An experience like no other: Spring Recruitment 2015
Bid day was filled with laughter and chanting as new members joined the Greek organization of their choosing. Photo by Callie Klinkmueller
By Kayla Barry and Erin Creedon, Staff Writers //
We stood in line among several of our peers anxiously waiting and made small talk to calm our nerves. Suddenly, we heard the words “one minute knock!” blare out from the walkie-talkie that belonged to the sorority sister at the door. We immediately smoothed out our hair and looked down at our outfits one last time. The sister outside the house knocked on the door and excitedly turned back around to all of us, saying, “This is it, girls!” There it was—the chant from behind those closed doors. It was coming from the crowd of women waiting to meet us. We gulped nervously and took a deep breath. That last minute seemed to take an eternity, but finally, the door opened. We entered the house into a whirlwind of songs, streamers, and sisterhood.
We were feeling all sorts of emotions as we went to each party in the recruitment process. Formal recruitment is something we both had been waiting for all first semester. It’s a chance to meet new friends and hopefully find where we belong on campus. We decided to rush because we knew we wanted to get more involved and form strong friendships with a group of women we knew we could always fall back on.
Formal recruitment takes place at the beginning of the spring semester at High Point University. It’s an intense process that occurs over a period of two weeks. There are three rounds: philanthropy night, skit day, and preference night. Philanthropy night usually happens over two days because each girl is visiting all six sorority houses on campus. Every “potential new member” spends around 30 minutes at each house, learning about the sororities’ philanthropies. This is the most casual night, where all PNMs wear jeans and the designated recruitment t-shirt. After meeting each sorority, every girl ranks the top four houses that they liked the best. The next day, Sunday, is called Skit Day because each sorority invites back the girls they connected with and performs skits to show the goofier side of sisterhood. Girls wear business casual attire. When these 45 minutes parties are over, PNMs again rank their top two houses in hopes of getting invited back for Preference Night. Then comes the grueling week of waiting…and waiting. PNMs do not find out which sorority invites them back for the final round until that next Friday. Girls receive their schedules that afternoon and attend the last hour-long parties that same night. This is the most serious night of the process because houses make a final decision on who they would like as sisters. This is also the most formal night, so PNMs wear cocktail dresses. Then finally the next day is Bid Day, where you receive an invitation to join one sorority. This day is full of tears and excitement as you are welcomed to your new sisterhood!
As freshmen going through this process, it was definitely nerve-wracking and unlike anything we had ever done before. However, we believe it is an experience that every girl should go through because, ultimately, you learn about yourself through these two weeks. You discover what you want in a sorority and what you are passionate about. Philanthropy night helps you see what kind of service you want to do; skit day helps you realize what kind of personalities you want to surround yourself with; and preference night shows you where you want to be. In the end, no matter the outcome, you find your place at HPU.