Panhellenic bids for largest class

146 received sorority bids

By: Bryan Rothamel

Posted: 1/30/09

The HPU student body saw the annual parade of honking trucks, screaming women and males throwing water balloons the afternoon of Jan. 25.

There were 146 women receiving bids to one of the four Panhellenic Council sororities on campus. All four sororities gave out the allotted bids plus additions for reaching the quota set by Panhellenic.

This year's recruitment was another record setting year for participants surpassing last year's by 51, a 54 percent increase. A total of 241 women registered for formal recruitment.

"This is a such an exciting time for all of Greek life on campus. Not only do we get to meet our new sisters, but new sisters of the other three amazing sororities of Panhellenic as well," said Sara Vitale, senior of Alpha Gamma Delta.

The increase in interested participants has been expected because of increased enrollment at the university. Another key attribute has been the increase in awareness of Greek life on campus.

"Greek Week was pretty successful this year; it was a pretty big thing. There's been a lot of visibility among the Greek organizations this first semester this year which I think definitely contributed to increased recruitment numbers," Greek life coordinator Meredith McCrea said.

McCrea started working on recruitment week since she began working at HPU in July 2008. This year she focused on making sure the sororities did less of the administrative aspect such as reserving rooms.

Another huge help McCrea noted was the work of the Panhellenic Executive Council. Some nights those women stay far past midnight to make sure the week went smoothly.

With Panhellenic leaders doing the grunt work, the current sorority members were able to relax and meet the recruits. McCrea said this relaxed many of the women during the sometimes stressful time.

McCrea stated the university is looking at extending Greek life to incorporate another Panhellenic sorority. The process is long and regimented. The process is only in its infancy.