Although the Panhellenic Council chose not to hold winter rush this year, two of the six sororities offered open bids this term according to President of the Panhellenic Council Alex Kremer '01 and sorority presidents.
While Panhell did not hold an official winter rush, it did allow each sorority to offer up to two open bids this term.
This winter both Alpha Xi Delta and Epsilon Kappa Theta sororities decided to seek new members via open bidding.
"We did take one," Alpha Xi President Julie Calderon '01 said. "We decided that people who were off in the fall should have the opportunity to check out houses if they wanted to."
According to Calderon, Alpha Xi held "a number of events" this winter to promote new membership, including a Superbowl party and a study break. Approximately eight women initially expressed interest in the sorority, and one was offered a bid.
Theta also sought new members and gave out the Panhellenic maximum of two open bids.
"I think that a big part of the decision not to have winter rush this year was that most of the houses are incredibly full," Kremer said.
Despite the low capacity of the sorority system, Panhell did see the need to allow new members to join this term.
"With the D-plan being what it is, there are plenty of people who are off in the fall who would like to rush," Kremer said.
The process by which sororities selected new members was unique to each house.
"There is no standard procedure," Kremer said.
Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Delta and Kappa Delta Epsilon sororities did not offer new bids.
"We made a house decision not to take any new pledges this term," Tri-delt President Cristina Devito '01 said.
When asked why, Devito could not comment, citing that fact that, like most sororities, Tri-delt voted on the issue in a house meeting where pros and cons were discussed.
"I cannot tell you what we talked about at meetings," Devito said.
Kappa President Chiara Grabill '01 and Sigma Delt President Liz Kleinerman '01 also declined to comment on their decision.
Grabill said she could not divulge information pertaining to the factors that went into Kappa's decision not to offer any open bids this winter. She did, however, point out that inter-sorority differences might explain the diversity in winter rush practices.
"Open bids work well for some houses and not for others," Grabill said.
KDE President Lynne Grossman '01 was unavailable for comment.
Although few sororities participated in winter rush this year, this process may become the norm rather than the exception in the coming years.
The recent recommendations on the Student Life Initiative suggested that fraternity and sorority rush be moved to winter term next year. However, if traditional fall rush is retained, Kremer hopes to add an official Panhell winter rush next year so that women who are not on campus during the fall may still have the chance to become part of the sorority system.
"That is definitely something I would like to see in the future," Kremer said.
