University of Arkansas Greek Life Is Booming

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In a year with record numbers of incoming students to the University of Arkansas, Greek Life on campus is growing. Women’s recruitment was at an all time high, with more than 1,400 women going through the recruitment, or “rush” process the week before classes started. Men’s recruitment is starting now with more than 850 students registered.

On a recent Sunday afternoon in the Chi Omega Greek Theatre more than 1,226 women received bids from one of the eight sororities that participated in rush. Each of these eight sororities received the 151 quota of pledges allowed per sorority. 

“This is the largest women’s recruitment class we’ve ever had,” said Parice Bowser, director of Greek Life. “And this is the second year we’ve had more than a 90 percent placement rate.”

Women’s recruitment is not over, with the two new organizations, Phi Mu and Alpha Chi Omega, which joined the University of Arkansas campus this past year, going through their recruitment process now.

“We are in a very unique place because we also have two new groups for women to join,” Bowser said. “We are now kicking off our formal recruitment process with these two new groups – Phi Mu and Alpha Chi Omega. We are really excited about this as there are a lot of women interested in these two groups.”

Over the next few weeks these sororities will be hosting interest meetings and conduct 15-minute interviews to get to know each recruit, and they will host information meetings at various locations, including the Arkansas Union. This process will culminate in a colonization bid day on Sept. 9 in the Greek Theatre, which will be as similar as possible to the earlier bid day to give the students the same experience, Bowser said.

Men’s formal recruitment kicks off this week. The event will culminate in Bid Day this Saturday on Old Main lawn, weather permitting. “This is about the same number of men going through the recruitment process as last year,” Bowser said.

Two new fraternities are participating in this formal recruitment process. Beta Theta Pi and Kappa Alpha Order are new to the campus and are seeking new members to colonize their organizations.

“All four new organizations – the sororities and fraternities -- have consultants living here in town to help with the colonization process,” Bowser said. “This is something that is unique to these groups, and it should help make the process even smoother.”

Beginning September 3- 7, our National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), which consists of our seven historically African American organizations, will host their annual interest week. Throughout this week these groups will host educational workshops regarding leadership development, voting drive, health & wellness as well as their annual step show for prospective new members. In addition, our newly formed United Greek Council will host an interest meeting on September 7. For more information regarding these events, students should email gogreek@uark.edu.

All of this is taking place at a time when new office space is making life a little bit easier for the staff in Greek Life. The Greek Life Leadership Center is now in Bud Walton Hall on Stadium Drive, directly across from Gate 16 of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. This new space houses all professional staff, a conference room, student offices, and a reception lounge. Previously, the office had been in the Arkansas Union.

“Our new office location is a great space for staff to provide more productive conversations, build stronger relationships, as well as offer more engaging programming and service components for U of A Greek leaders,” Bowser said.