The recruitment period for GW’s eight sororities began Sunday night and some groups said they are expecting to expand their organizations by dozens of members.

Last year, 423 women attended at least one recruitment event, and nearly 320 were accepted into one of the sororities. Last year’s recruitment numbers were the highest in GW history.

This year, the University welcomed its largest freshman class ever, which may lead to more participation in Greek-letter life.

Because of the size of this year’s freshman class and last year’s increased interest, some officials expect more women to attend recruitment events this year, said Kelly McLaughlin, vice president of the Panhellenic Recruitment Council .

Lindsay Roshkind, president of Sigma Kappa, said her group is “fully prepared to handle a large new member class” and they “are excited about expanding (the) chapter even further.”

Sigma Kappa and Phi Sigma Sigma’s pledge classes consisted of 38 new members last year.

“This number came close to doubling our chapter” Roshkind said.

Phi Sigma Sigma President Tess Stovall said “the more girls we have going Greek” the better for every organization.

Phi Sigma Sigma, along with two fraternities, received a new house this year. Stovall said “any kind of new publicity” is good publicity and expects the house to attract more members.

The house can hold 16 women. The University chose Phi Sigma Sigma from a pool of ten Greek-letter organizations vying for the house last spring.

During recruitment, prospective members “learn more about the tradition of the women,” Mc Laughlin said.

After the third round of the recruitment process, the Panhellenic Council places a limit on the number of members each sorority is allowed to recruit. The number, which was 38 last year, is based on the number of women still active in the recruitment process.