JULIE BENNETT
Auburn sororities: 12 facts you might not know about its history, misconceptions and more
Recruitment Week and Bid Day are coming up, which means hundreds of young women are likely considering whether to join a sorority at Auburn University this fall.
With nearly 100 years of sorority history on Auburn University's campus, there's plenty to consider. Since its start in 1922, Greek life at the college has seen some major changes throughout the years.
Want to know more about how Auburn's 17 National Panhellenic Conference sororities have grown and popular misconceptions about the organizations? Here's 12 facts you might not know about its history, misconceptions and more.
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1. Auburn sororities attract an almost equal number of in and out-of-state members.
While many think sororities are only popular among students from Alabama, that's not the case. When looking at the women who joined an Auburn sorority in 2014 and 2015, 51 percent were from Alabama and the other 49 percent were not.
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2. In 2015, the average sorority at Auburn had 95 legacies in recruitment.
A legacy is someone who has a relative in a sorority. While the majority of potential new members last year were legacies, most of them chose to join a sorority they were not a legacy to.
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3. The days of sorority sisters dressing identical are over.
While in the past sorority sisters were often required to dress identical right down to the brand of clothing, chapters are no longer allowed to make members purchase specific items just to wear for recruitment. Instead, they can coordinate outfits made up of basics that each member should have easy, and inexpensive, access to wear.
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4. Auburn sororities no longer perform skits during Recruitment Week.
While sororities at Auburn University performed skits for alumnae and potential new members in the past, the college did away with those events beginning in 1998 in alignment with the National Panhellenic Conference's directive to move toward a “no frills” recruitment.
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JULIE BENNETT
5. More than a thousand women are invited to join a sorority at Auburn each year.
In 2015, 1,489 young women received a bid from one of Auburn University's National Panhellenic Conference sororities during Bid Day following recruitment week.
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6. The chances of a potential new member getting a bid from a sorority at Auburn University are high.
In 2014 and 2015, 93 percent of the women who participated in recruitment week at Auburn joined a sorority. Of the seven percent who do not join, three percent withdrew despite having invitations to remain in the process.
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7. The Auburn Panhellenic community gives around over $500,000 and more than 60,000 hours to various philanthropies each year.
Chapters host fundraisers for their sponsored philanthropy in addition to taking part in community-wide events. Through various events, the Auburn Panhellenic community is the largest annual contributor to the Lee County Chapter of Habitat.
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8. Each sorority averages more than 200 members each year.
On average, Auburn sororities have around 250 members. There are 17 National Panhellenic Conference sororities at the college and 53 Greek organizations total.
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9. The all-Panhellenic GPA at Auburn University was 3.34 this spring.
Panhellenic women have a higher GPA than the undergraduate women who do not join Panhellenic at Auburn. While the all-Panhellenic GPA was 3.34, the non-Greek women’s’ GPA was 3.07.
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Amber Sutton | asutton@al.com
10. 2015 was a record-setting year for sororities at Auburn University.
Last year set an Auburn University record for Sorority Recruitment Week participation with more than 1,600 women taking part in the annual event.
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Amber Sutton | asutton@al.com
11. The majority of women who join are matched to the sorority they list first in their final preferences.
Another popular belief about sororities is that the chance of getting into a preferred sorority is unlikely. While some potential new members are matched elsewhere, 84 percent of potential new members are invited to join their top pick.
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Amber Sutton | asutton@al.com
12. Auburn sororities live in residence halls on campus by choice.
When sororities came to Auburn in 1922, female students were required to live on campus so members of sororities elected to live together in a residence hall. By the time women were allowed to live off-campus if they wanted to, there were lots of sororities at Auburn living in residence halls.
The sororities have been offered the chance to live elsewhere. In 2006, they reconfirmed their desire to remain on campus and moved to the Village, where all sororities currently live, in 2009.
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Amber Sutton | asutton@al.com
More on Auburn sororities
Meet the Auburn University sororities
Auburn University sorority recruitment week sees record year with 1,600 women set to participate
Auburn Bid Day 2015: More than 1,400 women pledge during sorority celebration
Auburn Sorority Bid Day 2015: See which women got bids where
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