Updated: Sept. 19 at 11:55 a.m.
This post was written by Hatchet reporter Zaid Shoorbajee.

Sororities will hand out bids on the National Mall for the first time Tuesday, after years of celebrating in University Yard.< Rachael Abram, president of GW’s Panhellenic Association, said sororities will move "bid day" to the National Mall to give new members a more unique experience. “We were hoping to make bid day an ‘only at GW’ kind of thing,” Abram said, adding that the mall also offers more space.“I think this is really kind of GW’s version of the big stadium,” Abram said. But professors also asked the group to hold "bid day" away from the law school’s main building in University Yard because it disrupted classes. “Five p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon is prime time for law students to have class,” Abram said, but added that while the input from law professors was a consideration in the move, it was not the driving factor. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="336"] GW’s sororities will celebrate their newest members Tuesday on the National Mall. Hatchet File Photo.[/caption]

Tim Miller, director of the Center for Student Engagement, added that the University Yard had already been booked for this year.

“We think this will be an amazing opportunity for our chapters and their new members in an iconic setting on the Mall.  I am looking forward to seeing how this works and hope this will make what is already an incredible moment even more memorable,” Miller said.

More than 400 women receive bids each year, and the event typically brings hundreds of women to University Yard.

Fitting all of GW’s Panhellenic sororities in the space has become more of a challenge in recent years. Last year, the University added an 11th sorority, Kappa Delta.

In an interview last week, Miller said chapters ar

– Sarah Ferris contributed to this report

This post was updated to reflect the following clarification:

Abrams said noise complaints were only part of the reason the Panhellenic Association moved its event to the National Mall. She said it also needed a larger space.