With Recruitment 2018 quickly approaching, it is important for girls who are considering taking part to be informed on upcoming preparatory events for Formal Recruitment. College is busy and stressful, and a lot of girls tend to shy away from these events due to lack of time. However, these events are SO important and informative! They are spread throughout the semester and they’re a great way to take a break from work and to get to know more girls. They will also allow you to become so much more familiar with the sororities on campus and the women in each sorority! So, gather a group of your girlfriends and attend these events:
The Panhellenic Service Event will take place on Wednesday, October 25th at 7pm. This event is an opportunity for first-year women to visit each chapter and learn about each chapter’s philanthropy. Each chapter will be doing an activity that is related to their philanthropy, so this is a super fun and laid-back event! All first-year women will also have a chance to talk to a member of the chapter – this is great because it will allow you to meet more women and gain a relationship with someone in each chapter! The event is only until 9pm, so it is not a huge time commitment and it is well worth it.
Panhellenic Kick Off will take place on Saturday, November 4th at 12pm. This event is a mock of first round of Formal Recruitment. Therefore, it is a great opportunity for first-year women to get an idea of what Formal Recruitment will be like in January. Everyone who participates in this event will experience traveling to and from each chapter as well as talking one-on-one with members in each chapter. This event will last until 4pm, so it will be very similar to rounds in Formal Recruitment. This event familiarizes women with how recruitment will work so that they do not come into recruitment in January feeling as if they are unprepared. It allows first years to feel comfortable and prepared when they go through the process in January, and similarly to the Panhellenic Service Event, it allows the women to meet more members of each chapter!
The Panhellenic and IFC Panel Discussion will take place on Wednesday, November 8th at 7pm. This event is brief and will only last about an hour. The goal of the panel discussion is to provide first year students with an opportunity to listen and ask questions about what it is like to be a part of both Greek life at DePauw and other various groups on campus. The panel will include volunteers that represent a variety of backgrounds, including students of color, international students, LGBTQ students, and first-generation college students. This event is a great chance to get to know more about these groups on campus and become familiar with members of each group.
Finally, Formal Recruitment will take place on Friday, January 26th, Saturday, January 27th, and Sunday, January 28th. During first round (Friday), each woman will visit all six Panhellenic chapters and then rank each chapter after she has visited all six. Second round will take place on Saturday, and during this round, women will visit four chapters and rank them after visiting all four. During final, or preference, round (Sunday), each woman will return to only two chapters and will then “pref” whichever chapter she would like to join. Each woman will receive her bid card later that night. The number of chapters each woman will return to following first round fluctuates; this means that the maximum number of chapters that each woman may visit during second round is four, and the maximum number of chapters that each woman may visit during final round is two. This is dependent on whether each woman is asked back to the maximum number of chapters for that round.
There is still plenty of time before Formal Recruitment, but use this time to familiarize yourself with the chapters and members of each chapter! The DePauw Panhellenic Recruitment team will continue to remind first years about upcoming events and rules, and they will offer more information about Formal Recruitment when it is closer. For the remainder of this semester, make it a goal to attend as many events as possible – this will only make you and your friends more comfortable and prepared for the process, and you are guaranteed to make friends with women from every chapter if you put yourself out there at each event.