Fall Sorority Recruitment Sets Record

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The University of Arkansas will set a record for the number of women going through the formal sorority recruitment process this Fall.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – More than 1,200 women are expected to participate in the formal sorority recruitment to be held Aug. 14-18 and Aug. 27-28 at the University of Arkansas. This is a record number of women seeking membership in a campus sorority, an indication of the success of Greek Life at the university. The new record will surpass the fall 2010 number of 952 women who participated in recruitment, the previous record.

The number of women seeking membership in a sorority on campus has nearly doubled in the last three years alone. With only eight sororities on campus that are members of the National Panhellenic Council, this poses a challenge. University of Arkansas administrators are actively involved in attracting more sororities to campus to reduce the size of the chapters and to improve the sorority experience for all involved.

To accomplish this, representatives from the National Panhellenic Council, the national governing body for sororities, will be visiting the University of Arkansas campus in September to meet with administrators, at which time a proposal and selection process will start. As part of the council's visit to campus, its representatives will explore future potential housing options for new sororities with administrators.

"We intend to bring two new sororities to the University of Arkansas campus by 2013," said Ashley Tull, senior associate dean of students at the University of Arkansas. "We hope to work closely with the NPC to show that the University of Arkansas will have a viable Greek system for years to come and that new sororities will thrive at the University of Arkansas." Due to the increased number of women participating in recruitment last year and the expected increase again this year, the sorority system voted in spring 2011 to move the registration deadline to July 15. This is intended to help properly accommodate and plan for all potential new members, chapters and staffing for the application process, grade checks, sorority move-in and other pertinent matters, to ensure a successful recruitment experience for all involved. This process has ended and formal recruitment starts August 14.

In addition to sororities, the office of Greek Life encourages students to consider participation in one of the more than 300 registered student organizations on campus. For more information about other student involvement opportunities, please visit http://osa.uark.edu