[johansla]

James Madison's Greek Life is about 20% of the student population. Greeks definitely have a presence on campus--you'll always see someone in letters headed to class and our sorority houses are right along like the lake when you drive onto campus. We have 11 Panhellenic sororities with 1 associate member, and 15 fraternities. Greek Life is growing; we are currently expanding and have colonized and chartered 2 sororities and 2 fraternities in the past few years.
Recruitment has become competitive in a sense, but only because of numbers. Around 880 women signed up for recruitment last fall, and each chapter takes about 50-60 new members each year, so about 200 women did not receive a Bid either because they chose to withdraw from the process or were released. Recommendations are not necessary and are definitely not the norm here, but I would encourage you to get if you have a particular chapter you like and know an alumna personally who would write you a positive recommendation; it could be useful if you are like me and come across shy or introverted in cold-contact conversations.
I hope this helps you, and dig a little deeper into the JMU Fraternity and Sorority Life website; I know it's a little messy and hard to navigate, but there's plenty to see if you look around.