By Amy Fredette
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Quality, not quantity, appeared to be the underlying theme for this year's rush week.
It seems that the number of fraternity and sorority pledges across the nation have been steadily declining due in part to a "different consumer" and a higher educational standard, said Jennifer Jones, assistant director for Greek Life programs.
Jones explained that the numbers have decreased because students are now more inclined to take a semester off to scope out what the university has to offer. Students with below average GPAs who rushed in previous years did not show up this year, another factor which may have contributed to the decline.
Although the member lists are not yet in, 1,131 men and women visited the 44 fraternities and sororities both on and off the UA campus.
"At first, we were disappointed about the amount of men, but the quality of men going through was very high," said Patrick Moran, vice president of public relations for the Interfraternity Council.
Moran added that some houses did "exceptionally" well, citing Kappa Sigma and Pi Kappa Alpha Ÿ both of which recently moved onto "Greek Row" Ÿ as examples.
"It was very successful, because our guys are motivated, energetic and good at making friends," said Ryan Anderson, a political science junior and president of Kappa Sigma, which took in 38 pledges.
Moran said that the location of the fraternities on East First Street between Mountain and Cherry Avenues seemed to be the reason why they fared well.
"It's central," Moran said. "When guys come through, they're looking for something traditional. Houses off campus might do things differently."
Moran also mentioned that off-campus fraternities give themselves "more of a chance to be ignored."
John Thompson, a criminal justice junior and vice president of Lambda Chi Alpha, said that although his fraternity is located off campus, he feels that rush went well and that they got "nine great guys."
On the Panhellenic side of things, Jones reported that about 450 women pledged sororities.
"It was exceptionally successful," Jones said.
Jones added that each sorority had the opportunity to pledge 25 women and that basically, each sorority was able to do so.
The Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority was able to recruit 30 women after formal pledge bidding was over.
"It was hard," said Kim Fish, a political science junior and president of Alpha Epsilon Phi. "We had so many great girls going through."
Another positive event for rush week was that the sororities continued to thrive despite inclement weather.
Said Jones, "We got the women in and out of the parties before the monsoons hit."