that the Greek council and fraternity council are constantly working to recreate a positive light for the Greeks.
The fraternities however maintain that their numbers aren't necessarily decreasing, rather it being more of a repeated cycle. Brian Halabuda said, that he isn't really seeing a drop in membership, at least not with the alpha Phi Delta.
"The growth isn't large but it's growing", he said.
According to both the sororities and fraternities the spring recruitment usually has higher numbers than the fall semester. Halabuda stated that a fraternity's ability to induct more members than graduate is how you measure the success of a chapter. All the Greek organizations are successful according to Robert Lynch director of student activities. Lynch seemed very relaxed as he sat speaking of the many activities that the Greek organizations have accomplished.
Marist College's Greek life is significantly smaller than those of large universities, and the numbers of pledges are now widening the gap. At Marist, there are four sororities and three fraternities compared to a larger school like Syracuse University, which has 27 fraternities and 17 sororities according to USNews.com, a site which ranks America's best colleges for 2007.
According to Christine Rochelle, Vice President of Standards of Kappa Kappa Gamma and student in charge of sorority recruitment for last semester, the number of pledges has steadily been dropping the last few years for sororities.
"About three years ago there were at least 50 girls coming out for recruitment," she said. "This semester we had 16."
The problem is not selectivity, but the lack of girls making the decision to pledge. The sororities only require a G.P.A. of 2.5, and that girls attend at least two out three recruitment nights. Karen Wolff, a fellow member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and in charge of recruitment for this semester, said she felt that the negative media portrayal of Greek life hurts the membership drives. Brian Halabuda, Greek Council president and member of Alpha Phi Delta, said that the negative image of fraternities could be a large part of membership drops, but said that the Greek council and fraternity council are constantly working to recreate a positive light for the Greeks.
The fraternities however maintain that their numbers aren't necessarily decreasing, rather it being more of a repeated cycle. Brian Halabuda said, that he isn't really seeing a drop in membership, at least not with the alpha Phi Delta.
"The growth isn't large but it's growing", he said.
According to both the sororities and fraternities the spring recruitment usually has higher numbers than the fall semester. Halabuda stated that a fraternity's ability to induct more members than graduate is how you measure the success of a chapter. All the Greek organizations are successful according to Robert Lynch director of student activities. Lynch seemed very relaxed as he sat speaking of the many activities that the Greek organizations have accomplished.
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