Something many girls consider when deciding what school to attend is the presence of Greek Life on campus and whether it is an active part of extracurricular life at their potential university. Some of them graduate high school firmly against the idea of sorority life, while others are counting down the days to recruitment. The culture surrounding Panhellenic sororities differs greatly both regionally and based on the size of the university you attend. Often, the most recognition comes from what TikTok users see of SEC Greek Life from RushTok, while others may have a familial connection that makes them more amenable to joining.
For many schools in the North, primary recruitment is conducted at the start of the spring semester, and Stevens is no exception! Three hectic days of chit-chat, designed to form close connections between Potential New Members (PNMs) and active sisters, allow PNMs to find their home away from home in one of the five sororities on campus! Stevens hosts recruitment the weekend before the start of the spring semester, so the added pressure of academics is removed during an already stressful endeavor. As an affiliated member of Greek Life at Stevens, keep reading to hear about what the process is like for us!
The Process: 3 Rounds, 5 Days, & An Infinite Amount of Emotions
As someone who joined her sorority through formal recruitment, I understand that the process has its ups and downs. While providing a holistic view of the Panhellenic community on campus, it also forces young women to make very tough decisions on a very short timeline. The pressure of choosing how you’re going to spend your free time and who you will be spending it with for potentially the next three and a half years of your life can be extremely daunting.
Round 1 at Stevens is called Round Robin, where you talk to sisters from all five chapters. This day can be exhausting as you have getting-to-know-you conversations with over a dozen girls as both a PNM and recruiter. Round 2 is Philanthropy, where each chapter shares the work that they do for their community, and PNMs can visit a max of four chapters. This round is a great opportunity for each chapter to stand out through their philanthropic efforts, and for PNMs to express interest in the work that each chapter they visit does. Connections form as PNMs prepare for their final round, which is each chapter’s Preference Ceremony. By this point, the girls who are still active in the process should have a good understanding of which chapter they can visualize a future for themselves in, and can rank them accordingly depending on who they visit on their final schedule. The stressful part at this stage is for girls who attend two preference ceremonies to determine which chapter they’ve formed a stronger connection with. Ideally, after three grueling days of interacting with active sisters, PNMs can be confident in their decision-making with the support of the Stevens Panhellenic executive board members and their Recruitment Counselors (RCs), who have disaffiliated from their chapters to guide PNMs through the process.
Experiencing recruitment as an active sister is also a mentally taxing affair, but for completely different reasons. Recruiters have to determine which PNMs they want to join their sisterhood while figuring out which PNMs reciprocate those feelings, all through quick conversations. I found myself deepening my bonds with other sisters after spending hours on end preparing to execute bumping and decorating on theme. After spending 8 hours a day for multiple days in a row with my chapter, I can confidently say I loved being reunited with everyone after break and felt like a unified front entering the battleground (recruitment rounds) following our courageous general (recruitment chair) in our uniforms (on-theme matching baby tees). No matter what the results would be, I could feel the love and support of the chapter in the room at all times as we impatiently awaited the arrival of our new member class!
The Aftermath: 50 Sisters, 7 Collegiate Semesters, & A Lifetime of Sisterhood
Welcoming home new members is a celebratory affair signaling the end of recruitment, and that ending can’t come soon enough in the spring. Witnessing all of the new members find their homes in Panhellenic sororities is thrilling because I remember my own bid night, and I have experienced so much growth within my chapter since joining. By accepting a bid, these new members embody the spirit of sisterhood and Panhel Love as members of not only their own chapter but also the broader Panhellenic community at Stevens. They will go on to form connections within their new member classes and with their family lines, as well as potentially embrace the many leadership opportunities available to them within their chapters and across the FSL community. Depending on which semester a PNM joins, she could experience 7 semesters (or longer through AMP) of love from her chapter as an active member!
When all is said and done, by taking a leap of faith and participating in formal recruitment at a tiny tech school in New Jersey, many girls form lifelong connections and develop transferable skills that strengthen their college experiences for the better!