UCF Fraternity Fall Rush Numbers Down

*Update* Sorority Rush Fall Comparsions: UCF has confirmed Fall 2012 sorority new member totals.

2012 - 513 new members

2011 – 724 new members

2010 - 618 new members

Between 2011 and 2012, a nearly 30% decrease in new sorority members is evident. We will report further on fraternity numbers as soon as official reports are released.

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As Fraternity Rush week draws to a close, KnightNews.com has learned of the recruitment numbers for several of the fraternity’s before their official release.

From what we have gathered, Fraternity new member numbers are down from previous years. This goes for sorority numbers as well.

We can only guess at the reasons behind these lower than normal numbers however, several factors over the past year surely can be attributed to the decrease in Greek Life participation.

Tuition hikes in the past year alone are causing more and more students to seek alternate ways to aid payment and this includes less extra-curricular activities such as Greek Life. This summer, SGA President Cortez Whatley pushed to raise UCF’s tuition by 15%, eventually winning the board over to accept this.

Other reasons that may have contributed to the reduced Greek Life participation include the banning of girls at fraternity rush and last year’s tragic death of Ann Hefferin. Hefferin died of a bacterial infection last August, however, until alcohol was ruled out as a cause of death factor, the fallout brought a dark cloud over the Greek life organizations. Her death also sparked new, unpopular rules and restrictions for UCF Greek Life.

Here are the “unofficial” new member numbers that KnightNews.com has gathered so far:

Phi Delt: 44
Alpha Epsilon Pi: 17
Lambda Chi: 27
Theta Chi:51
Delta Tau Delta: 17

These numbers are unofficial until Wednesday. If you have more info about Fraternity or Sorority numbers text our tip line at 407-5-TIP-UCF!