Twenty “baby angels” were born to Pi Beta Phi and 27 “baby hooters” were born to Chi Omega Sunday.

At this year’s sorority bid day, the Panhellenic Association of Ohio State took in the highest number of new members in five years according to reports on the OSU Greek Life Web site.

A total of 275 female students received sorority bids this quarter, said Sarah Lucas, PHA director of recruitment events and activities, and nine out of the 13 sororities met their quota.

These numbers are up from 200 bids in 2005 and 208 in 2006.

The falling numbers raised red flags to the Panhellenic Recruitment Team, which decided last year to take action in improving the amount of bids. The aim was to get the word out about the positive aspects and numerous benefits members can experience by joining a sorority.

“There have been quite a few changes in the recruitment process this year, which I think can account for some of the increase in interest in greek life (on campus),” said Ellen Regennitter, PHA vice president of recruitment.

She said a major change made this year was blending together elements of the formal process with elements of the informal process.

Winter quarter is the time for formal recruitment, in which a series of organized events are held by each sorority recognized by the National Panhellenic Conference. Informal recruitment is generally less structured and is an option for upperclassmen in the autumn and for all students in the spring.

“We turn over numbers more efficiently in informal recruitment than we do in formal recruitment,” Regennitter said.

In the past, there was one day set aside where a potential new member (PNM) could visit every sorority at the Ohio Union and another day to tour the sorority houses she was interested in.

With the new program, there are four weeks of open houses, beginning in November. This way, a PNM could attend events at chapter facilities based on their schedules and could return to a house if she needed another opportunity to meet the women.

Kate Baker, a junior in biology and member of the Alpha Phi sorority, said the new process is beneficial to both PNMs and existing sisters.

“It gives us a chance to see the PNMs more and actually get to know them better,” she said. “It lets us see them in a comfortable environment, instead of in the Union where it can be really stuffy. Now it’s less structured and more realistic.”

Regennitter said the PNM selection process was also changed. Instead of ranking their top three or eight chapters, PNMs now rank all 13 chapters in order of preference.

“There are 13 different houses at Ohio State, and the PNMs are asked to visit each of them,” Regennitter said. “For someone who has had no prior greek experience, it can be hard to remember all 13, so this new selections process helped PNMs give all chapters a chance.”

New programs were also introduced for Recruitment Guides (RGs). An RG, according to the PHA Web site, is a representative who has no contact with her own chapter during recruitment and is available to guide women through the process and answer questions.

“They were enrolled in a leadership class during the fall of this year, which helped to make the RGs more prepared to council the PNMs and to help out the chapters during rounds,” Regennitter said. “It also taught them a bit about leadership and leadership development.”

Regennitter said the success of this year’s recruitment is because the Panhellenic Recruitment Team went above and beyond in planning, advertising and hosting events.

“The team was a stellar group of women with a real passion for getting the word out about greek life,” she said.

Michael Evans can be reached at [email protected].