Formal fraternity winter recruitment this year brought in a haul of 349 Northwestern men who dropped their bids, according to the Interfraternity Council. Formal recruitment began on Jan. 8 and concluded Jan. 12, during which fraternity hopefuls did everything from sumo wrestling to crowd surfing in pursuit of a bid.
With 40 new members, Zeta Beta Tau pulled in the largest new pledge class among the 15 fraternities that participated in formal winter recruitment. The fraternities with the next highest number of pledges were Phi Kappa Psi and Phi Delta Theta with 34 new members each.
The average size per new pledge class is 24.2. However, Sigma Nu and Sigma Phi Epsilon – two fraternities restarting chapters on campus – are just beginning their recruitment process and will be building up their chapter foundations through the rest of the year.
Not surprisingly, all-freshman dorm Elder put forth the greatest output of new fraternity members. Just over 25 percent of new pledges – 93 individuals – live in Elder. Bobb saw 59 of its residents drop bids, while Willard and Allison were next on the list with 33 bids each.
