IFC, PHC fear other interests cause membership decline membership

Several candidates for Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council officer positions cited declining membership as a concern during the campaign period earlier this semester, an issue IFC President Gordon Savage recently cited as the Greek system's top concern for the next year.

"In the past few years our overall membership and recruitment numbers have been declining slightly," said Kelly Walmsley, PHC vice president of membership. In recent years, the highest number of students registered for the rush process during 1990, she added.

IFC also is experiencing stagnating membership numbers.

"The last couple of years we've been on kind of a plateau," said Chad Sedam, IFC vice president for membership.

Nationally, fraternities and sororities have seen the same pattern in their membership numbers, Walmsley and Sedam said, a trend they said could be caused by any number of factors.

Competition with an increasing number of student organizations and employment opportunities may be a factor that has contributed to the decline, Walmsley said.

"Some students have jobs, and they find it hard to juggle being in an organization and keeping up with their job and school work," she said.

In the 1950s, Greek organizations saw their highest membership numbers, Sedam said. During the 1960s and 1970s, those numbers declined. Students now in college are the children of those who were less likely to be members of fraternities and sororities, he said; consequently, today's students are less likely to have a parent to promote the strong points of fraternity and sorority life.

Parents often play a significant role in a student's decision to become involved with the Greek system, Savage said.

"When an individual is making the decision to join a fraternity or sorority, it's a decision that parents are actively involved in," he said.

In order to combat these influences, Walmsley said PHC recently held informational sessions in dorm areas to distribute information about the Greek system. Although she said this gave the Spring Rush process more structure, the event still remained informal.

Also, 14 sororities accepted new member classes this spring, she said, in comparison to a smaller number in past years.

"There definitely was an interest in it," Walmsley said of Spring Rush.

IFC hopes to send information on the rush process to the homes of new students before they arrive on campus, Savage said. This, along with more events targeted at freshmen, will help to increase membership in the organization, he added.