There is nothing like seeing a bunch of wide-eyed smiling girls running toward you while you scream a chant at the top of your lungs along with a hundred of your best friends.
Bid day marks the end of sorority recruitment, the end of two weekends of conversations, two weekends of purity and two weekends of personal reflection. It is the quintessential image of the goal of recruitment, seeing a sorority welcome their new perspective sisters faces painted, tutus on and voices drained.
Recruitment for sororities affiliated with the National Panhellenic Conference is a values-based process that started with a “meet the Greeks” event on Duck Pond, Sept. 3. “Rounds” start Sept. 12 where potential new members travel in their Rho Gamma groups and visit every NPC sorority on campus. From there, a mutual choosing process begins and PNMs start their journey towards finding their home in a sorority.
Recruitment ends Sept. 21 with bid day, where potential new members find out what sorority they will call home.
Sorority sisters and PNMs will be tired. Their feet will hurt. They will forget their year and major. In the end it is worth it. In the end you can potentially find a group of girls that will change your life for the better.
There are preconceived notions nationally and on campus about sorority women and the different sororities they belong to, but senior education major Beth Chastain and Vice President of Recruitment for the Panhellenic Association said otherwise.
“Going into recruitment without the rumors or stereotypes that you hear will greatly increase your chances of finding somewhere that you feel like you belong,” Chastain said in an email.
The one way to get through recruitment and make it worth your time is to be yourself because you are good enough.
“When you show them your true self, you will find the group of girls where you truly fit in and you will be much happier,” Chastain said.
The one takeaway I have personally is that it is truly a mutual process. The process of recruitment is not for sorority women to judge others and put other women down. This is a time when PNMs can meet the sorority women and the sorority women can meet PNMs. The goal is to find women who share values, who you want to spend your time with and who will be positive members of your organization.
Whether a potential new member is going through recruitment because they want to see if being in a sorority is for them or it has been their dream, it is a valuable experience for everyone involved. For those who just needed some insight on what recruitment really is, I hope you have gained a true sense of such an important time in sorority women’s lives.
Stephanie Sansoucy, a junior journalism major from Raleigh, is the community outreach director.