If you’ve gone through formal recruitment, or even been on campus the week before classes start, you know what a frenzied week sorority rush is. Hundreds of women crowd the Panhellenic building trying to find the place that’s right for them. But who keeps everything organized and under control? Who sees these women into room after room, and answers all of their questions? The answer to those and many other questions lie with the Rho Gammas.
Rho Gammas, or recruitment counselors, are women who are disaffiliated from their sorority for that week. They don’t see much of their sisters, and if they live with with them, they are forbidden to discuss recruitment. If you go through formal recruitment, you will be assigned a Rho Gamma, and throughout the week she basically becomes your mom. She’s the first person you go to with any questions, she holds all your stuff, and she makes sure you’re eating and drinking. But more than that, she is your confidante. She’s someone you can go to with questions, and she will answer them in a non-biased manner. She truly wants what’s best for you, and she would rather you be happy in a different chapter than unhappy in hers.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, I was a Rho Gamma. I helped the coolest group of girls find their new homes and it was far more rewarding than I could have imagined. So, here are a couple things I learned during the week:
1. All the training in the world really won’t prepare you 100%.
Being a Rho Gamma is one of those things where the best training is actually doing it. We had opportunities before recruitment, such as Sorority Showcase, to practise and hone our skills, but I truly found that I settled into my role after a day or so. That isn’t to say that our training wasn’t adequate; on the contrary, it was fantastic. But part of this job is a natural ability to mediate situations. Were you a peer counselor at school, or the standards chair of your sorority? Being a Rho Gamma might just be your calling.
2. You will love your girls and genuinely be excited for them.
Even if none of them end up in your chapter, you will be so excited come bid day. Seeing my girls run home to their new sisters was such a heartwarming experience.
3. You will eat food. And lot’s of it.
Rho Gamma’s have to be at the Panhellenic building from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. some days, but food is provided! The best part is that it isn’t just pizza; it’s actually real, good food. Now I’m not a health nut. I eat what I want and try to make good choices, but I was prepared so survive this week on Dominos. So imagine my surprise when it was real food! Chicken! Beef! Pasta! Salad! Rolls! And oh, the desser; So many wonderful desserts to choose from! I didn’t realize how grateful I was for well-balanced meals until one of them was sitting right in front of me.
4. You will quickly become good at dealing with tough situations.
As I said before, you’re the mom for the week. Girls may come to you with questions that are tough to answer, they may want to drop, they may even have a personal emergency which you need to take care of. Regardless, you will quickly learn to keep a cool head and handle it.
5. Running home to your sisters on bid day will be the most amazing feeling in the world.
You probably won’t realize how much you missed them until now.