Sororities in good standing with the university will begin "coordinated recruitment" today, according to Meaghan Annett, president of the Panhellenic Council (Panhel). Both Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta) and Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) will be recruiting new members.
Chi Omega and Alpha Phi (APhi) will not be participating in coordinated recruitment, according to Chi Omega President Hannah Macaulay and APhi President Rachel Perry. Both sororities are currently on cease and desist, according to a Feb. 17 Daily article.
According to Annett, coordinated recruitment will be open to first-years and will be less structured and more accommodating for potential new members (PNMs). Annett explained that Panhel voted to reinstate recruitment for sororities not on cease-and-desist after the university allowed recruitment to proceed and lifted its ban. AOII and Theta are allowed to recruit because they do not have cease and desist orders, according to Annett.
Theta’s pre-recruitment event, publicized on Facebook earlier in the semester, was open to sophomores and above and described recruitment as “informal.” Panhel has revised the recruitment structure since then.
Panhel has made various changes to the old process, including omitting Rho Gammas, sorority sisters whose role was to lead PNMs around campus. Annett explained that this structure made more sense when recruitment used to happen in the beginning of the semester when PNMs may not have known their way around campus well.
Additionally, members of Panhel’s Executive Council will be stationed either in various locations or in a centralized spot on campus to answer questions for PNMs.
Annett also said the new recruitment structure will allow PNMs to explore their options without needing to pick one sorority’s event over another.
“We ... wanted to make sure that a potential new member had the option to attend all the chapters they were interested in, so the timings won’t conflict with each other,” Annett said.
Additionally, coordinated recruitment will include longer events to encourage longer conversations.
Annett said that, in past years, 300 PNMs signed up for recruitment, a number that naturally decreased to 200 over the course of the week.
“I don’t think we’ll get the same numbers,” Annett said. “I’m not sure what they’ll be.”
AOII, Theta sororities begin coordinated recruitment
