As fall begins to be upon us, so does Greek life recruiting. I spent two years as a member of a sorority at my old school and am now considered an early alum because my chapter doesn't exist at my new school. Anyways, if you are a Greek life member, friends with them, or maybe just a very observant passerby you will notice quite a few differences in how they receive new members. This article would address just how sorority recruitment would operate if it was allowed to function as frat rush.
The Parties
No no, not party parties. "Parties" is the word used to describe the uncomfortable amount of sitting at a table with a stranger and girl flirting you have to do each day of recruitment. The first day you go to all the parties but you only go back to ones you're invited to the following days. Now if this operated like frat rush, first of all never would they be called "parties." It is my experience that frats host a week of events, you show up to however many and which ones you want. Also these work more like steak cook-outs on the quad (lookin' at you JCU SigEp) or hangouts on the fraternity floor of the Greek dorm building.
Set Up
Obviously if parties are not as formal for frats as they are for sororities, they are not going to go through the ordeal of decorating a room. Sororities have to pick a theme for recruitment. decorate the room to that theme, make sure they aren't putting in "too many" frills, and minimize glitter as much as possible (lol yeah right). Not only that but at least for my chapter the decorations changed by the day so it was three separate set-ups and tear downs. If this was frat rush, as mentioned in the above paragraph, you have the scenery of wherever you put your event plus the big, painted, wooden letters of your chapter.
Attire
Sorority recruitment is a lot of primping, uncomfortable dresses, and heels that you are forced to stand in for hours. Forced to smile and act like you don't actually want to tear your feet off because you are convinced that would actually be less painful. I literally wore a pair of shoes a size too small for me my freshman year for recruitment solely to impress the chapters I was going back to on the last day. If this was frat rush,you would be wearing a letter shirt, jeans and some form of shoe that doesn't actually make you want to cry after six hours of wearing them. The only time I've seen formal attire incorporated into frat rush is when they go to deliver bids.
Bids
The process for getting a bid from a sorority really threw me through a loop my freshman year. Everyone kept saying "You pick them and they pick you!" I'm like ....I pick them for what? Well, obviously I finally grasped it. While each sorority certainly has their own process for selecting who gets a bid, they are all way more complex than frat bidding. In sorority recruitment, you can only end up with one bid at the end of the process. Then the dramatic excitement of bid day happens. If this was frat rush, you would be delivered a bid from multiple frats to your dorm room and have a certain amount of time to accept it. There is no glitter face paint, welcome home banners, and bid day shirts, which is probably the most fun part of recruitment.
Stress Level
If you happen to pass a PNM (potential new member) or sorority member during recruitment high chance that they might be crying. No one knows the answer why they're crying.Could be they didn't get asked back to the chapter they envisioned themselves joining, could be they did and are excited, they're exhausted, hungry, or they honestly might not know themselves. If sororities operated like frats during rush then you would pass well rested girls, perky and excited on their way to hang out with equally as well rested groups of girls. No, seriously, I have never witnessed a frat guy or potential frat guy being cranky, sleep deprived, or pouting over their "future little" not coming back to their chapter during rush week. If they are then they are very good at hiding it!
Moral of the story is if you are in a frat feel blessed. While sorority girls certainly try their best to make recruitment look like a breeze, they're most likely crying on the inside and forever wishing their recruitment worked like yours.
