After Panhellenic Council raised their total last fall, more than twice the number of sororities have participated in continuous open bidding (COB) this spring than during the spring of 2014.
In the fall, PHC raised the number of women each chapter should aim for to 136. Previously it was set at 113.
Those who have less than total get the opportunity to COB. This year eight out of ten of the PHC sororities that are allowed to go through open recruitment have gone through or are going through COB. Last spring only Phi Mu, Pi Beta Phi and Sigma Kappa were allowed to COB.
Ball State Greek Life now includes 14 percent of students, Kari Murphy, the associate director of student life, said Sunday night during Grand Chapter.
Sydney Arledge, a junior marketing and fashion merchandising double major, is the vice president of recruitment of PHC. She is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, one of the chapters still in the process of bidding.
“We need [COB] to create parity in chapter size within the community,” said Arledge. “Each chapter goes through the COB process at its own pace.”
The choice to move to a total of 136 came after every PHC sorority met quota during formal fall recruitment, raising the sorority average to 136.
Arledge said each chapter set its own goals through the accreditation process. For the accreditation process, there are no direct requirements related to total number of members for PHC chapters unless the chapter itself sets that goal.
She said each chapter is able to continue in COB until they reach total or when the chapter decides to stop in partnership with their advisers.
Sigma Kappa's president, Erin Soller, a junior elementary and special education double major, said COB is beneficial to sororities.
The change is also meant to provide some flexibility for prospective members.
“It allows us to talk to women who are interested in going Greek but may not want to go through the formal recruitment process or decide later that they want to join a sorority,” Soller said.
Soller said Sigma Kappa welcomed six new members after extending bids Jan. 30. The chapter did not meet total, however Soller is confident they will in the fall of 2015.
Lucy Clemens, a sophomore business-finance major, just joined Alpha Chi Omega during its spring recruitment. She thinks COB is a good opportunity for women to join sororities when they didn’t have the chance to in a previous semester.
“I don’t think I would have been likely to join the sorority in the fall because I would have been a junior,” Clemens said. “It’s easier as a freshman or a sophomore to join, but I don’t think I would have gotten the same opportunity to join as a junior.”
For Kappa Delta, it was the chapter’s second time going through the informal recruitment process.
Kappa Delta president Erica Wiley, a junior food and hospitality management major, said open recruitment has gone really well for her chapter so far.
“I enjoyed it,” Wiley said of informal recruitment. “It’s much more relaxed than formal recruitment and you have more leeway on the events you hold.”
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