The number of students rushing sororities this spring increased by 11 percent over last year, and Panhellenic Council officials say online registration and new fall programming are the likely cause.
Panhel adviser Stacy Kraus said the approximately 480 women currently registered for Spring rush marks a "pretty significant change."
Assistant Vice President of Panhellenic Recruitment Ali Lieberman said that online registration -- available for the first time this year -- was a significant factor in the increase.
"Online registration played a pretty big role because it was pretty convenient and eliminated a lot of confusion," the College junior said.
Lieberman also cited fall events such as a "freshmen survival panel" -- where faculty and sorority women discussed areas of college life that are difficult for freshmen -- and a successful open house as other possible reasons for the increase.
Last semester, each sorority house held an open house, which Lieberman said made sorority life more visible to freshmen. Though this is an annual event, she said that the number of people who attended the open house last semester set a record for some of the houses.
Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs director Scott Reikofski said that registration numbers for fraternities seemed to be about the same.
College freshman Marissa Steinberg said that online registration facilitated the process, even though it was not the reason she decided to register for rush.
"It was definitely easy," she said of the process.
Steinberg did not participate in any of the sorority programming during the fall semester.
"I really just felt like I had nothing to lose," she said. "I didn't see myself as a sorority girl, but I decided, why not?"
Panhel leaders held a discussion on diversity last semester and increasing minority representation was one of the goals cited by incoming Panhel president and Wharton junior Catie Vuksich. As of yet, figures on how many minorities are registered for rush are not available.
"We don't differentiate among the ethnicity and status of women," outgoing Panhel president and College junior Hayley Gross said.
The amount of bids that will be offered by each house has not yet been released. It is determined by a formula recently devised by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate.
Last year, each house offered about 40 bids.
Kraus also cited the effort made by sorority women as a possible reason for this year's numbers.
"I think that the women have made a concerted effort to put themselves out there and get to know women, and I think that's been really helpful," she said.
The freshman class has increased by more than 100 students, an approximate 4 percent increase in the matriculating class compared to the previous year.
Rush week by the numbers - 480 women registered for spring rush, an 11% increase from 2005 - The 8 sorority houses accept an average of 40 new sisters each, a total of approximately 320 new sorority members - Fraternity rush numbers appear to have remained steady
