Note: The original headline said ‘Fraternities and Sororities begin pledging,’ but it has been corrected with the official title ‘New Member Orientation.’
The New Member Orientation season is underway on campus, with around 350 new members beginning the joining process.
Clubs have been added and subtracted from the university’s overall count since 1919, and many changes have been seen from year to year.
Several clubs have rechartered since 1919, with the most recent being Pi Kappa, which is making its return this pledging season.
To recharter, clubs first disband, such as with Zeta Rho and Knights. Several groups have also formed in recent years, such as Zeta Phi Alpha, Nu Kappa Psi and Omicron Xi Chi.
Zeta President, Caroline Warber, junior marketing major from Fort Worth, said it has been very rewarding to see her sorority grow after its recent start.
“Getting to see Zeta grow over the last 2 years has been the best thing, especially since I was one of the founding members,” she said. “We have been able to see our vision for Zeta truly come to life the last couple of years.”
Other clubs have grown and shrunk in their histories, and this all depends on the sizes of each year’s pledge class. For example, Gamma Sigma Phi took 54 new members in 2024 but is only taking 38 in 2025.
Some clubs try to maintain the same size each year, such as Ko Jo Kai, a sorority that took 65 new members in both 2024 and 2025.
Tanner Hill, Sibling Father of Gamma Sigma Phi, said with each new pledge class the overall dynamic of the club changes.
“The more people you add to a club, the less control each individual person has over the club’s culture,” he said.
Founded in 1968, Gamma Sigma Phi has had to balance how to keep tradition with how to grow the club to match the current generation.
“On one hand I feel responsible to the people who’ve come before me to maintain some of the things that have been set in motion,” said Hill, senior ministry and vocation major from Friendswood. “But the officers feel as though we should dream about what the club can be.”
While these groups used to be referred to as social clubs, in recent years the university began referring to them as fraternities and sororities, reflecting Hill’s perception of how to continue moving forward.
One of the university’s oldest sororities, GATA, has had many fluctuations in size over its 105-year history.
In 2024 the club received one of its smaller pledge classes, leading to the fear of disbandment. However, GATA has 16 new members this pledging season, which almost doubles the size of the sorority, which currently has 18 active members.
One common misconception about the pledging process, Hill said, is that it is meant to make the club worth it.
“The purpose of challenging them is so they feel more connected to the club itself once they get in,” he said.”And then hopefully that will allow them to want to commit more long term.”
