Tufts' three sororities as early as next fall could be joined by a fourth following heightened interest in sorority life on campus.
In response to a doubling of the number of sorority bids awarded over the past four years, Tufts' three sororities have again expressed interest in establishing another to accommodate the elevated interest, according to Tufts Panhellenic Council President Dana Traub, a senior.
Sorority members last winter brought to the table the possibility of a new sorority chapter after a record number of students participated in rush at the time. Sustained high recruitment this year has brought the plan closer to fruition.
Chi Omega added 40 new members this semester, while Alpha Phi added 41 members. Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi) has a slightly smaller new class at 24 students, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Tanya McGinn Paolo said.
"It's definitely an overwhelming increase for the chapters," Traub said.
Before plans advance further, Tufts' Panhellenic Council must first vote to approach the National Panhellenic Conference about establishing a new chapter to join the AOPi, Alpha Phi and Chi Omega chapters already on campus, Paolo said.
"We would start putting out information to all of the national organizations to let them know that our campus is interested in having another group," she said. "It would be a mutual selection of their organization and our campus deciding which organization would benefit our campus and if our campus would be a good place for that organization," she said.
Tufts' Greek chapters, Traub said, have stepped up recruitment efforts and campus visibility in recent years.
"The sororities, over the years, have gotten more involved with the community and they're more present on campus," Traub said.
For the second year in a row, sororities did not place a cap on recruitment in order to better gauge student interest in the Greek system, according to Paolo.
"We really wanted to get a sense of what the campus feels about being involved in Greek life," Alpha Phi President Stefani Rubenfeld, a junior, said. "Capping could exclude some women and not allow us to understand the full situation."
Tufts sorority members have expressed enthusiasm for the idea of a new chapter, according to AOPi Vice President of Communications Erica Spurlock, a junior.
"I know all the girls in various houses I've talked to, even briefly, are all excited about the process," Spurlock said, adding that a new sorority would give students more options to find a perfect fit among Tufts' sorority offerings.
Another sorority, Spurlock said, may cater to girls who are looking for a different type of sorority, one that currently does not exist on campus.
"There's always girls who don't necessarily feel they fit with any of the houses and don't do recruitment in the first place," she said. "I think we're all really excited about it because it's going to give the girls going through it more options."
National sorority chapters, if interested in the possibility of expanding to Tufts, would submit applications to Tufts' Panhellenic Council for review, Paolo said. The selected sorority would then send representatives to campus to garner student interest.
"They really come in and market themselves and do lots of events and interview and select the initial group of women," she said.
Paolo said that a new chapter may be established as early as next fall.
"If everything would go well, I think it would make sense that we would have a new group in the fall, but there's no guarantee," Paolo said. "Everyone knows that it's something that we definitely want to consider."
The Panhellenic Council was waiting to see final recruitment data for this semester before seriously considering the addition of a new chapter, Paulo said.
"We definitely needed to get through recruitment and needed to see what our numbers were to start the discussion," she said. "You need some good statistical data to know how many women you have out there who are interested."
Of 170 students who began the sorority recruitment process, 103 students received bids, Paolo said.
The new sorority would ideally have a membership of about 60 women, Paolo said.
Paolo and Rubenfeld said that interest in Greek life has increased nationally.
"Fraternity and sorority membership in general has been on the upswing," Paolo said.
