Formal recruitment for sororities is this week at UMaine. Formal recruitment at UMaine happens once a year every fall semester and allows potential new members (PNMs) to talk with every one of the seven sororities at UMaine. This year, there are eight as Kappa Delta Phi is also participating. The eight participating sororities are Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi), Alpha Phi (APhi), Chi Omega (ChiO), Delta Phi Epsilon (DPhiE), Delta Zeta (DZ), Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority (KDPhi NAS), Phi Mu, and Pi Beta Phi (PiPhi). PNMs will move in rounds of small groups throughout the student union during recruitment, getting a chance to talk with every sorority in the process. Here are some rush tips for women entering recruitment this fall.
1. Be Yourself!
This is most important. If you are not yourself during recruitment, you could end up in a sorority that isn’t the best fit for you. It is important to be genuine and bring across the best version of you.
2. Be confident
Don’t be afraid to speak up, ask questions, address concerns, and bring yourself forward as a confident woman.
3. Treat it like you would an interview
While Greek Life is overall a social experience, formal recruitment is often like an interview where you talk to one person for about five minutes each. You don’t need to be super formal, but there are certain controversial topics to avoid just as you would in an interview, such as politics, religion, partying and drinking.
4. But remember that you are talking with girls your age and potentially networking
At the same time, remember that the girls you are talking to are your age and were in the same boat as you once. These are your future best friends and sisters. Also, recruitment can be a great networking tool for later in college, because you meet so many people who are involved in various things on campus in the process.
5. Don’t go in with a biased view of sororities
Go in with an open mind about each sorority, despite what you may have heard. Keep in mind that no matter which sorority you get into, you will be surrounded by awesome women who are involved in many things on campus, are there as your support network, and are some of your future best friends. Don’t fall victim to believing stereotypes about sororities and don’t listen to campus gossip.
6. Highlight things about yourself
Talk about what you did in high school, what you are interested in for extracurricular activities outside of Greek Life (many sororities require members to be involved in something else), or what you are interested in studying or doing after college.
7. Have fun!
Recruitment can be a very stressful time for all involved, but as stressful and nerve-wracking as it may seem, just remember the purpose of it all: to find a sorority that you fit in with and to find an awesome group of women. At the end of the day Greek Life is supposed to be fun and beneficial for you, so treat recruitment as such.
Good luck with recruitment to all of the women participating at UMaine this week!