Going into college, I knew I wanted to join a sorority. Luckily, Manhattan College has one really big sorority on campus: Sigma Delta Tau (SDT). At Manhattan College, you can only rush for SDT as a second semester freshman, which is exactly what I did. Rushing is a really exciting experience, and there are normally tons of in person events to partake in. The only difference is that I rushed during the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic changed the way girls rushed for SDT in 2021: all of our events were remote. The sorority decided to be remote during the 2020-2021 school year because of the safety for all of the girls. The sorority on campus is huge so it would be unsafe to meet in person with sixty girls for meetings.
Rush week included three days of different events and games: we played virtual games like Pictionary and we were asked different questions so the sorority sisters could get to know us better. It was really exciting because even though we were online, we still had a theme for our rush week: the 70s. Rush week wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be: everyone was really accepting and welcoming. Rush week ended with bid night, which is the last day of recruitment for a sorority. Thankfully, I made it past rush week and became a new member!
As a new member, I wasn’t thrown into the sorority all at once; instead, I started my new member process. Previous members continued to have their meetings, and we had new member meetings. At these meetings, we were given different dates of events we had to participate in.
The most exciting part of joining a sorority to me was getting a big sister. We went on sister dates virtually to meet different big sisters. We did speed dating, Pictionary again (it was a fan favorite game), a netflix party, and more during these sister dates. We ranked who we wanted to be our big sisters, and the big sisters ranked who they wanted to be the little sisters. When it was decided who was paired with who, the big sisters made us Instagram accounts and gave clues of who they were.
We had a “Guess Who” game for the littles to pick the bigs. I knew who my big was right away, and I was beyond excited. Big sisters also give little sisters amazing gifts and my big sister went above and beyond for me. Before this school year ends, big sisters and little sisters will meet up to exchange gifts: a pillow from the big sister and paddles for the little sisters.
Rushing Sigma Delta Tau was one of the best experiences I have chosen to do in college. Joining a sorority has given me an endless supply of best friends and sisters that I never thought I was going to have.