By Audrey Davis, Editor-in-Chief (For full transparency, the author is a member of Puget Sound Greek Life)
Formal Recruitment for Greek sororities and fraternities concluded Tuesday, Jan. 24. The number of potential new members was the highest since pre-pandemic years, but still not up to the usual rates.
Recruitment and increasing member counts were especially important for Greek Life this year as several Sororities and Fraternities risk losing their houses after failure to meet housing capacity quotas specified in their contracts with the University – inability to meet the quota has been a problem predating COVID for several chapters, only made worse in the past three years.
Sororities ran a revised schedule which included presentations from each of the houses including price transparency with a shorter official recruitment period. Sigma Chi fraternity moved back into their campus house after being banned from living in for Fall 2022.
Rush did not go off without a hitch for all members of Greek Row. Notably absent from fraternity recruitment this year was the Beta Theta Pi chapter. In an Instagram post leading up to rush on Jan. 16, Beta’s President announced that the “chapter is in such a condition that a recruitment event cannot be held. We are experiencing several major issues, and I would feel wrong as chapter president to advertise our organization as if these problems can be ignored.” When reached for comment, the chapter declined at this time.
Concerns regarding diversity and institutional issues festered after racially insensitive comments were made to a Potential New Member by a Phi Zeta alumna volunteering for Tri Delta as a recruiter on Jan. 22. The chapter released a condemnation of the incident on Instagram stating, “The remarks made were not representative of the values of Delta Delta Delta, the Phi Delta chapter, or the UPS Greek Community.” The alumna is no longer a member or volunteer with Tri Delta. The statement from Phi Zeta’s Executive committee also “humbly” asks “for the grace and understanding of the UPS community” as they “learn and grow from this incident.” Tri Delta referenced their Instagram post when asked for comment.