As Labor Day weekend quickly approaches, we are seeing more and more signs of recruitment around campus. Whether it is the pink paint sticks stuck around the quad, the post-its on the bathroom mirrors, or the outrageous amount of girls wearing letters on their bags and t-shirts, “GO GREEK” seems to be ingrained into every freshman girl’s mind.
Leaving the high school setting and stepping onto a large campus can be intimidating, but one great way to feel more comfortable is to get involved on campus. Joining clubs and other activities is the easiest and most fun way to meet people, and the hundreds of smiling faces walking around the quad with crazy looking symbols and letters are there to encourage you to join a sorority and “Go Greek”.
Sororities are a great social club to join, but the social aspect isn’t the only thing you will get out of rushing. Every sorority on campus coordinates events on campus and around the ar
ea with other chapters, just for fun or to raise money for a particular charity. So if you enjoy volunteering, a sorority is an outlet for that.
However, sororities, just like other clubs, are not a good fit for everyone. Before deciding, head to an informal rush meeting. Some girls change their mind upon hearing about recruitment and their future within a sorority house.
Deciding to partake in recruitment is a big step! Here’s the low-down just to get you prepared…
Recruitment starts Thursday, September 1st and ends on bid night Tuesday, September 6th. The first two days, Thursday and Friday, girls start in the Bone Center with hundreds of other girls (look around, they may be your future sisters!). There you’re put into a smaller group that you will be traveling to each sorority house with. This takes both Thursday and Friday because you spend a decent amount of time talking to several girls at each house. Don’t let the cheering and singing in the doorways intimidate you! After you see each of the houses and meet their girls, you get back with your group and rank the houses in the order of which you connected with the most.
The next day, Saturday, is the philanthropy round. A philanthropy is a charity that every house raises money for throughout the year by holding events on and off campus. On this day you will go back to several houses and learn about their philanthropies while getting to know a few more girls from each house. At the end of that night, you rank the houses again.
Sunday is the house tours round. You will be going back to a few houses to meet even more girls and to get a tour of the house. This round is unique because you get to see the houses in their entirety and learn more about them. Once again, at the end of house tours you rank those houses.
Pref or the preference round is the last day of recruitment. At this point, you have narrowed your decision down to just three houses. Unlike the beginning of the wee
kend, pref is a more serious time where you dress up and talk to one girl at each of the three houses. Pref is the most emotional of the days because at each house they sing songs, read senior letters and play slideshows. You will most likely find yourself shedding tears among girls you just met a few days prior but feel like you have known forever. At the end of this last day you go back into the computer lab to make your final selection and rank those three houses for the last time.
Tuesday night all of the girls that went through the recruitment process meet back in the Bone Center. This is bid night. The nervous excitement everywhere around you is contagious. Everyone is given an envelope and on the count of three, everyone opens their envelopes together. Inside is your bid card from your final house.
The room immediately erupts with screaming and happy tears as the girls all run to find the other members of their future pledge class. At this point, the members of each house are urgently waiting to meet their new girls. Each new pledge class runs across the stage holding hands while their new house screams and chants from the seats of the Braden Auditorium. Some say that running across that stage is one of the most electrifying moments of their life, the adrenaline runs through you so fast you don’t even know what’s going on. From that moment on begin the best years of your college experience with girls that you will connect with for life.
If you are considering rushing, or even if you never thought you would be a “sorority girl”, take a chance and try something new. Going into formal recruitment with an open mind is the most important. Sign up for recruitment with a friend or a roommate so you have someone to share this new and somewhat stressful experience with. No matter what you may have heard about a certain house, you will get the chance to decide what you think of them and if you can see yourself fitting in there. When going from house to house, think about the types of conversations you had with girls at each house and ask yourself if they remind you of your girlfriends from high school. If they do, it is a good chance that you would fit in well in that house.
Each house is so completely different and has girls with such diverse personalities and looks that there really is a house for everyone. Even if you decide not to join a house in the end, the weekend long experience that you will get can never be replaced. The opportunities to meet so many more people and get involved all over campus just keep coming after you decide to rush.
Take a chance at something new and GO GREEK!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois State chapter.