In 2018, Kent State’s Panhellenic Council changed the length of sorority recruitment so women have more time for school and work.

According to an article published on KentWired, Panhellenic Council lengthened the time of recruitment from one week to two weeks in an attempt to be more “values-based.” 

“It was the most exhausting week of my life,” said Julie Grund, a senior applied communications major, about recruitment. Grund was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority from September 2017 to September 2018. 

Before the Panhellenic Council made the time change, sorority recruitment was traditionally one week. The women would visit the chapter houses, attend mandatory events, go to class and work all in the same week. Now, sorority recruitment only takes place on the weekends spread across two weeks. 

“We are students first,” said Jessica Chunat, vice president of judicial affairs on the Panhellenic Council. “Potential new members were saying they were drained, it took a council willing to make that change for future potential new members.” 

Every woman on Panhellenic Council is involved in making decisions, Chunat said that it was a group effort to push this new change through. The council works with the chapters in order to make it a smooth transition. 

An IvyWise article discusses how two of the largest factors affecting whether or not students join Greek life is the time and monetary commitment they are expected to uphold. 

“Alpha Xi Delta’s dues were around $375 a semester,” Grund said. “But, their dues were not all inclusive like some of the other chapters were, we had to pay for everything else.”

Sororities on campus whose dues are all inclusive means they pay for all of the shirts, formal tickets and events they will be attending that semester all at once. Other sororities, like Alpha Xi Delta and Phi Mu, are not all inclusive.

Alpha Phi is an all-inclusive sorority because their house was recently renovated. Each chapter has their own dues, which include Panhellenic dues and National fees. 

Women must pay a $50 fee to sign up for recruitment, and if they do not get asked back to a chapter or decide to opt out, there is no refund. 

“Of course money and time was a concern,” Chunat said. She credits her treasurer and sisters for helping her build time management and budgeting skills. “It changed my life,” she said about joining Greek life. 

In Greek society, sororities “recruit” and fraternities “rush.” Rushing for a fraternity is less formal, less expensive and less time consuming. Sororities are run by the Panhellenic Council and fraternities are run by the Interfraternity Council, otherwise known as IFC.

“IFC and Panhellenic Council are run differently due to a different values-based system,” Chunat said. “Women are more pack animals, it’s about finding women who fit the chapter’s message best.” 

“Not all of the rushing events are mandatory,” said Justin Fela, a sophomore Digital Media Production major. “You only have to attend one event, I attended a cigar night.”

Fela said that he could only attend one event because the rest of them interfered with his work and class schedule, adding that his biggest concern was the time commitment Greek life presents.

Samantha Simcox covers greek life and the Dean of Students. Contact her at [email protected].