The freshly stitched greek letters on the front of the sweatshirt still shine with a never-been-washed glow. It still smells dingy, like a factory. The creases in the sleeves still remain from being kept in a box for weeks.

These new fraternity sweat shirts are a more prevalent sight on campus than last year.

The number of Syracuse University males who pledged a fraternity in the Interfraternity Council has more than doubled in comparison to past years, said Matt Goodman, a junior newspaper major and IFC rush co-chairman.

This year 73 men pledged compared to last year’s number of about 35, said Tom Toole, a senior finance and accounting major and president of IFC.

The higher numbers have come during a time of recent decline in fraternity membership.

‘In general, the rush numbers have gone down in the past three or four years,’ said Charles Walker, a junior religious studies major and IFC rush co-chairman. ‘We’re looking to change that.’

Fall rush numbers are usually about a quarter of those during spring rush, and generally don’t exceed 50. Walker attributes the higher numbers to the work IFC members did to publicize fall rush.

‘We advertised a lot more than we did in the spring,’ Walker said.

IFC also tried new recruiting techniques for the first time, such as setting up a listserv of all sophomore men in order to send e-mails about fall rush events.

‘Overall, we did a pretty good job of making it out to be something every college man ought to do,’ Goodman said.

Rush wasn’t highly publicized last spring largely because late IFC elections gave Goodman and Walker only three weeks to prepare.

‘We were thrown on the spot,’ Goodman said. ‘We weren’t very organized.’

To make sure this does not happen again this spring, IFC members have since extended the term of its rush chairs. IFC’s improved reputation also helped fraternities recruit new members, Goodman said.

The six-week pledge period, set by university officials, expired by this week for most chapters. Students pledging in some houses, though, don’t seem to mind that they haven’t been initiated yet.

‘It’s awesome,’ said Nick George, an undeclared sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences, about pledging a fraternity. ‘I know a couple of guys in houses, and it looked like fun.’

George, a Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge, was too busy to rush last spring, but decided to rush in the fall for several reasons.

‘A lot of guys who pledged in spring encouraged their sophomore friends this year,’ said Chris Barnhill, a junior general studies major in the School of Management and president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. SAE saw their fall pledge class size quadruple from two last year to eight this year.

Published on November 12, 2003 at 12:00 pm