Women all over Central Michigan University’s campus have been preparing for the past two weeks for months now. This year around 300 women decided to go through formal sorority recruitment in hopes of finding their home here on campus. However, what many people do not realize is the hard work and preparation that goes into preparing for this event. Vice President of Panhellenic Recruitment, Josephine Krzesak, was the woman behind the scenes, pulling the strings to ensure that all went smoothly, for not only the ladies going through the process, but the chapters involved as well. I had a chance to chat with Krzesak about her experience this past recruitment season.
Describe your position and roll during the recruitment process.
My role is to plan the entirety of the recruitment. The recruitment process includes two weekends and multiple pre-recruitment events. I also am in charge of communicating all recruitment information, rules, and policies to 11 different sororities recruitment chairs.
What type of preparation lead up to recruitment?
As part of my position, I work with the 11 chapter recruitment chairs. Throughout the summer, I collected any information from the chapter VPRs, including t-shirt sizes, layouts for the tents, decoration lists, etc. The recruitment team planned many pre-recruitment events to get the word out and answer any questions women may have.
What was your most memorable moment from this past recruitment season?
The most memorable part of recruitment was jumping home on Bid Day. The recruitment team: Katie Haas (Panhellenic President), Shelby Makie (Vice President of Leadership Development), and myself have gotten so close since we all disaffiliated. Being able to jump off the stage with them and running to our separate chapters was one of the happiest moments of recruitment.
What was your biggest challenge this recruitment?
My biggest challenge during recruitment has been stepping out of my comfort zone. I have had to made hard decisions and have hard conversations that were not always pleasant. By pushing myself as a person and as a leader, I have grown so much within this role.
How do you think recruitment went as a whole?
As a whole, I think recruitment went very well. I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of conflicts and problems that could have arised, but did not. I think overall, recruitment ran smoothly with minimal issues. In general, I think that most [potential new members (PNMs)] were happy with their experience. As a recruitment team, a big goal of ours was for PNMs have a pleasant and comfortable experience, and I think that we accomplished that.
What made this most rewarding for you?
The most rewarding part of this experience has been seeing all of the sororities and PNMs enjoying their time during recruitment and having a great experience. I have loved seeing all of the fun everyone has been having and all of the memories they are making together.
Shelby Mackie (left), Katie Haas(middle), and Josephine Krzesak (right) at 2018 formal sorority recruitment.