Sorority pledge numbers increase
Official says more applicants
make rush positive experience
By Andrea Kaser
Staff Reporter
Pledges have settled into their new
society, and greck officials have begun
assessing this year’s rush.
Sororities had an increase in the
number of pledges this year and fra
ternities signed on their average number
of men.
Deborah Friedman, president of
the Panhcllcnic Association, said she
thought rush week was a more posi
tive experience for applicants this year
because chapter members emphasized
the greck system as a whole instead of
focusing on their own house.
Rush also was positive, she said,
because more women applied to go
through rush, more women were se
lected and fewer dropped out.
With 461 new pledges, sororities
pledged 57 more women than in 1991.
Of 538 applicants to sororities this
year, 52 withdrew during rush. Last
year, 83 of 502 applicants withdrew.
This year, 25 women completed
rush but were not selected by any
sororities. Last year, 18 women were
not selected.
Jayne Wade Anderson, director of
Greek Affairs, said she didn’t know
why the number of pledges increased.
Greek Affairs didn’t change its re
cruitment strategy, she said, which
involves sending information to ev
eryone accepted to the university. 1
Fraternities pledged 545 men, which i
Mak A/.adi, president of the Inter- I
ratcmity Council, said was about the
iverage number of pledges.
But fraternities were finished with
ush earlier this year, he said, because
louse members were better prepared
Brian Shellito
for rush.
Because the selection process for
fraternities is less formal than sorori
ties, they submit only ncw-plcdge
totals.
1991 1992
Applicants
New pledges
Women who
withdrew
Women who
completed rush
but weren’t
accepted
_I
RPAT releasing minority report j
Group to review,
publish results
By Andy Raun
Staff Reporter
Survey information gathered last
winter on the climate for ethnic mi
norities at UNL should be ready for
release within the next several weeks,
an official said Tuesday.
Peg Blake, assistant vice chancel
lor for student affairs, said the Racial
Pluralism Action Team, which com
missioned the survey last year, was
planning to convene a group of about
30 students and faculty and staff to
review the -results before they are
I
released.
The group members will be asked
ihcir perspectives on the results, Blake
said, which will help officials find
possible meanings they might have
missed when they read the survey.
Once the review is completed, she
said, the survey results will be pub
lished.
The survey should provide the basis
for serious discussion of the status of
ethnic minorities at UNL, Blake said.
The survey was designed by James
Gricscn, vice chancellor for student
affairs, members of his staff and fac
ulty from the sociology department.
A stratified, random sample of 450
students, faculty and staff members
was taken by students hired by UNL’s
Bureau of Sociological Research.
The sample was carefully designed
to ensure good representation of eth
nic minorities on campus, Blake said.
The primary question asked was,
“What is the climate at UNL for ra
cial minorities?” Some of the survey
questions were taken from similar
surveys done at other schools, Blake
said.
Blake said the students conduct
ing the survey got many responses
from those they contacted.
“When people found out what this
was about, we had a real high re
sponse rate,” she said.
Respondents’ willingness to talk
about the racial climate “made us feel
like we were doing something that
needed to be done, Blake said.
3OLICE REPORT
Beginning midnight Monday
10:37 a.m. — Backpack stolen, *
Bob Dcvancy Sports Center, SI8.
2:05 p.m. — Barricades stolen,
16th and Vine streets, 14th and W
streets, SI 65.
5:47 p.m.—Two-vehicle, non-in
jury accident, parking lot at 17th
and Y streets, S450.
6:34 pjn. — Woman injured, Cam
pus Recreation Center, transported
to University Health Center.
11:49 p.m. — Attempted theft of
car cover, parking lot at 17th and
Vine street.
Freshman
Continued from Page 1
word (freshman) would fall by the
wayside,” she said.
Blake said she thought it was
important to be more inclusive of
women in the English language, but
she said she hadn’t made the cause a
priority.
“There arc bigger problems with
sexism on this campus than just that
word,” she said. “I don’t really get
that concerned about the change.”
Kristin Jossi, a freshman pre-physi
cal therapy major, said she thought
the idea was ridiculous,
lous.
Kelly Scylc, a freshman pre-med
major, said she also thought the change
was unnecessary.
“People analyze too much,” she
said. “We’re going to end up chang
ing the whole English system.”
Vit Xayarath, a freshman pre
pnysicai mcrapy major, said he was
impartial to the change, but said he
could understand how the term could
offend some women.
“The word doesn’t offend me, but
it probably offends girls more than
guys,” he said.
Cade Olbricht, a freshman account
ing major, said he had never thought
the word “freshman” was offensive to
anyone, and said he hoped UNL would
resist the change.
Gowen said a student group started
the movement at NWU.
A linguistics class was studying
how certain words influence people’s
identity. The students discovered the
term “freshman” was inclusive of only
about 50 percent of the class, and
believed the term was an example of
sexist language, she said.
The students then approached the
Student Affairs Senate, which pro
posed that a more inclusive term be
used.
The university’s administrators did
a study of their own and determined
that the term change would be good,
Gowen said
Gowen said the university still used
the term “freshman” to describe the
number of hours a student has com
pleted .
I
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