Butler University is discussing the possibility of bringing a new sorority to campus.

Becky Druetzler, director of Greek life, said increasing women’s recruitment numbers show a need for another sorority.

“We wanted to potentially have something ready this semester,” Druetzler said. “But this is a very long process, and we have to first figure out housing and know when it would be available.”

Butler’s Panhellenic Association created an exploratory team comprised of Panhel officers and delegates whose goal is to evaluate the need for another sorority and  different options.

Panhel delegate and exploratory committee member Tai Vogel said, so far, the committee has mostly been crunching numbers.

“We definitely found that there is a need for another sorority,” Vogel said. “Women’s Greek life has continued to increase over the past few years, and pledge classes are growing by about 10 girls each year.”

This year’s women’s recruitment showed very high numbers of participation, with 52 percent of freshman girls going through recruitment.

Housing is the main issue slowing down the process of adding a new sorority.

The Panhellenic board must vote on the proposal, which will then be given to the Board of Trustees.

“The trustees only meet three times a year,” Druetzler said. “It could be a while before we can move forward with housing.”

Druetzler said parking also needs to be defined for a new sorority house.

Druetzler and Vogel both confirmed a new sorority will not live in the old Tau Kappa Epsilon house.

“The university has a contractual agreement with TKE, similar to what happened when Phi Delt was shut down some years ago,” Druetzler said. “They need to be able to potentially buy the house back, so in the meantime we can’t house a sorority there.”

Druetzler said rumors of specific sororities trying to come to campus are false.

“This is a mutual selection process,” Druetzler said. “First, we will contact the National Panhellenic Conference after our proposal is put to a vote, and then the sororities contact us.”

Druetzler said it is against e NPC rules for a university to contact specific sororities first.

“If we don’t think the interest is great or that we’ve found a good match for our campus, we can always withdraw our offer,” Druetzler said.

Druetzler said the increase in women’s Greek life is becoming somewhat of a national trend.

“A lot of schools are starting to experience sorority upswings,” Druetzler said. “But whenever you decide to expand, it’s important to be very cautious and intentional.”

With the addition of a new sorority shortly after the shutdown of TKE, sororities and fraternities on campus would no longer be equal. Campus would have eight sororities and six fraternities.

“People want to see pairs,” Druetzler said. “But when the girl to guy ratio on campus is already 1.5 to 1, it makes mathematical sense that we would have more sororities than fraternities.”

A 2011 survey of Butler University Greek students found that more than 90 percent of respondents felt they were a part of the campus community. The survey said Butler Greeks felt included in their campus community more than other private institutions’ Greek organizations.

However, some Butler students not involved in Greek life feel less involved on campus, said Irene Stevens, dean of student life.

“Students have said they feel like they have more opportunities for involvement if they join,” Stevens said. “I don’t know that I necessarily believe that. You can be as involved as you want to be.”

Stevens said every student should join some student organization to relieve the stress that comes with college life.

Independent Council President Regan Girten said the stress associated with being left out at Butler almost caused her to leave during her freshman year.

Girten said Independent Council exists to bridge the gap between Greeks and non-Greeks, who may feel left out because they do not choose to rush.

“I just want people to be included in things,” Girten said. “It seems like all events are Greek-related.”

Alexis Spooner, president of the Panhellenic Association that serves as the governing body of sororities, said Greek life does not dominate opportunities and events available on campus. It just makes student involvement easier.

“Before I joined a house, I was literally in my dorm room not doing anything but dance,” Spooner said. “And then I joined, and it was like there was so much I could be doing, and then I kind of just took off from there.”

Becky Druetzler, director of Greek life, said Butler’s Greek life is viewed quite positively at Butler and in the community at-large and said interested and prospective students often seek her and student leaders out to ask about how to get involved.

Girten said she’s yet to attend a homecoming because she is unhappy with the lack of opportunity to get involved as an independent student.

“I think a lot of people look down to (Independent Council),” Girten said.

“There’s the stereotype that Independent Council doesn’t do anything, so why should we include them?” said Sean Sullivan, recent Butler alumnus and former vice president of recruiting for the Interfraternity Council that serves as the governing body of fraternities. “The fraternity or sorority is not the be-all and end-all.”

Sullivan said he did not join a fraternity because of the “Animal House” stereotype of fraternities but because he wanted to make friends. He said his involvement helps at his current job as a technical recruiter for Robert Half Technology in Indianapolis.

“Greek life helped me prepare to relate with people day-in day-out,” Sullivan said. “Being in a fraternity or sorority is kind of like a business in that it has to be well-run.”