Following weeks of interviews and rush activities, Duke's 10 selective living groups have extended bids to approximately 179 hopefuls.
Incoming classes range in size from four to 28 from a recruitment pool that some SLG members have called "huge."
"I absolutely, 100 percent, whole-heartedly love them," said Round Table Rush Chair Katherine Cho, a junior. "We had a bunch of people rush, and if we could've extended more bids, we would have."
Some rush quotas were adjusted this year in part due to changes in housing limitations, said Mirecourt Rush Chair Neel Vora, a junior. Residence Life and Housing Services requested that some triple rooms convert back to doubles because more space has become available with the completion of Few Quadrangle renovations, resulting in fewer bed spaces than last year for SLG sections. Recruitment quotas depend on the number of beds available for each group.
Still, Joe Gonzalez, associate dean of residence life, said groups can request to keep triples, but Vora said a response from RLHS would not have been received in time to determine bid numbers.
"The reason we went back to the former status was that we didn't have the density [in past years] in some halls that we had this year," Gonzalez said. "With Few back, we have that flexibility to go back to what we had before."
Although housing changes caused cutbacks for some groups, SHARE President Colin Lewis, a senior, said his group's relocation to Central Campus next year was "a pretty big selling point" because the shift will allow for the more communal environment SHARE members value.
Other changes in recruitment numbers stem from annual fluctuations in the number of active members choosing to live away from campus the subsequent year, SLG officials said.
Members of Selective House Council said they did not have specific numbers on the size of the recruitment pool.
SHC members have considered streamlining the recruitment process with a set rush calendar and single bid day for all SLGs. Currently, with separate recruitment schedules and independent bid days, the process may be unfair to rushees, said SHC Co-chair Kait Nagi, a junior.
"It's just in the primary discussion stages right now, but if we do that, I think more of the focus is going to be on making sure that recruitment lasts about the same amount of time for everyone," she said. "It gives the freshmen more freedom and it's more fair for all the groups."
But Language Dorm Rush Chair Abraham Fu, a senior, said the different bid days did not affect his group's recruitment results because those rushing were committed to Langdorm. Cho noted that Round Table has one of the last bid days because the group aims to give rushees the best chance to express themselves.
"I feel like it makes sense, but at the same time, among the selective living groups there's a general consensus of tolerance and grace that we offer each other," she said. "If people are conflicted, we offer extensions.... So I think it would be a good idea, but if that means we have to cut rush a week earlier, I don't think that that's worth it because I think that getting to know the rushees is more important than having a single bid day."
Even if SHC decides to implement a universal recruitment calendar, the schedule will not take effect for at least another year, said Brownstone President Priyanka Kanakamedala, a junior. SHC is in the process of being reformed after disbandment last year due to prolonged inactivity, Nagi said. The new council is reforming with the hope of creating a continuous forum for SLG leaders to discuss common themes and important issues, she added.
In addition to possibly changing the recruitment schedule, adding an SLG information session similar to ones held by the Interfraternity Council is another main topic on the table, SHC officials said.
If a new calendar is adopted, recruitment patterns may change for Wayne Manor because the all-male SLG has traditionally followed the fraternity recruitment schedule, said junior Greg Rivers, SHC co-chair and Wayne Manor president.
"Part of the problem is SHC is basically being reformed," he said. "I don't know yet how Selective House Council could put together something that would benefit all involved just because there are so many dynamics. We'll keep an open mind to new suggestions they have, but it's not something we've necessarily been seeking in how to change rush. But if there's a way to improve it, we're open to that."
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