Recruitment plays a major role in the success and continuation of the greek community, leaders in the ISU greek system said. This year, the number of participants in recruitment were the highest they have been since 1989. Average recruitment participation for Iowa State’s 14 sororities has remained steady at about 300 during the past three years. This year, 405 girls participated in the annual formal recruitment week, which began Aug. 12, when they moved into the dorms. There also was a substantial increase in the percentage of upper-class participants, with about 15 percent of this year’s numbers coming from interested sophomores and juniors. Kristin Rice, vice president of greek sorority recruitment and senior in marketing, said this year’s numbers show greek life is moving into a more positive light due to an increased emphasis on community service and philanthropy. Brian Tenclinger, assistant dean of students for Greek Affairs, said the increased numbers show a change of emphasis in the greek system. “These numbers can definitely be attributed to good marketing by students as well as the strong embrace by university administration,” Tenclinger said. “We’re making a strong effort to dispel that Animal House myth by placing our main focus on academics.” Academics appear to be a common theme found in this year’s recruitment. “During our summer orientation sessions, we placed heavy emphasis on academics, community service, leadership and other activities,” said Lyndsey Fliehs, another vice president of sorority recruitment and senior in marketing. Sorority members who have deaffiliated from their houses for the summer took on roles as recruitment counselors to guide the girls around the greek community and point out the 14 houses. Each day, the potential new members cut their house selections down until preference night on Wednesday, when they selected two houses. Iowa State’s sorority recruitment for fall 2000 ended Thursday with bid night, when about 350 girls committed to one of their top two choices. I nformal recruitment began Friday and will continue throughout the year. Anyone interested in learning more about the ISU greek community can visit the Office of Greek Affairs in B6 of the Memorial Union.