[33girl]

Here is a good post from aephialum that explains it quickly:

Total is a cap on membership that is applied to all sororities on a given campus, not just one. It's set by the campus Panhellenic, and reevaluated as necessary. (So if there are a lot of women interested in joining a sorority over a couple of years, Panhel may raise total, or may invite a new sorority to colonize.)

Total isn't used during formal rush. Instead, quota is used (# women attending pref parties / # of sororities, typically). This is why sororities can be over total - if total is 80 and quota is usually around 30, you could potentially have a chapter with 120 members.

Total becomes important during informal/COB rush. A chapter at or over total can't hold informal rush. A chapter below total can hold rush, but can only extend bids until they reach total. This allows smaller chapters to grow.

In neither case are bid lists sorted alphabetically, so Ms. W. wouldn't be left out in the cold simply because of her name.

Clarion's total (limit) is 60.

I will put in my 2.5 cents that we need to reduce total by at least 5 to 55, and 50 would be even better. Nationals pressure the groups to be at total, even if total isn't realistic, so they end up taking people they'd probably rather not. I mean Pitt's total is the same as ours - last I checked, Clarion has a few less students than Pitt.