Recruitment at Oxy has gotten a lot more popular in the past few years. In Spring 2013 the system had to switch to closed bidding. This semester 130 women ended up going through recruitment. With four organizations each one would have to take around 33 women, including zeta, which also gives bids to men. Oxy’s greek life is unique because of it’s smaller size and low key culture. If new member classes continue to grow we’ll lose that. Currently it isn’t possible to offer bids to every woman going through.
Members of greek life have also noticed this change in recruitment. The stress that potential new members go through during recruitment seems to have increased dramatically. Being part of a sorority is amazing and everyone should have the opportunity to join one, but our campus’ greek life is practically past capacity. A more inclusive greek system is something everyone on this campus wants, but that’s only going to happen if there are more sororities for people to join.
Practically every member of greek life has experienced the disappointment of having someone they really liked not receive a bid simply because there are too many people for everyone who should get bid to actually receive one. So if you went through this semester and didn’t receive a bid, consider going through a second time or talk to greek council about starting a new chapter, because we really need it.