By Brian Roe, Staff Writer
Roughly 20 percent of university undergraduates are active members of social clubs.
Although the numbers change from day to day, at press time, 863 male and female students, including 307 pledges, are part of the ACU social club experience, said Amanda Spell, coordinator of student organizations and activities.
Women’s club Sigma Theta Chi is the largest club on campus with 80 active members and 56 new pledges as of Monday at 5 p.m. The smallest women’s club is Tri Kappa Gamma with four pledges and 14 active members.
The largest men’s club is Galaxy with 70 active members and 33 pledges. The smallest men’s pledging class is the Trojans, with two.
Kara Turskey, president of Alpha Kai Omega, which took a large class of 40, said she values focus more than numbers.
“Growth is not as important to me as staying true to our original purpose and mission,” Turskey said. “I would rather take a very small pledge class than loose our focus.”
Mike Dockery, president of Pi Kappa, said he had as many pledges as expected.
“We have 13 pledges; we were expecting 10 to 20 pledges,” Dockery said. “We are loving the pledge class we have right now.”
Unlike other clubs, GATA president Julie Goen said her club intentionally took less pledges in preparation for pledging in the spring.
“We intentionally took a smaller pledge class because we are beginning spring pledging this next spring,” Goen said. “Our club numbers are around 80 members, and we’re happy with this number because we are better able to get to know one another.”