Can’t the lease signing be pushed to the spring semester? That seems awfully far ahead anyway - almost a year in advance and barely initiated.

The current norm seems to be signing in the fall...dorms are trying to fill their beds, sororities are trying to fill, apartments are trying to fill. Part of the reason recruitment numbers are declining is due to fewer graduating HS students and fewer potential members/residents. On my campus, the dorms and apartments start offering bonuses to students as early as September...and we have no choice but to have our housing contracts ready to go on Bid Day. The local apartments at my daughter's campus were doing this, too.

One of my sorority sisters is a provost, and she told me that the projected number of Michigan HS seniors in 2026 is 15% lower than it was in 2016. That means empty beds that everyone will want to securely fill for the next year as soon as they can.

So in other words, it’s the baby bust’s baby bust.

You got it.

I totally agree that this is a major problem. The other factor to consider that I see at some schools (campus culture varies) is that if a lot of juniors go abroad and often all the same semester, filling the house becomes a nightmare when you are left with less than half the junior class and all the seniors!!

What about telling women who want to go through recruitment not to sign leases in October? I know that my alma mater has deferred recruitment and while there are some students who sign leases in late fall, the majority of the students have usually committed by end of February. If there are more places to live than than students, the students are in the best situation possible. They can pick and choose. Freshman should wait longer than 6 weeks to decide a housing situation for the next year. The people you meet the first few weeks may not be the people you should sign a lease with, I can see some wisdom in waiting.

You would think that advice would work, but it doesn't! These 18 year olds are easy prey for the "Early signing bonuses! Sign now before the best units are filled!" hype that comes from both the dorms and the local apartments on our campus. Even our current members sign before they've been released from the house -- and all the chapters have the same issue.

And, many don't understand the legally-binding nature of a signed contract. They will assume they can get out of their leases, and/or get their security deposits back so they can move in. Tough lessons learned at the age of 18, but they have no experience with this and many don't consult their parents before signing. I can't tell you how many similar conversations I've had with freshman and sophomore members along these lines.

I tell you, it's maddening! I'm guessing this is one issue that IU doesn't have, what with the campus culture of living in the house!

And then if they don't get a bid they have no where to live the next year. The fight for affordable housing in Ann Arbor is ridiculous. Freshman on campus for one month are signing leases for the next year. I do feel for the women sloshing through campus in their winter boots with their pref dresses on too- but they manage at IU.

The chapters are getting too big there, as they are at some other schools. This will help keep the chapter sizes smaller.