Beyond the pressure to accommodate on-campus housing demands, Wake Forest’s growing student body brought additional challenges for 2026 sorority recruitment as chapters adjusted to an unprecedented number of Potential New Members (PNMs) looking to run home this spring semester.
“The amount of PNMs was extremely noticeable,” said sophomore Isla Rollinson, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. “The days were really long, and it was very difficult to get to know each girl that you talked to because, in the first couple of days, we spoke to a larger number of girls for only 5 to 10 minutes.”
As of 2024, 65% of Wake Forest’s female population participates in Greek Life organizations, and in 2026, seven sororities participated in formal recruitment. According to Marley Schwarz, vice president of recruitment of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, 717 PNMs participated in recruitment, significantly more than the 645 who participated the year prior.
Schwarz said that though recruitment teams were adjusted to in-person rush since the practice returned in full last year, coordinating this year’s recruitment was difficult due to the large number of PNMs.
“Given the numbers, it altered how everything was run,” Schwarz said. “For example, you had a lot more recruiters moving in early to recruit, and you needed more space and enough people to accommodate the increase in P&Ms. I think last year, we had maybe 115 or 120 recruiters come back, and that was manageable, but this year, we had 145 because we just needed that many people to help.”
Nidhi Gandhi, a sophomore and new member of Kappa Delta sorority, said the rush process proceeded well despite the increased numbers.
“I remember my friends who rushed last year seemed to have a significantly smaller pledge class in comparison to this year,” Gandhi said. “Despite the large turnout, the event was managed as smoothly as possible. Although the lines to enter the events were long, they organized us alphabetically and checked our order multiple times to prevent mistakes, which helped everything run efficiently.”
Rollinson said the rush process felt more impersonal due to the larger number of PNMs and the limited time to truly get to know them.
“Because there were so many girls rushing, there were more rounds with shorter conversations,” Rollinson said. “This made it really difficult to have deeper conversations as it felt like right when you started to break through the initial awkwardness of meeting a stranger, the time was up.”
These challenges are not limited to recruitment — an increased number of PNMs creates larger pledge classes (PCs), which, according to Schwarz, strain sororities.
“Within the chapters, you don’t have the people to give every individual member the attention that they deserve,” Schwarz said. “You’re stretched way too thin financially and with energy levels. You’re trying to host events that accommodate hundreds of people. And what I think is harder on the PNMs is that you lose a personality style across a chapter. You no longer have a communal identity that PNMs can identify with.”
Schwarz and Rollinson agreed that adding another sorority to campus would reduce pressure on existing sororities and may produce more positive rush experiences. Rollinson also said a longer recruitment period would allow PNMs and recruitment teams more time to connect.
“Rush needs to be longer to adjust for the large amounts of PNMs,” Rollinson said. “As Wake keeps increasing class sizes, I think it’s time they consider adding more sororities. The new member classes are the biggest they have ever been, which is great and exciting, but if Wake is planning on continuing to increase the size of the school, this is something that needs to be accounted for.”
Gandhi said her recruitment experience still accomplished what she had hoped for: a supportive environment that allowed her to run home on bid day.
“My experience with rush was very positive,” Gandhi said. “I went into the process knowing very little about what to expect, but I was supported by many kind women who guided me and made sure I was always where I needed to be. Although the process can be stressful for many girls, it was reassuring to see that most people ultimately ended up where they felt they belonged. The excitement and happiness on bid day made all the anxiety and uncertainty throughout the process feel worthwhile.”
