University Of Alabama Has The Largest Sorority Rush In The Nation

After Racism Scandal, Alabama Has The Largest Sorority Rush

The University of Alabama is having the largest sorority recruitment process in the nation this week, setting a new record for the flagship institution.

Julie Johnson, Chairman of National Panhellenic Conference-Panhellenics Committee, told The Huffington Post on Monday that 2,241 UA students had entered the sorority recruitment process.

Alabama had the largest recruitment enrollment numbers in 2013, with 2,113 students participating during that round, Johnson added. It represents a consistent growth over five years, up from 1,490 women registering for rush at UA back in 2009.

Those numbers were on target with last week's prediction from UA Panhellenic President Hannah McBrayer in a video posted by the university where she said they were expecting 2,300 women to pledge this year.

The uptick comes less than a year after it was revealed that traditionally all-white sororities were discriminating against black pledges, which was first reported by the UA student newspaper, the Crimson White. The sororities eventually did admit black members during an open bid process in the fall.

Each sorority will have a national representative present this year, McBrayer said. Some sororities replaced their alumnae advisers at UA following the segregation controversy in 2013, according to AL.com. McBrayer said the national representatives would be there to ensure chapters are recruiting on their national organization's standards.

never seen so many girls in one place at one time #alabamarush #rush pic.twitter.com/zCPrAy0hfV

— m (@mariellemathe) August 10, 2014

UA is considered to have the largest Greek system in the nation, counting more than 7,200 fraternity and sorority members last year. But having a larger number of women rushing to the same number of houses potentially makes it more difficult to get accepted.

The UA Panhellenic Association distributed a nearly 100 page recruitment manual called "Greek Chic" to all rushees.

Rush week continues through the week until bid day on Saturday.

The university did not respond to multiple requests from The Huffington Post for additional comment.

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