It’s that time of the year again, collegiettes! It’s recruitment season and while it is an exciting time for women to go through recruitment and find their home away from home, the recruitment counselors are busy at work, making sure that women going through recruitment feel supported and heard through the process. For women going through recruitment, the recruitment counsellors “provide support, friendship and individual guidance to women participating in the recruitment process by sorority members who are educated to represent panhellenic attitudes and ideals.”
Recruitment counselors are essentially women that disaffiliate from their chapters in order to offer women unbiased and objective advice through the recruitment process. I had the opportunity to talk to Kiera Johnson, who is the Head Recruitment Counsellor this year. She has been a wonderful leader in the Panhellenic community and continues to be a great resource for women going through the recruitment process.
Nikita Fernandes (NF): What is your role in the Panhellenic recruitment process?
Kiera Johnson (KJ): As Head Recruitment Counselor, I get the opportunity to build my amazing team and train them on the ins and outs of recruitment from the perspective of a recruitment counselor. I help the team develop a Panhellenic mindset while assisting them with recruitment conversations and with their potential new members. I also streamline potential conflicts as they arise. I am additionally a resource for my recruitment counselors to ask questions during recruitment to ensure our potential new members are getting the best possible experience.
NF: Why did you choose to apply to this position?
KJ: Honestly, I was really inspired by both of the previous Head Recruitment Counselor’s dedication to Panhellenic, their teams, and recruitment as a whole. I am really passionate about the Panhellenic Community and I wanted to continue the work that they did. I loved being a part of the recruitment counselor team last year and I wanted to help create a dynamic and passionate team for the women going through recruitment to lean on.
NF: What are recruitment counselors and why are they important?
KJ: Recruitment Counselors are imperative to the recruitment process. Not only do they do a lot of the logistical work during recruitment, but they also provide an unbiased ear to women who are going through recruitment. Their support is immense and their contributions are so appreciated by the whole community.
NF: Why do you think women should go through recruitment?
KJ: I think that recruitment is an amazing opportunity to meet lifelong friends, make amazing connections, and make memories that stay with you forever. I feel really lucky to have made friends not only within my own chapter, but within the entire Panhellenic community that will remain with me long after I graduate. It sounds really sappy, but I met women that will be bridesmaids at my wedding and women that I know will be working next to me and supporting me in the professional field.
NF: What is some advice that you’d like to give women going through recruitment from personal experience?
KJ: I would love to tell women to keep an open mind and to trust the process. Recruitment is values-based, meaning the process is based on values that a woman holds as an ideal, so definitely realizing that is important.
NF: When it comes to Greek Life, there is a myth that it is a huge time commitment and that Greek Life is only about partying. What are your thoughts about this?
KJ: There is this common saying within Mason Greek Life that you get out of it what you put in, and I really agree with that. I think Greek Life is the commitment that you make it and that chapters will work with other commitments someone might have.
In regards to your question about partying, I definitely know women in the Panhellenic Community that don’t party and on the other hand, I know women who do. I think that the community stands for so much more than that. Our chapters do countless hours of community service, support their own philanthropies, work internships, jobs, attend sisterhood events, and support one another in such a unique way that I disagree immensely that Greek Life is only about partying.
NF: What are some of the benefits that you have experienced from being in a sorority?
KJ: Honestly, I’ve experienced so many benefits. I’ve had the enormous privilege of serving as Head Recruitment Counselor which has been the biggest pleasure of my collegiate career, but I’ve also gained contacts that have led to internships. I’ve gained positions within my own chapter that have taught me leadership, accountability, and delegation skills. Above else, though, I gained a community/chapter that supports me and loves me endlessly and that’s irreplaceable.
NF: Could you please tell me more about the #PeaceLovePanhellenic recruitment theme and speak to the role of diversity in recruiting women?
KJ: Peace Love Panhellenic means so many things to me. I think it emulates the love and community that GMU Panhellenic has for one another. I also think it represents the fact that we aren’t eight separate chapters, but one large community. As for the role of diversity, I think our community is so diverse in so many ways. Not only do we have Panhellenic sisters from all over the world, but we have sisters who are majoring in fields from STEM to Art. I think we represent so many different types of women with all different life experiences.
NF: What is something that you’re most excited about during recruitment?
KJ: I am so excited for all of recruitment, but I’m ecstatic to see my team KILL IT by being Recruitment Counselors, and support the women going through recruitment. If we’re talking personally though, bid day makes me so excited. There is something so special and heartwarming watching women find their homes within our community, so I’m really excited to see that as well. I still have the video of my PNM’s from last year opening their bids and it warms my heart whenever I see it.
Go greek and find your sisterhood! Register for recruitment at masonpanhellenic.com. To follow Kiera on Instagram, search @its_kieraaa.