Formal sorority recruitment may be permanently changing from the fall to the spring semester.

Loyola’s four National Pan-Hellenic Council sororities convened on Feb. 12 to discuss the matter. While no decision has been made yet, the possible change has some of the women concerned.

Before Hurricane Katrina, sororities recruited in the spring; however, because of Loyola’s closing during the fall 2005 semester, sororities made up the time and recruited all year 2006.

Since then, the Pan-Hellenic chapters have recruited in the fall and have mixed opinions about moving it back.

The Pan-Hellenic chapters are: Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta and Theta Phi Alpha.

During the Feb. 12 meeting, individual chapter members voiced how they felt about the possible change.

Jessica Murphy, assistant director of Co-Curricular Programming, said there was a consensus that administrators did not give everyone the opportunity to have input after Katrina.

Two popular speculations circulate about why recruitment changed.

The first: If a change wasn’t made after Katrina, Greek life would be non-existent. The second: Fall recruitment would help with freshman retention. Murphy said both rumors are false.

Murphy collected input on forms, which will be compiled into a “master” statement that will be presented to chapter advisers and presidents to help make informed decisions.

“Everything will be transparent. The process will be monitored closely,” she said.

Each chapter and the executive board are allowed one vote, totaling five votes. According to pamphlets and manuals, in case of a tie, the Pan-Hellenic executive board will have a vote with a representative of each chapter. No dates have been set for voting yet.

Pros and cons exist on both sides of the argument. On the one hand, if recruitment is held in the fall, freshmen would have a greater opportunity to find a niche, adapt to new lifestyles and find friends through the sororities, Murphy said.

She continued to say that if recruitment were held in the spring it would give the chapters a better chance to gauge the candidates’ Loyola GPAs rather than basing decisions on high school performance. It would also allow for an “adjustment period,” Murphy said.

Chapter advisers are calling national offices to hear suggestions.

“It should be a healthy, growing, thriving Greek community. We want this to be a good thing,” Murphy said.

D’Auria Groux-Holt, mass communication junior and Theta Phi Alpha member, said the forum could have been better organized, since it was more of a listening event rather than a sharing of opinions.

“We should have individuals vote versus just a group vote because everyone’s opinion varies slightly,” Groux-Holt said.

“Discussion within each chapter is valuable, but each individual should have their own vote.”

Samantha Piovesan, criminal justice senior and Alpha Chi Omega member, favors fall recruitment.

“I didn’t want the girls to be so closed minded when they come into recruitment from the spring. They are not subject to stereotypes that most the sororities have,” Piovesan said.

“They have the ability to come in and not do suicide rushes.

“We want them to come in and be themselves, be able to be a part of each sorority during recruitment so that they could be placed in the right sorority.”

If the decision is made whether to change or keep the time table for recruitment, the change would go into effect during the fall 2009 semester.

Rosie Dao can be reached at [email protected].