Gathered in the St. Charles Room the night of Sept. 24, freshman recruits waited anxiously for members of Loyola’s Panhellenic Association to reveal their sorority affiliation.

Although this process happens every year, this year’s recruitment ushered in administrative changes – three people working with the Office of Co-Curricular Programs divided the role of Greek Life adviser among themselves for the first time ever.

Jessica Murphy is the new adviser of the Panhellenic Association, and advising duties for the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Inter-Fraternity Council are in the hands of Hollie Chessman and Tom Kupferer, respectively.

Amid the changes, Murphy admits that not everyone is happy, and rumors about the future of Greek Life at Loyola are inevitable.

“When people are complaining and asking, ‘Does Loyola have a full-time Greek Life adviser?’ (and) the answer is ‘no,’ then the question stops and that’s where all the disenchantment grows,” Murphy said. “The answer is, in fact, Loyola supports Greek Life, but people are not being bold in answering questions that go beyond yes and no.”

The reality is that Loyola recognizes Greek organizations as valuable entities, Murphy said. “They have strong student leadership and we give them props for that. We believe in trusting the system of fraternities and sororities so much that we’re willing to say you can operate without the overarching supervision of a full-time staff member.”

One circulating rumor claimed that Cissy Petty, vice president for Student Affairs and associate provost, plans to eliminate Greek Life at Loyola within five years. Petty denied the rumor in an e-mail to the Maroon.

“There is no ‘conspiracy’ to do away with Greeks in five years. I have never heard anyone in Student Affairs being unsupportive of a healthy, vibrant, positive Greek experience,” Petty said.

She acknowledges the issue of Greek housing has divided Greek leaders and their alumni but says the decision to promote affinity housing and living/learning communities has everything to do with recruitment, retention and liability.

Julie Walsh, Panhellenic Association president, said, “I met with her last year. She’s fantastic. I’ve never been led to believe they were trying to get rid of Greek Life in any way, shape or form.”

Despite another rumor that this year brought decreased interest in sorority life, recruitment numbers are up this year by several percentage points from last year, Murphy and Walsh both confirmed.

“Over 20 percent of the freshman class participated in recruitment. There are only 302 freshman women,” Murphy said.

Walsh said, “Numbers with recruitment are in direct correlation to enrollment. We went above our percentage of what we were looking for in people who signed up. Numbers have not been down at all.”

In the span of five days, potential new members attend an open house, convocation, philanthropy night, sisterhood inspiration, preference and bid day. It’s a serious commitment, and the rules are clear.

“The term we use is ‘no boys, no booze,'” Walsh said.

Panhellenic’s annual rush season culminates in bid day ceremonies in which participants receive a bid from one of four sororities.

Recruitment is intended to give sororities the opportunity to express what they represent to potential new members and vice versa. Walsh added that the entire process is dry, and the women are encouraged to consider their options and express themselves as individuals.

Jordan Hultine can be reached at [email protected].