My experience in my sorority is, in some ways, very similar to what you’d hear from most girls. I love my sisters, and my chapter has made me grow into a better, stronger woman. However, the beginning of my journey with my chapter is a different story. My pledge class is 170 girls strong, and we all get the chance to build this chapter around us. The opportunity to be a part of a colonizing chapter doesn’t come along every day, and that experience is such a unique perspective on Greek life.
1. The recruitment process is different
Recruitment for a new chapter is unique to any other kind of sorority requirement. In my experience, it’s somewhere between formal and informal recruitment, with a twist all its own. Our recruitment was three rounds, and it took place over a weekend a few weeks after formal recruitment ended. Our national headquarters hires newly graduated sisters as leadership consultants to help chapters develop and guide new and existing chapters. Some of these consultants came during formal recruitment to announce our chapter’s arrival and set up for our recruitment later. It was these few ladies that ran all our rounds, interviewing and meeting every potential new member. Our rounds were similar to some of what formal recruitment has: open house, preference and then bid day. However, instead of being run by a chapter of 100+ girls, it was ran by a handful of remarkable women. Since we were all going through recruitment for just the one chapter, PNM’s were able to devote more time to our chapter. We were able to have more than 5 minutes as an open house interview, and we also got to know the consultants building our chapter. It was a little more personal, and it really paved the way for a strong bond within our chapter.
2. The new member class is huge
Since there are no pre-existing members, the first recruitment of a new chapter yields a huge new member class. Ours is around 170 girls, but this would vary depending on the school’s chapter sizes. This made for a really interesting dynamic. Everyone came into the chapter knowing little to no sisters. While it made it confusing to navigate the first couple of weeks, it also allowed me to open up to more people than I might have otherwise. There were no preexisting clichés; I knew that everyone was in the same boat as me, and that made it easier to come out of my shell. Another difference this large pledge class can make is with family structures. There weren’t any older members, which meant there were no bigs. For my chapter, we went through a similar mutual selection process to pick 3 other girls to be in our sorority family. Kind of like quadruplets, we were all the same class but we were tied into the same family tree. I love my family, and I love that I got the chance to bond with my sisters in this way. It may not be for everyone, and it’s not the traditional structure, but it really helped me find some of my forever sorority friends.
3. Ongoing leadership training
For a chapter to be successful, it needs strong leadership. However, it’s hard to take a group of newly initiated sorority members and make it a functioning chapter. There just isn’t a way to learn everything about sorority life in that short of a time. So, for my chapter at least, we got two leadership consultants from headquarters to stay with us and guide us through building our chapter. They help with every aspect of the chapter, but they also give the executive council room to grow and learn their roles. While they support us, they also let the chapter form into the kind of sorority the members want it to be. We’re able to create the organization that fits us, but we aren’t alone making decisions blind. These women are truly the backbone of our chapter, and we couldn’t be successful trying to stand without the help they have given us.
While these are the biggest differences, there are many small things that go into colonizing. Like how the grand president initiated us and many alumni came for the occasion. It’s given me a whole other layer of appreciation for my chapter. I got to see the inner workings of how a chapter is formed, and take part in building the organization I’m in. However, at the end of the day, we are just like other chapters of our national sorority. We’re dedicated to our chapter, love our community, and get to enjoy a lifelong bond with the amazing women we call sisters. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.