In December of 2008, Cornell’s Panhellenic Council was one of the first to vote in a two-tier Total system, which means there are different Totals set in the fall and the spring semesters. Fall total for 2008 has been 108 since 2005.Total for the past spring recruitment was set as average chapter size. However, due the drastic difference between average chapter size and Total in the fall, Panhellenic decided to reevaluate Total for the fall of 2010.
A vote was proposed for March 17th to raise Total to 118, average chapter size for the fall. Two-thirds was needed to pass, but the vote was not passed. However, a vote for April 21st was re-proposed to once again vote for Total to increase to average chapter size, and this time passed.
During discussions about Total, Panhellenic Council considered largest chapter size, average chapter size, and median chapter size for the new Total. However, all the women felt most comfortable with 118, which was the average chapter size. Smaller chapters might be nervous about the effort to recruit more, which is why other numbers were not chosen. However, with the new Total size, this will increase the opportunity for women to join our Panhellenic system, which is great for the Greek community as more chapters will be eligible for COB (continuous open bidding) recruitment in the fall.
Sometimes convincing chapters to participate in COB recruitment is difficult but since more chapters will be eligible to participate, this will help add a more positive outlook on fall recruitment and open up our doors to more interested potential members.