Young women held the envelopes that could change the rest of their college experiences in their hands. Colorful outfits and costumes surrounded them and loud cheers were heard from all directions as current sorority members chanted their letters. Pride filled the EMU amphitheater to the brim.
This scene takes place each year on Bid Day, but this time those cheers were louder than usual.
University of Oregon Fraternity and Sorority Life has reached the largest number of students in history this year with approximately 3,300 members – 231 more than Fall 2013.
“The numbers have been growing (in past years), but this year it was exponentially higher,” Morgan Plew, President of Panhellenic Council, said. “As far as sorority recruitment goes, we had to close registration before students even moved into the dorms, which has never happened before.”
A record breaking 905 women registered for Fall Formal Recruitment this year.
With only 17 fraternities and 10 sororities, there isn’t enough room for the growing demand, and with that demand comes more responsibility to uphold safety standards.
A recent study done by Jennifer Freyd, a UO psychology professor who’s findings on sexual violence have been presented at the White House, showed that those FSL were more likely to experience sexual assault.
In FSL, 48.1 percent of females and 23.6 percent of males have experienced non-consensual sexual contact. In comparison, females not in FSL reported 33.1 percent, and males 7.9 percent.
“What we’ve done is shown the campus that women in Greek Life particularly are really affected by sexual violence compared to the rest of campus,” Marina Rosenthal, a UO graduate student who helped conduct the study, said. “That information, to us, is a pretty clear indication that students are less safe when they participate in Greek Life and are more likely to get hurt.”
Justin Shukas, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UO, has made sure that there are a number of programs in place to make students feel safe in terms of sexual assault.
“We do a new member orientation program that happens within two to three weeks of when new members receive their bids,” he said. “We cover sexual assault prevention and alcohol abuse prevention.”
Additionally, many chapters’ national headquarters require members to complete Greek Edu, which is similar to the online structure of Alcohol Edu, but covers a wider range of topics including sexual assault.
Tayler Cavanagh, a new member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, said the programs that have been put in place make her feel much safer.
“I feel like (the precautions) are pretty sufficient,” she said. “There are courses we have to take before we can go to functions in terms of alcohol education and hazing. Everyone is aware, so we’re really working together.”
Shukas said that many FSL members were surprised by the results of the study.
“I think a lot of the students’ reaction is that they weren’t aware,” Shukas said. “The data was also self reported, and it’s unsure if those students were actually in chapters, so there are still a lot of questions about that.”
Dean of Students Paul Shang noted that Fraternities and Sororities nationwide are facing increased attention.
At the end of September, Clemson University shut down 24 fraternities after a fraternity member’s body was found in a lake following an early morning group activity run with Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers.
“We are not naive,” Shang said. “We know what is happening nationally and we certainly are aware of what Clemson has recently decided to do. Fraternities and sororities are experiencing a great deal of national scrutiny, deservedly so, but also we think that we have responded appropriately to that.”
UO FSL saw first hand how individuals’ poor decisions can lead to an unsafe environment after five sorority women were hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning following Bid Day 2013. This year, FSL is taking extra precautions as numbers increase.
With all of the growth, FSL plans on holding themselves to a higher standard than they have in the past. Shukas and Shang have addressed concerns and shared precautions they have taken in order to keep their members safe.
“I did have meetings with fraternity and sorority presidents and talked with them about our concerns and wanting to make sure that we have a good start to fall term,” Shang said. “We discussed issues that have happened in the past and talked about our expectations of appropriate behavior and concerns for the safety of members.”
In direct response to the concerns following the hospitalizations of Bid Day 2013, a specific system has been set up in order to avoid this.
“This year Panhellenic Council voted to extend the recruitment period which means that all members and new members are sober for 36 hours after bid day and so that will add an additional night where sororities have to plan sisterhood events,” Shukas said.
Moving forward, FSL expects to grow immensely and hope to eventually expand from 15% of the student body to 20% in the next few years.
“When fraternity is done right, it is one of the best things on a college campus, and I think unfortunately sometimes when it’s not done right, it’s seen as a bad thing,” Shukas said. “There are so many students who do amazing work and we want to make sure that we have the ability to support all students that want to be involved in a Greek organization.”