So, you want to go Greek? But how do you get started?

Women

Women who want to go Greek can take part in the yearly recruitment process in September.

“Every sorority woman has their own reasons for rushing,” said Maria Hesidence, vice president for membership recruitment at Alpha Phi. “My own personal reasons were to find a home away from home.”

Cassandra Creer, vice president of recruitment and retention for the Pan-Hellenic Council, said joining a sorority is an opportunity “to surround yourself with individuals who share some of the same values and interests as yourself.”

Whatever one’s reasons for wanting to join one of the six sororities on campus, students have to know how to go about the recruitment process.

Interested students have to sign up on the Pan-Hellenic Council’s website. The council oversees the six main sororities on campus. There is a $30 fee for signing up.

After signing up, girls are assigned a sorority recruitment counselor to aid them through recruitment.

“That counselor will help them throughout the entire recruitment process, from making sure they know what time to show up to aiding in selecting the right sorority for them,” Hesidence said. “These recruitment counselors are sorority women who give up their letters for the weeks leading up to recruitment and are trained to be unbiased and anonymous help for the girls.”

“Meet the Greeks” sorority information nights will be held Sept. 11 and 12, and sorority recruitment orientation will be held Sept. 16 to 18.

Recruitment will take place Sept. 20 to 23 with multiple rounds followed by a final bid night.

Choosing a house to belong to for four years, or for a lifetime, may seem like a huge decision, but Creer said to just go with what feels comfortable.

“The best advice I received when I was going through recruitment was to envision where I could see myself during my best moments,” she said, “but also where I could see myself when I was having the worst of days and just needed some sisters beside me.”

Men

Men who want to go Greek have to dig a little deeper to find a house on campus. Fraternities do not have a formal council overseeing them or a formal recruitment process.

“Incoming freshmen interested in joining should attend events hosted by Greek organizations and let those fraternities know they are interested in joining,” said Greg Stoner, member of Delta Tau Delta.

Events like wing nights at local restaurants, watching and going to Kent’s sporting events, intramural sports, paintball and having an information table out in the Student Center where people can ask us questions all serve as recruitment opportunities for fraternities, Stoner said.

Whether it be a sorority or a fraternity, all houses are looking for the same things in new members: people who want to better themselves and can likewise help better their house and community, and people whose goals, attitudes and personalities generally align with their own.

“It is a mutual selection process where each sorority gets to know you and what you stand for and decides how that matches up to what values they possess as a chapter,” Creer said.

Contact Kelsey Husnick at [email protected].