Fall rush brought many fraternities significant increases in membership over last year, while some houses maintained their usual size or lost some numbers.
Interfraternity President Spiros Maliagros '98 called Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity the "big winner" for doubling its membership with 34 accept bids, compared to 18 last year.
Gamma Delta Chi fraternity -- itself struggling to gain new members until last year -- had 25 men accept bids, up from just six last fall.
Among other increases over last year, Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity had 11 men sink bids, Psi Upsilon fraternity had 22 accept bids and Sigma Nu fraternity had 14 accept bids.
Phi Delta Alpha gained 19 new members, while last fall's rush brought the house only five new members.
Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity had another big year, adding 32 men this fall. Sig Ep had over 30 members last year also.
Both Chi Heorot and Alpha Delta fraternities had 27 men sink bids, slightly down from last year's 31-member pledge classes at those houses.
Theta Delta Chi fraternity gained 25 new members, Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity had 20 men sink bids and Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity had 14 accept bids.
Zeta Psi fraternity was the only IFC fraternity with a significant decrease in membership. The house gained three new members this year, down from 15 sink bids last fall.
Bones Gate Fraternity President Ben Wright '98 refused to comment on the number of new members his house gained.
Though few sunk bids at his house this term, Zete President Tom Millett '98 said some have deferred until Winter term.
Chi Gam President Punk Pankaj '98 said his house is able to maintain the same size pledge classes due to its "strong foundation in the baseball players."
Pankaj said 25 is the "optimal number" for new membership each year, but he hopes to gain more members with Winter rush.
Gamma Delt President Fouad Elnagger '98 said the large increase in the number of sink bids his house has over last fall is a part of the house's "regaining its footing" since last Spring term, when it gained 14 new members.
"We've been doing more pre-rush activities instead of just sitting in the house," Elnagger said.
Elnagger said while many people believe the suspension of Beta Theta Pi fraternity contributes to the increase in membership at his house, that conception is an "unfair stereotype."
"The football players are dividing themselves among many houses," he said.
SAE President David Belden '97 said his house expected about 20 new members, but was "shocked" with the large increase.
He attributes the large numbers to the house's rush chair and efforts by the other brothers.
He said the fact that the house passed minimum standards with distinction may have also played a role.
Sig Ep President Peter Hasenkamp '98 credits his house's consistency in large pledge classes to the year-round events it holds to attract freshmen.
Theta Delt President Jason Jones '98 said his house has historically had very strong memberships.
Jones said his house is very excited about the number of new members it gained with Fall rush, "but we don' t want to get too big since it gets unwieldy."
Tri-Kap President Bill Bleier '98 said, "We did a fair amount of active recruiting and it paid off" and he considers this term's increase in members as part of a "steady upward trend."
Heorot President Shane Ness '98 said the number of new members his house gained this term is "perfect" since last year's massive pledge class was almost too large.
Ness said he is also pleased that nine different sports teams are now represented in the house.
Psi U President Adrian Durbin '98 said this year's numbers are typical for his house, since he considers the 14 members the house gained last fall as a small class.
But, he said, "We don't like to have too big of a class just in terms of forming a strong brotherhood."
Phi Delt Vice President Todd Nova '98 said his house had become aware of the problem of its small membership, and the brothers worked to get the numbers higher.
But, he said the low the house hit last year was abnormal since in the last 10 years, it has averaged about 20 new members a year.
Sigma Nu President Mike Smith '98 said he does not believe 20 to 25 new members is ideal for his house.
"I, along with the rest of the brotherhood, feel that numbers on that order would jeopardize the close, tight-knit character of Sigma Nu," he said.
Maliagros said the overall increase in memberships of most houses is due to the IFC's role in "recruiting" freshmen early with house barbecues and other events in the spring.
He said the IFC also pulled aside representatives from houses who were "in trouble" due to their low memberships and told them "to get on the ball."
The IFC gave those houses priority on barbecue dates to help them increase their memberships.
Maliagros said there will also be rush held during the Winter term, and he hopes new memberships will be at about 20 to 25 by then.
He said if houses fall below 10 new members, they are in the "danger zone."
This danger ensues from not being able to fill the physical plants during Sophomore Summer or other terms -- and not having enough money to operate the houses, he said.
