This year 100 more women received bids to join Pan-Hellenic sororities than last year and members of the Greek-letter community said they believe the increase is due to the time of year the organization chose to hold recruitment.

“Because rush was so late this year, a larger number of girls came out. We took a larger pledge class than we ever have before,” said Stephanie Gresalfi, president of Alpha Phi. “We took 40 girls (and) almost doubled our chapter. We are so excited to have them and welcome them to Alpha Phi.”

Rush was held about one month later than previous years.

About 340 women received bids this year, whereas sororities offered bids to 240 women last year, said Rebecca Hyne, vice president of marketing and public relations for the Pan-Hellenic Association.

“Having a full month (between the first day of class and the start of recruitment) gave Pan-Hellenic more time to advertise recruitment and encourage girls to register for recruitment, which ultimately increased the numbers.”

One sorority, Phi Beta Pi, celebrated its first recruitment on the GW campus, after being chartered last year. Hyne also attributed the increase in pledges to the addition of Phi Beta Pi which brought the number of Pan-Hellenic sororities to 10.

Members of the Pi Beta Phi sorority said their first fall recruitment went well.

“Our first recruitment was amazing; we have 41 new members,” said Stephanie Neves, president of Pi Beta Phi. “This brings our chapter total to 116 (members).”

Jackie Friedberger, public relations director for Alpha Delta Pi, also said her sorority inducted one of its biggest classes in the chapter’s history.

“We have a really great class with some really great girls,” Friedberger said.

Though women interested in fall recruitment are typically freshmen and sophomores, some juniors and seniors participated this year.

Freshman Christina Preddice said rush was both intimidating and rewarding.

“Recruitment was a very busy process,” Preddice said. “A lot of people thought it was so long and daunting, but I met a lot of people.”

Preddice said she received a bid and chose to join the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority because she felt it was the best fit for her.

“I picked (Kappa Kappa Gamma) mainly because I liked the people and I like the philanthropy, Reading Is Fundamental, which I participated in during high school,” Preddice said. “I’m looking forward to working with that, and (participating in) the socials and mixers that we hold.”