Wednesday, August 22, 2001
No More Straight Lines
Buses used to transport record number of sorority recruit

Sam Eaton
staff reporter

Sorority recruits rode buses back and forth from Worth Hills mainly to prevent the women from having to walk single-file around campus and be subjected to male scrutiny, said Panhellenic President Katie Urban.

“In the past the girls walked across campus and a lot of the guys lined up on the sides with signs,” Urban said. “It’s pretty disrespectful.”

Molly Beuerman/Skiff Staff Sorority recruits file into the Kappa Kappa Gamma house Tuesday. The women were bused from main campus to Worth Hills for the week-long event.

Panhellenic Vice President of Recruitment Lisette Gerch said she felt that the reputation of TCU sororities was being compromised when the women walked in their easily identifiable single-file lines.

“It made the Greek system look bad to the community,” Gerch said. “It seemed harsh and made the girls feel uncomfortable.”

Andy Hovis, a sophomore business management major, said he thinks that the buses are in the best interest of the recruits.

“I think it (the busing system) is more respectful for the girls,” Hovis said. “It saves them a lot of grief.”

Another reason buses were necessary this year was that the women had a broader area of campus to cover with meetings ranging from Worth Hills to the Bass Building, Gerch said. She said other campus organizations using various buildings had forced recruitment to spread to all areas of campus.

“Since we were using other buildings farther from Worth Hills, the buses helped out a lot,” Gerch said.

Urban said that the new busing system was being paid for by an increase for each late registration. The general registration fee is $50, and the late fee had been $15, but was increased to $20 to cover the cost of the buses.

An increase in the number of recruits also prompted the Panhellenic council to push for buses.

“This is the biggest group of recruits we’ve had in 14 years,” Urban said. “We’re making accommodations so that everyone can visit all the houses.”

A record number of 461 freshmen and 93 sophomore and junior women participated in recruitment this year.

Sam Eaton
s.m.eaton@student.tcu.edu

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