Sorority Recruitment
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Sorority recruitment or rush is a process in which university undergraduate women join a
sorority In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
. It is a procedure that includes a number of themed rounds in which different events are included. The rounds are followed by preference night and finally bid day in which a college student receives an invitation to join a certain sorority. The recruitment process is different at all universities and different universities have different sororities, meaning not all schools have the same chapters. Students are continually joining sororities more on college campuses as membership has gone up nationwide, growing more than 15 percent from 2008 to 2011, to 285,543 undergraduates, according to the National Panhellenic Conference, which represents 26 nationally recognized sororities. The
National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella or trade association for 26 national and international women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. '' Panhellenic'' () refers to the group's members being autonomous social ...
also has the task of regulating sorority recruitment. The sorority houses follow specific rules to avoid infractions; the week before and during recruitment, girls are not allowed to wear their
Sororities In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
Greek letters The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as we ...
out of their sorority houses to avoid influencing a potential new member (PNM).


History

The recruitment process has been around since the beginning of the formation of sororities, the first,
Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women. Alpha Delta Pi is a member ...
being founded in 1851 at
Wesleyan Female College Wesleyan Female College may refer to: * Cincinnati Wesleyan Female Seminary, Ohio * Ohio Wesleyan Female College, Delaware, Ohio * Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia * Wesleyan Female College (Wilmington) Wesleyan Female College of Wilmington, Dela ...
. The recruitment into Greek life on college campuses has experienced failures that ultimately led to the adoption of a centralized matching procedure whereby a matching is determined by preference lists submitted by the potential new members. In the beginning of the formation of Greek organizations, seniors were the only ones who were eligible to join; however, more students from other grade levels desired to be a part of Greek life and it was opened to juniors, then sophomores, and finally freshmen. The process of "lifting", in which a Greek member would leave one chapter and join another, was not uncommon in the late 1800s and early 1900s during the start of fraternities and sororities; however, it was frowned upon. To solve this issue and others, the first intersorority conference was called to discuss interfraternity cooperation. Although resolutions were passed, they had little effect until 1928 when the National Panhellenic Council was ready to focus on a centralized system of matching and the first mention of the preferential bidding system began. This preferential bidding system has since been incorporated into the current recruitment activities of sororities.


Terms

There are different terms used in the recruitment process, they may vary from university to university, but some of the general terms include: * Active: A sorority woman who has been formally initiated by her chapter. * Bid: A formal invitation to join a sorority. * Chapter: The local group of a larger national organization, designated by a special Greek letter name. * Legacy: A woman whose grandmother, mother or sister is an alumna or an active member of a sorority. * House director: An adult who lives in a sorority house and cares for all chapter members like a mother-figure away from home. * Recruitment guide: Often referred to as “Rho Gammas” or “Pi Chis”, lead girls through the week of recruitment, making sure they attend the correct houses, answer questions, and offer support. They are a part of a certain sorority but not allowed to reveal which one until the end of the week. * Initiation: The formal ceremony when a woman takes an oath and becomes a full member of her sorority. * New member: The preferred term for a pledge, a member of a sorority or fraternity who has not been initiated as an active member. * Panhellenic: A term meaning "all Greek." Refers to the local Panhellenic Council on campus. * Pin: The sorority or fraternity membership badge. * Potential New Member: Often referred to as PNM's, potential new member is the new term for rushee.


Preparation

Some potential new members begin preparing in the summer before the school year begins. They create a resume emphasizing community service, leadership, academics and teamwork; letters of recommendation from alumnae of each chapter, preferably on the campus in question; and learning of letters before beginning the rush process. Some schools have no prerequisites, and girls can decide to go through the rush process weeks before. A potential new member will usually need to register for recruitment. Registration will vary by school and there may be a deadline and a fee for registration.


Recruitment guides

PNMs will be assigned a recruitment guide to lead them through the week’s activities and assist the women by answering questions and giving moral support. The program of recruitment guides was developed by the National Panhellenic Council to provide support for the potential new members before, during, and after the recruitment process. These guides are called "Rho Gammas," "Pi Chis," "Gamma Chis" or something similar, but all have the same task no matter the title.


Recruitment rounds

The process includes a number of rounds that usually last around 5 days, with one round per day. Rush occurs at different times of years depending on the university. It usually happens in early fall, mid January, and/or spring. There are different themes for each round, including philanthropy and skits. The first rounds are the shortest, getting longer each day. The beginning rounds include small conversations with sisters in the sorority, then comes philanthropy and skit rounds. Once the new member completes a round at a house she will go back to her recruitment counselor and make note of how she liked the chapter. The number of houses a new member visits narrows each day to preference night which is usually the longest and most serious round, in which a potential new member will visit only 1-3 chapter houses at a typical campus. Bid day is the final day of recruitment and can have several different outcomes: the PNM could receive a bid from her top choice, receive a bid from one of the other chapters she visited on preference night, not receive a bid, or receive a phone call offering a snap bid. Girls can either accept or deny the bids they are given, and the chapters have big celebrations welcoming the now new members into the sorority.


Cost

Sororities often cost a considerable amount of money in order to join, with the price varying based on factors determined by national headquarters or university requirements.


Criticism

Several sororities were criticized for their methods of recruitment. One notable incident was a recruitment video of
Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority with 175 active chapters and over 270,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, ...
from the
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
. The video was compared to Girls Gone Wild and was criticized by several for its lack of diversity and for its apparent
sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
. The video was later removed from their YouTube channel. Another notable incident was a viral recruitment video of
Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women. Alpha Delta Pi is a member ...
from the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
where many individuals stack on top of each other behind their
sorority house North American fraternity and sorority housing refers largely to the houses or housing areas in which fraternity and sorority members live and work together. In addition to serving as housing, fraternity and sorority housing may also serve to ...
door. Many individuals on
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were horrified by the videos, some even comparing the recruitment method to the
Gates of Hell ''The Gates of Hell'' () is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the '' Inferno'', the first section of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy''. It stands at 6 metres high, 4&nbs ...
. The sorority was also criticized for their lack of diversity.{{cite news, last1=O'Neill, first1=Kara, title=University sorority recruitment video criticised for lack of diversity, url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/this-hell-university-sorority-video-8657794, accessdate=19 August 2016, date=18 August 2016


See also

* Fraternities and sororities#Rushing and pledging (recruitment and new member periods)


References

Sororities Recruitment Fraternity and sorority culture