The Panhellenic Association wrapped up another Formal Recruitment week Aug. 20 with another participation record broken.
Formal Recruitment started Aug. 14, when 1,654 freshman, sophomore and junior women ended their summer vacation early and descended upon MU. This year’s crop of potential sorority members had 202 more than last year’s record breaker of 1,452 signups.
Every year more women register for recruitment as more students are admitted into MU, said PHA spokeswoman Crystal Richardson.
“(This year’s change) was the addition of one more social to both Wednesday and Thursday in order to keep the potential member groups down to a more manageable number for the chapters,” Richardson said in an email.
In an intensely organized process, potential members are split into groups of about 80 women, each group with a different daily schedule. Groups visit seven of the 14 PHA sorority houses Monday and the other seven Tuesday, freshman Katerina Rios said.
“We would line up in alphabetical order and an air horn would blow, the blinds and doors would open and girls would come out doing their house chant,” Rios said. “Each girl from the house was paired with a potential member and have a 20-minute social to see if your personality clicked.”
A mutual selection process is used throughout the Formal Recruitment process. As potential members pick their favorite houses, those houses choose women to come back the next day, as well. On Wednesday, women can see a maximum of 11 houses, Rios said.
“(Potential members) see skits that will give insight into each of the chapters,” the PHA’s website stated.
Thursday marked Philanthropy Day, where sororities talked to visitors about money they have raised and projects they worked on. At the end of the day, potential members “preferenced” again for the last day of socials. During the preferencing process, women chose their favorite sororities in no particular order and ranked the leftovers as alternates in case a house did not invite them back.
“I liked all three of my (preferenced) choices,” Rios said. “It was really hard to distinguish which one would be the perfect fit, because they were all great houses.”
During the course of the week, women visit fewer and fewer houses until they find the one house that feels right. It can be an overwhelming week for many women, Rios said.
“1,190 women received bids on Bid Day with (a) majority getting their first preference,” Richardson said.
Finally, Saturday was Bid Day, the end of the busy week. At noon, all the potential members remaining lined up on the Francis Quadrangle with envelopes behind their backs. Contrary to a popular campus myth, potential members who were not chosen by any houses did not receive envelopes with the word “No” inside, Rios said.
There was a countdown from 10 and the women ripped open the envelopes, Rios said.
“We ran across the Quad to bunches of screaming girls from our new house,” said Rios, now an Alpha Delta Pi member. “I think every house has its own merits, and is really good. In each of the 14 houses, there were intelligent, funny and kind girls, so you really just can’t go wrong.”
Rios also said she was excited about her Bid Day invitation.
“When I saw the really pretty invitation with the seal, I was ecstatic,” she said.
