Emory noticed 310 girls enter the recruitment course of this yr (Emory Wheel)
Enormous crowds huddled in teams of blue, pink, black and white on Emory College’s McDonough Subject on the morning of Jan. 15. The hushed chatter of anticipation quickly was shouts of pleasure as the ladies opened their manila envelopes to disclose which sorority accepted them. This was bid day, the day when individuals who signed up for sorority recruitment found which chapter they matched with and “ran dwelling” to the sorority lodges on Eagle Row with their new sisters.
This yr, 310 girls entered the recruitment course of. which is lower than in years previous to the pandemic. In 2015, 374 girls obtained a bid whereas 127 didn’t.
This yr’s recruitment cycle was the primary in-person recruitment because the pandemic began. Planning the method required collaboration between many devoted women in quite a lot of chapters.
For Pi Beta Phi (Pi Phi) President Lauren Cobitz (21Ox, 23C), the flexibility to speak to potential recruits face-to-face was “actually thrilling.”
“It’s additionally a bit scary and daunting that we have been going to must principally attempt to redo every thing that has been taught for like in-person recruitment prior to now,” Cobitz stated. “It was positively only a change from on-line and getting used to all of the … little particular issues that must be accomplished for in-person, like we have now to attempt to enhance the lodge.”
The planning began final semester, Cobitz stated. Sorority sisters needed to “be sure that every thing is timed accurately” in order that no lodge had an unfair benefit with potential new members (PNM).
Cobitz stated that making ready for recruitment was “positively … a studying curve,” however that it was “actually a good way to construct sisterhood.”
The recruitment course of lasted 5 days, and every day had a unique agenda. On the primary day, the PNMs went to all eight of the sorority lodges and had 20-25 minute dialog rounds with 4 to 5 sorority members. On the finish of the day, the PNMs ranked their sorority preferences after which obtained a schedule for the subsequent day with the sororities that invited them again.
For Cobitz, becoming a member of a sorority has been a spotlight of her Emory expertise. She initially joined Pi Phi to discover a neighborhood after graduating from the Oxford campus, however stated she ended up discovering extra than simply neighborhood.
“There are a number of management alternatives and a number of methods that you would be able to develop whenever you’re in a sorority,” Cobitz stated. “I can actually see how my confidence has grown all through these positions, how a lot I’ve modified and grown as an individual. I’m much more understanding and affected person and simply an general higher chief.”
Charlize Garcia (26C), a brand new member of Delta Phi Epsilon, thought that becoming a member of a sorority may very well be a chance for her to find a neighborhood she by no means realized.
When requested about what she appeared for in a sorority, Garcia stated that mutual respect mattered to her.
“I’ve seen the women … be like, goofy collectively and … make jokes and stuff like that,” Garcia stated. “There’s no judgment or something.”
Nonetheless, not all women who started the recruitment course of made it to bid day.
Ananya Singh (22Ox, 25C), determined to drop out of the method on the second day. Much like Cobitz, Singh initially wished to hitch a sorority to search out neighborhood after coming from Oxford.
“It simply felt like, earlier than you even open your mouth, such as you have been being judged on … the way you look and … how your hair was styled, like how you probably did your make-up and like what you wore,” Singh stated. “I’d by no means actually felt judged in that approach. … It was positively onerous.”
Though Singh determined to not be a part of Greek Life, she stated doesn’t really feel like it will hinder her social expertise at Emory.
“I do nonetheless wish to meet new individuals, and I believe that’s potential, via like becoming a member of golf equipment,” Singh stated. “I don’t actually really feel like I’m … lacking out on something.”
On bid day, the cumulative feelings of the recruitment course of shone via as new sisterhood started. Bubbles floated via the air as the brand new sorority members hugged and danced to “I Kissed a Lady” and “Barbie Lady.” Purple, pink and blue balloons overflowed from an inflatable pool as the recruits posed for photos with their new household.
Sarah Davis (22Ox, 24C) contributed reporting to this piece.
