Sororities prepare for bid night Sunday
September 19, 2012
This is the final weekend of recruitment for the six sororities on Kent State’s campus. Sorority recruitment ends at 7 p.m. Sept. 23 with the bid night ceremony in the Kent Student Center Ballroom.
With different sororities to choose from, it can be challenging for a potential new member to determine which sorority will be the right fit.
Chelsea Gehring, sophomore paralegal studies major and member of Delta Gamma, said the sororities are busy during the beginning of the school year preparing for recruitment.
Recruitment starts with the “Meet the Greeks” event during the week of Sept. 10.
Before recruitment, many sororities have a work week where they focus solely on preparing for recruitment by holding meetings, advertising to incoming freshman, and getting the word out to all other students on campus.
“I am coming to find out recruitment is a huge deal,” Gehring said.
While sororities are busy with recruitment, the potential new members are busy trying to find which sorority is the right fit for them.
Hanna Greenwell, sophomore fashion merchandising major and member of Sigma Sigma Sigma, said she looked for which sorority she felt most comfortable in when she was going through recruitment week.
“Our home is very cozy so it’s hard not to feel comfortable right when you walk in the door,” Greenwell said.
Sigma Sigma Sigma looks for new members who mesh well with the other sisters and will be a good representation of the chapter, Greenwell said.
Delta Gamma has a specific checklist of attributes for their potential sisters.
“We say we are looking for a five-star girl,” Gehring said. “This is someone who has all five points of the star.”
Those five points are character, academics, activities, personal development and ambition.
Other sororities, such as Delta Zeta, look for the same qualities in new members, but also try to promote campus awareness about Greek life.
Aubrey Luther, senior special education major and the president of Delta Zeta, said all sororities spread the word about recruitment through information tables, flyers and sidewalk chalk throughout campus.
“We also promote the recruitment process and registration through media networks like Facebook and Twitter,” Luther said.
Gehring said the average number of recruits for Delta Gamma is 50. Luther added all sororities on campus receive approximately the same number of recruits.
“It depends on how many girls come through recruitment,” Luther said. “It fluctuates every year.”
Kent State encourages fairness by requiring all sororities to promote general Greek life rather than individual chapters.
“You cannot just promote your sorority by telling potential new members to go Delta Gamma,” Gehring said. “You could say things like ‘Delta Gamma says go Greek,’ but the go Greek has to be bigger and more eye-catching than the sorority name.”
Contact Chelsea Kiko at [email protected].