As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, the Greek organizations on campus have one thing on their mind: Formal Membership Recruitment (FMR). Potential New Members (PNMs) walk up the sororities’ entrance stairs, along walkways aligned with flowers of many kinds, and finally up to the giant brick building where they wait to be judged by the sorority. Sorority front are infested with a variety of PNMs: ranging from “nerds” to the stereotypical “beauty queen”. Each girl frantically fixes her hair and outfit to make sure they look perfect, while they listen to discussions of the ranking and reputation of each sorority.
Inside each house is a scene of mild chaos, as the sisters run around finishing last minute details to make sure the parties are successful. Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.” is being blasted from someone’s iPod speakers. It clashes with the sound of pots clanging and blenders running in the kitchen. The floors are spotless, and there’s not one dust bunny in site. A combination of a coffee and cinnamon aroma fills the air. A dozen or so camera flashes go off as girls take pictures “throwing up their gang sign” or doing the typical sorority girl pose. Mints are in the chapter room, so sisters don’t scare away the PNMs with their bad breath. Signs are on the walls explaining appropriate actions and conversation topics. When it’s time for the party to start, the girls line up. It becomes so silent that you can hear a pin drop.
That silence is soon broken. As PNMs first enter the house, they walk into a well-lit hallway, where on a giant wooden staircase a line of forty or so sorority girls start to scream and cheer. Pictures of the sisters are on the wall along the staircase. Little mailboxes are set up with the names of sisters written on them in a sparkly pen.
The main room, that was empty just a few minutes ago, becomes filled with people. The room is filled with five dark mahogany tables covered with light pink tablecloths. A beautiful display case contains silverware engraved with the sorority crest, and old trophies that were won throughout the years. On one table, fifty cups with tiny pink ribbons around them are filled with coffee drinks and virgin mojitos. A scrapbook containing pictures of all the events of last year is on the table on the opposite side of the room. Over this table hangs a framed charter for the sorority chapter at Carnegie Mellon University.
Sorority hopefuls are overheard talking about their accomplishments and why they want to go Greek. ‘Brown nosing’ and smiling can be seen in use by both the sisters and PNMs alike. As the party comes to an end, conversations are barely heard over the cheering of the sisters. As soon as the last girl leaves the chaos resumes: girls run around cleaning up for the next party while discussing who they wanted to invite back for the next day. The doorbell rings, and the sisters run to the stairs to line up for the next party. It grows silent again. The sisters put on their best smile and get ready to cheer as the door opens.