FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For the second consecutive year, the UA Greek community has offered a record number of bids to new members for the fall 2005 semester. In total, 891 students wishing to join a fraternity or sorority have received bids, up from the former record of 768 set one year ago.

Among female new members, 482 bids were extended, up from 423 in fall 2004. Among men, 409 received bids, up from 345 last year. Overall, approximately 20 percent of the UA student body belongs to one of the 25 fraternities or sororities on campus.

"A bid is an invitation for a male or female student to become a new member of a given fraternity or sorority," said Scott Walter, associate dean of students and director. "Prior to last year, Greek participation had experienced a steady decline on campus. I believe the remarkable success of the past two years can be directly attributed to the initiatives implemented by Chancellor White’s Task Force for the Enhancement of Greek Life. It allowed the university to examine its practices at the time and alter them to a more inclusive format."

Formed in 2002 by Chancellor John A. White and chaired by Vice Chancellor for University Advancement G. David Gearhart, the task force was given the specific charge of examining the existing practices of Greek organizations, specifically fraternities, and recommending enhancements to the programs.

"Possibly the biggest and most beneficial change has been moving men’s fall recruitment to the fifth week of the semester instead of two weeks before the semester begins," Walter said. "This gives male students an opportunity to get on campus and familiarize themselves with the different fraternities they might want to associate with."

Using the campus’ sorority recruitment plan as a blueprint, the task force amended how fraternities would manage their facilities and new members.

Among the changes recommended by the task force, all Greek freshmen will be required to live in the residence halls for their first full academic year. Also, those students who meet the initiation and affiliation requirements, including a satisfactory grade-point average for the fall semester, will be initiated within two weeks of returning for the spring semester.

"Overall, recruitment was a huge success for fraternities and sororities on campus. I am so pleased to see that the number of new members at the University of Arkansas has broken yet another record," Gearhart said. "If utilized properly, the Greek system on this, or any university campus, can instill the necessary skills in young men and women that they will rely on as they become future leaders in our communities. I believe we will see many great things for these new Greek men and women."

Below is a list of new member breakdowns by chapter for the fall 2005 semester:

Intrafraternal Council                                    Panhellenic Society

Alpha Gamma Rho 27                                Alpha Delta Pi 47

Farmhouse 3                                               Chi Omega 70

Kappa Sigma 60                                         Delta Delta Delta 72

Lambda Chi Alpha 42                                 Kappa Delta 72

Phi Delta Theta 48                                       Kappa Kappa Gamma 74

Phi Gamma Delta 36

Pi Kappa Alpha 45                                      Pi Beta Phi 73

Sigma Alpha Epsilon 51                              Zeta Tau Alpha 74

Sigma Chi 54

Sigma Nu 22

Sigma Phi Epsilon 20

Zeta Beta Tau (First year on campus) 0