Across the board, Pitt sororities see skyrocketing enrollments

Over 730 potential new members attempted to join sororities this spring, and only 490 received bids, a new record for sorority enrollment at Pitt.

As Pitt sororities see a 36% increase in enrollments compared to spring 2023, sorority leaders attribute the rise to everything from the “Bama Rush” trend to COVID-19 isolation.

Starting spring of 2024, near the end of recruitment week, advisors on the Collegiate Panhellenic Council told PNMs they would not all receive bids, contrary to previous years. Spring 2024 saw 447 new members join sororities. With a similarly high turnout this spring, the policy remained in place.

Risa Kampel, a junior marketing major and president of Alpha Epsilon Phi, said the sorority’s number of enrollments is decided by the national chapter and by fraternity and sorority life advisors at Pitt.

“[The national chapter and the advisors at Pitt are] the ones who say ‘We can only guarantee ‘x’ amount of bids,’” Kampel said. “Pitt has never been such a big Greek life school, so with our increasing numbers, we just don’t have spots for everyone.”

Alpha Epsilon Phi enrolled 33 new members last year. This spring, it enrolled about 48 new members, following the trend of increased interest in sorority life at Pitt.

“There’s definitely a huge increase in competition,” Kampel said. “We just don’t have spots for everyone.”

Ev O’Connor, a junior communications major and president of Kappa Delta, said she has witnessed the gradual growth of sorority enrollments at Pitt but also sees the phenomenon being nationwide with social media sorority trends reaching large audiences and sororities being advertised like businesses. 

“I have a sorority adviser who was in Kappa Delta at Pitt who said ‘When I was in a sorority, the entire chapter was 50 members,” O’Connor said. “The growth of Greek life is crazy, and it hasn’t shown signs of stopping at all.”

Kampel and O’Connor said they see TikTok’s “Bama Rush” hashtag, the name for the intense sorority rush season at the University of Alabama, being an influence on the increase in sorority involvement across the country. In the summer of 2023, it was the third most popular hashtag on TikTok, with videos garnering millions of views. O’Connor follows the phenomenon and said that sorority life is, in general, a “trend” right now.

“I cannot emphasize enough that Pitt Rush is nothing like Bama Rush,” O’Connor said. “But stuff that I see on my TikTok is sororities getting PR packages and little things from popular brands.”

With the increasing influence of social media and TikTok in the past decade, sorority culture can now reach larger audiences and more intensely invoke the fear of missing out. Kampel said social media plays a “huge role” in increased sorority enrollment.

“You’re seeing all the sororities post on Instagram all of the events they’re doing and all the bonds between each other, and people are saying ‘I want that,’” Kampel said.

Other sorority leaders believe COVID’s effect on socialization in schools has played a role in increased enrollment. Daniella Cooper, a senior psychology and communications major, member of AEPhi and former Panhel president, said the numbers have “steadily increased” since the pandemic.

“During COVID, if you joined a sorority, you couldn’t exactly make friends in the same way since a majority of it was masked,” Cooper said. “But I think now that we’re getting to the clearing of the pandemic and its effect, more people are interested in joining sororities because the process is a little bit easier to navigate.”

In talking to new members this spring, Abby Greenspan, a sophomore psychology major and member of Alpha Epsilon Phi, also heard from PNMs about the effects of COVID on socialization in school and believes that may also have had an impact on the increasing interest in sorority life.

“I found out they were in eighth grade when COVID happened, and it’s crazy to think about middle school, so you could probably connect it somewhere to that,” Greenspan said.

Recruitment at Pitt consists of four rounds where PNMs learn about each sorority in the lead-up to a bid day. O’Connor said some PNMs usually drop the process after every round, adding up to approximately 100-150 people. According to O’Connor, some people change their minds about joining a sorority, while others are dissatisfied with the house they receive. Ultimately, per O’Connor, “most, but not all” get their number one choice.

Ashley Stelnik, a sophomore nursing major in Sigma Delta Tau who joined last spring, feels sorority life gives her a close-knit group of friends.

“I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else, and for me personally, I know I did end up where I’m meant to be, but I know not every girl feels that way,” Stelnik said.

A previous version of this story referred to sorority recruitment at Pitt as “rush.” Pitt FSL does not refer to its recruitment process as rush. A previous version of this story also referred to received bids as “guaranteed bids.” Sorority bids are not guaranteed at Pitt. The article has been updated to reflect these changes. The Pitt News regrets these errors.