New recruitment week is unveiled

By Abbie Steinly, Staff Writer  Exciting days are ahead for the Greek organizations on campus, with Panhellenic formal recruitment wrapping up this weekend and the Inter- Fraternity Council (IFC) holding...

By Abbie Steinly, Staff Writer 

Exciting days are ahead for the Greek organizations on campus, with Panhellenic formal recruitment wrapping up this weekend and the Inter- Fraternity Council (IFC) holding their new formal recruitment next week.

Sororities on campus are in the middle of recruitment, with the process ending on Sunday, Feb. 4, with bid day. Participating sororities include, Alpha Delta Pi, Kappa Delta, Sigma Kappa and Zeta Tau Alpha.

Women will “run home” down University Avenue to the organizations they have chosen after a week of recruitment events.

All are welcome to attend the “run down the avenue” to cheer on the new members of the Panhellenic community at 12 p.m.

Recruitment started on Wednesday, Jan. 31, with open house nights at each of the four Panhellenic sorority houses, where women had the chance to get to know some of the women in each of the organizations.

On Friday, the sisters will talk about their philanthropies and the different service opportunities that their organization offers on and off campus.

Organizing a set of week long events for four different organizations to take part in takes a lot of planning and communication. Vice President of Recruitment for the Panhellenic Council, senior Meaghan Shoppe said, “The most important thing is to keep up communication. I am constantly in contact with each chapter, all of the potential new members and the recruitment counselors to make sure everything runs smoothly throughout the week.”

While sororities are familiar with the recruitment process, this will be a first-time experience for Susquehanna’s new Greek Life advisor, Bryan Rivas.

“I am looking forward to seeing the progress of the women finding their home on campus and watching them run down the Ave, which is a great tradition we have here on campus,” Rivas said.

While the Panhellenic recruitment process is very standardized and structured, it is a little different for fraternities.

The IFC is trying a new recruitment process this year, with changes implemented by Rivas.

In previous years, each fraternity held their recruitment events on separate weeks. This year however, all organizations will hold a minimum of three events all during the same week. Events such as video game nights and trivia nights will begin Monday, Feb. 5 and conclude Saturday, Feb. 11.

Rivas believes that these changes will make the process more organized and efficient for fraternities.

“Putting all of the organizations’ recruitment events in the same week will give men the ability to check out all of the Greek organizations and will be more fair and equal for the chapters,” Rivas said.

Taking part in fraternity recruitment can be challenging but rewarding for some men on campus. For the Vice President of Recruitment of the Inter-Fraternity Council, Duncan Horne, the most important aspect is showing men what they can gain from joining Greek life.

“It is important that we convince men to make a great decision on this campus,” Horne said. “In my position I am really the one who tries to open the doors and expose them to the great opportunity that is Greek life.”

Fraternities are able to hand out bids to potential new members after the organization has held the mandatory requirement of three recruitment events.

In addition to the 11 social fraternities and sororities on campus, Susquehanna also offers other Greek organizations including Alpha Phi Omega, Sigma Alpha Iota and Sigma Gamma Rho.

Alpha Phi Omega focuses on community service and giving back and Sigma Alpha Iota is a women’s music sorority. Both organizations will hold their formal recruitment starting on Monday, Feb. 12 and are open to all students, even those who are already members of social fraternities or sororities.

Sigma Gamma Rho, Inc. is a sorority not included in the Panhellenic Council and will be hosting their own informational session on how to become a sister, Tuesday, Feb. 6.

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