BOULDER, Colo.—Years after alcohol related deaths threatened recruitment for fraternities and sororities at the state’s two largest universities, Facebook is helping the groups make a comeback.
Membership in fraternities at the University of Colorado is up 65 percent since just before their fall 2005 recruitment, while sorority membership is up 50 percent since 2007. And the Greek community at Colorado State University has grown 45 percent since 2005.
“Facebook is our No. 1 recruitment tool,” said Marc Stine, a “Greek advocate” employed by Boulder’s Interfraternity Council, which represents all 15 Boulder fraternities.
Membership in CU’s fraternities dwindled to 660 in 2005 following the September 2004 alcohol poisoning deaths of 19-year-olds Lynn “Gordie” Bailey, Chi Psi pledge at CU, and CSU sophomore Samantha Spady. Both were found in fraternity houses.
Now with Facebook helping with recruitment, Boulder fraternities have grown to 1,092 members.
Facebook, the fast-growing online hangout with more than 175 million worldwide users, allows fraternities and sororities to move away from their image of drunken party houses to showcase their activities that including study groups, formal parties, and philanthropic work.
“Facebook is a culture-changer. It has totally changed the game,” said Royal Carson, a CU sophomore and president of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. “We have to take advantage of that kind of technology, and it is working for us.”
Carson’s fraternity has grown from 24 members in 2005 to 92 now, including 31 Facebook-savvy pledges from last fall’s rush.
Facebook has become a crucial recruitment tool after fraternities at CU chose not to follow a school mandate to end recruitment of first-semester freshman. The university severed ties with the groups—no longer mentioning them in university literature or Web sites—and in 2005 and 2006 the school sent letters to parents urging them to be wary of fraternities.
Even though the school stopped sharing addresses of incoming students with sororities, those groups at CU now have 1,500 members—up from 1,000 in 2007.
At Colorado State University, membership in the 21 fraternities and 14 sororities was 958 in 2005 and reached 1,395 in 2008.
Fraternity membership nationally has reached 350,000 undergrads at 800 campuses, nearing the peak membership of 375,000 in the late 1980s. Membership in sororities is nearing a decade high of 250,000 in 2,956 chapters.
“If you don’t have a digital presence, you are going to be left in the dust,” said Pete Smithhisler, president and chief executive of the North American Interfraternity Conference.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
