Opinion: Not Like Bama Rush, My Experience With Sorority Recruitment

Two young women stand wearing matching dark-brown t-shirts that read“Kappa Delta Est. 1897” with fluffy brown bear ears. The woman on the left wears black jeans with a silver belt, and the woman on the right wears brown ripped jeans. — Detroit senior and Co-marketing Coordinator Rhiannon Slotnick and the author, Brighton first-year Gabriela Popa stand in the Kappa Delta lodge during Bid Night. Slotnick posted this on her Instagram with the tagline “The Albion Pleiad takes over Kappa Delta!” (Photo courtesy of Allison Mayo-Moyle).

I never imagined myself in a sorority, let alone even getting out of my comfort zone and attempting to join one. One thing is for certain, I wanted to avoid any Bama Rush dramatics.

For the record, I wasn’t completely “anti-Greek life,” but I was against the spectacle that Greek life can be, especially at larger schools. My first exposure to Greek life was when my cousin joined Zeta Tau Alpha at the University of Alabama.

With such a large school, Greek life can be quite overwhelming. On a smaller campus like Albion, Greek life is more manageable, more accessible. The manageability was one of the key reasons why I decided to rush.

Albion’s Sorority recruitment process is broken up into three days and then Bid Night. After each day, potential new members (PNMs) rank the houses. The next day PNMs find out which houses, if any, invited them back. PNMs are guided by recruitment counselors, who are students who are already a part of each sorority, whose primary role is to be unbiased sources for PNMs.

A woman with brown hair and green glasses poses in a mirror holding a phone with a pink phone case. The woman is wearing a baby pink t-shirt that reads “Find your perfect match” with a white shirt underneath and black jeans. — Popa wears a t-shirt that says “Find Your Perfect Match”. The dress code for the first day of recruitment was casual, and the Albion Panhellenic Council provided t-shirts to PNMs (Photo illustration by Gabriela Popa).

Day One: Open House

The most intimidating day of the whole recruitment process was the first day: the open house round.

Each PNM had 30 minutes to visit each house and meet the sisters within each house. I answered the same few questions at each: name, major, hometown, interests, etc.

The most overwhelming bit was sitting in each house, getting heavily involved in a conversation, and then suddenly having to restart the conversation all over again with a new person.

At the end of the night, we were told to rank each house we visited based on how we connected with each chapter.

Day Two: Philanthropy

The philanthropy round was probably the easiest of all the rounds for me.

Each PNM is given a list of up to four sororities that they are invited back to, and they have to visit each one for 45 minutes to learn about the philanthropic

organization(s) that each sorority supports.

I was only invited back to one sorority, which was a bit unexpected. I felt as though I made some connections with multiple houses and envisioned myself as a part of them. The most important lesson I learned with this process is to go in with an open mind and be open to anything.

Day Three: Preference

Day three is where my recruitment experience faltered.

The third day’s primary focus is for PNMs to give their preference to which sorority they would like to receive a “bid” or an invitation to join from.

I was quite sick – because many PNMs went to recruitment sick – on Sunday, and felt it was the best decision to stay back and find an alternative way to participate in day three. After reaching out to some of the heads of recruitment, it was decided that I was to send a letter to whichever house I was invited back to explaining why I wanted to join the sorority and what joining meant to me.

Day Four: Bid Night

Last, but certainly not least, was Bid Night, the night when each remaining PNM received their invitation to join their respective sororities.

Woman with brown hair and green glasses stands in the middle of a hallway with purple trim and wooden doors. The woman is wearing a black blouse with sheer sleeves and black pants with white lines in a random pattern. — The dress code for Recruitment Day Two was business casual. Popa is quite a fan of wearing “fun pants” to add some flair to her outfits (Photo courtesy of Anna Tolia).

After opening our bids, we walked to the science atrium where we were greeted with each sorority house all dressed up in accordance with whichever theme their sorority was following. Additionally, nearly all of the fraternity brothers watched bid night from the science atrium stairs.

Once everyone had announced their sorority bid, and each recruitment counselor revealed which sorority they were in and then we “ran home” to our sororities with our new sisters.

Recruitment Hangover: Final Thoughts

Sorority recruitment was a pique college experience, though I would not recommend it to everyone.

It was quite overwhelming at first, which threw off a lot of people, including myself. Long nights, lots of waiting around and a lot of uncertainty.

It was still quite fun, and I found that everything fell into place. Considering recruitment happens in the spring semester, many still have the option of continuous open bidding (COB) to whichever sorority is the best fit, especially if the formal recruitment experience is too much.

Overall, recruitment was quite different from what most people assume it to be. It’s a way to make lasting connections and get to know people on a deeper level. Meeting people I can now consider sisters made putting up through the overwhelming recruitment process worth it.