Sorority rush happens every fall semester. At the involvement fair, many students may decide that they want to rush to a sorority. Everyone chooses to rush for different reasons. Courtney Bauer, a sophomore and sister of Alpha Chi Omega, says she rushed because she wanted to make new friends who, “shared the same interests” as her. According to the Panhellenic Council (PHC) website, Penn State has one of the largest amount of sorority chapters. There are 18 active chapters and three associate chapters. A sorority can offer sisterhood, leadership and philanthropic opportunities.
“I thought rushing a sorority would give me that perfect balance of friendship, giving back to the community and leadership – all within one organization,” said Alice Polonsky, a sophomore and sister of Sigma Kappa.
When going through recruitment, the PHC designs a process to introduce recruits to all of the 18 sororities. First, the Pi Chis, who lead the recruits in the process, take all of them to the sorority houses. From this point they must narrow down their choices through first and second rounds. Then there is preference night. By this time the recruits have to narrow down their choices to three sororities.
“When I was rushing, I was completely overwhelmed by all the different sororities,” said Polonsky.
Polonsky ended up narrowing down her choices and picked Sigma Kappa as one of her top three choices because she said the girls were, “sweet and genuine.” She felt that she could be herself around this group of girls. Another girl who rushed last year, Mary-Margaret Donegan, a sister of Phi Mu, said that she chose her sorority because of the sisterhood aspect.
After Preference Day, the final event is Bid Day. The recruits will get an envelope with a bid from a sorority in their top three. After their bid is revealed, they will become a pledge in that sorority. Once a recruit becomes a pledge they can participate in new activities with their sisters. Polonsky remembers her favorite event, which was a retreat they did last spring semester. The retreat was at Penn’s Cave where they all took a boat tour inside of Penn’s Cave.
“It was pretty amusing to see how we all bonded over being terrified during the boat tour we had in the caves,” said Polonsky.
Bauer says that she enjoyed performing in Greek Sing.
“It was a good way to bring the whole Greek community together. It was kind of funny watching fraternity boys dance and sing, since that’s something you normally don’t see fraternity boys doing,” said Bauer.
She also added that she enjoyed seeing the dances and routines that each sorority and fraternity created.
Another way sorority girls bond is their philanthropic activities. All sororities participate in THON and have their own THON family. Alpha Chi Omega is “extremely involved” in THON.
“My sisters would take the extra mile if it meant making someone else smile,” added Bauer.
The newest sorority at Penn State, Phi Sigma Sigma, is participating in their first year of THON this year.
“Phi Sigma Sigma is really looking forward to participating in our first THON with the rest of the Greek community this year!” said Megan Salvadore, the founder of Penn State’s new Beta Eta Chapter. Sororities offer leadership opportunities and sisterhood to their members. Since Phi Sigma Sigma is a new sorority at Penn State it will give girls the opportunity to create their own traditions and new members will be able to take leadership positions right away, according to Salvadore.
“Being in a sorority is more than going to formals and socials” adds Donegan. “It’s the little stuff like picking up a coffee for a sister who had class all day and now has to help with recruitment. Like all the little things you do for your sisters that no one sees that makes the sisterhood bond so much stronger. Don’t get me wrong, we know how to have fun, but at the end of the day you will always have your sisters.”