Last week 86 women went through Panhellenic recruitment to find a sorority call home in the houses of Kappa Delta, Chi Omega or Zeta Tau Alpha.
Every year women across the nation go through recruitment to find a community to be involved with, to serve with and to find friendships. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 recruitment week looked very different for most universities as the entire process was moved to a virtual platform.
However, thankfully for the Greek community at Union, recruitment week remained in person. While a few women participated virtually due to quarantine, the houses filled with women each night for recruitment. During this time, increased health precautions were taken. Treava Schmitter-Schrier, a sophomore elementary education major and member of Zeta Tau Alpha, said COVID-19 safety measures included limiting the number of people inside each the houses at one time as well as everyone in the house wearing masks and maintaining social distance. Although she felt that the masks made it more difficult to connect with the women since she struggled to both hear what they were saying and see how they truly felt, the smaller groups helped create personal connections and more meaningful conversations.
Even with the health changes, the recruitment process remained similar to previous years. The potential new members (PNMs) were broken into groups that then rotated between the three houses over the course of the evening. This process repeats for four nights as the women learn about the values, character and service opportunities of each sorority.
This year, Union began the process of a values-based recruitment. Its purpose is to encourage women to choose a sorority for its individual quality of character and personal values.
Emma Kate Halverson, a sophomore elementary education major and member of Kappa Delta, said, “Values-based recruitment is a vital part of selecting the best sorority for yourself. Women want to choose the house that best aligns with their ideals and areas they want to grow in. When I was going through recruitment, values night gave me insight into the house that would help me grow in the ways I wanted to most.”
The purpose of sorority recruitment is for women to find a community in which they find loving friends and opportunities for personal growth. Mary Beth Propes, a freshman psychology major and a new member of Chi Omega, said that while she initially had no plans of being in a sorority, her mind changed as she saw how different the women and the Greek community were at Union compared to other schools. Propes became the first member of her family to ever join Greek life. Her goal for the week was to enter it without any preconceived notions and to truly get to know the heart of the women in each sorority.
Propes said, “I can already feel that the community is so special because all of these women are committed to helping you be better versions of yourself every time you interact with them. Not just relationally but academically, spiritually, and with campus involvement, all of those things. I think it is such a valuable community that I’ve found because it is Christ-centered women committed to loving you the way that Christ loves us, and that’s exciting to be a part of.”
Photo by Maddie Steele
