Sorority recruitment set to begin Thursday

Many young women at the University of Southern Mississippi will begin searching for their “home away from home” beginning this Thursday, the start of College Panhellenic Council formal sorority recruitment.

As of Monday night, 430 potential new members had registered for the six-day process of choosing a chapter to affiliate with during their time at USM.

“It’s exciting that each year more and more women are interested in our Panhellenic community and are willing to see all our chapters and the great qualities they have to offer through formal recruitment,” CPC President Eileen Dominguez said.

Each year, the seven CPC sororities on campus (Delta Delta Delta, Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Delta Gamma, Phi Mu, Alpha Delta Pi and Pi Beta Phi) arduously begin preparing for the new group of women to come through recruitment in hopes that each woman will see something different about their chapter and choose to call it home.

Active members in each sorority spend countless hours with their chapters throughout the spring semester prior to recruitment, along with weekends during the summer, in order to prepare themselves and their chapters for the year’s upcoming recruitment.

“As the preparation for formal recruitment comes to an end, Alpha Delta Pi has been working extremely hard during our workshops,” Alpha Delta Pi Recruitment Vice President Remy Kleinman said. “We’ve spent hours practicing songs, decorating and rehearsing our skit. This is the time where our members’ talents shine the brightest. We are so excited to meet the women going through recruitment and hope they find their homes in Greek Life.”

Throughout the process, a group of sorority women who were chosen in the spring help potential new members make the best decisions for themselves. These women are called Gamma Rho Chis and disaffiliate from their respective chapters one semester before recruitment to provide unbiased assistance for the new women.

Caroline Knight, a senior Gamma Chi and speech pathology major, stressed the importance of the role she plays during the week of sorority recruitment.

“The Gamma Chis are here to guide each woman through the recruitment process,” Knight said. “We are trained months in advance on how to give an unbiased opinion in order to help answer any questions they may have during the week.”

Recruitment will kick off Wednesday night with an information session for potential new members, followed by the first round of events, Meet the Greeks, on Thursday. The week also includes Philanthropy Day round, when the women learn about the community service each organization does; Sisterhood Day, when each chapter showcases their personality through a skit; Preference Day, when the women make their final decision about which chapter to join; and Bid Day, the end of formal recruitment when the women receive a bid from a chapter they visited during the week. Bid Day will be on Sept. 11.

Meredith Manguno, a senior member of Kappa Delta, gave some advice for the women going through recruitment.

 “Each girl should know that they should enjoy their week,” Manguno said. “Try not to get too caught up in the craziness that recruitment week will bring.”

Manguno also stressed the need for each woman to remember to make the best decision for herself, not for anyone else, and that she must trust that she will find her home.

Hannah Atwood, a potential new member and junior at USM, said sorority life is more than just date parties and t-shirts.

“Sororities are all about their sisterhood,” Atwood said. “I think when you join a sorority it is safe to say you will be joining a new family, and families are great at making you feel right at home.”

Dominguez said women who are interested in signing up for sorority recruitment can do so before the deadline, which is 2 p.m. on Wednesday. A table will be set up in the lobby of the Thad Cochran Center for those who are interested.