Panhellenic sorority recruitment will be sooner and much quicker in the fall 2015 semester, according to Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Courtney McKenna.
Women interested in joining a Panhellenic sorority will be able to complete recruitment during Labor Day weekend, instead of having the process spread out over two weekends later in September, McKenna said. This change comes just two years after recruitment was moved to the fall semester.
The university used to hold recruitment during two separate weekends to get the three necessary days needed for recruitment without interfering with class schedules.
Holding recruitment during Labor Day weekend will allow it to be completed in just one weekend, rather than two, according to McKenna.
Carli Costello, the former chief recruiting officer for Kappa Alpha Theta said the one-week hiatus in the middle of the recruitment process can cause unease for potential new members.
“Having to wait an entire week to find out if they are going to get asked back to their top choice [or choices] can be extremely nerve wracking,” Costello said. “Recruitment is supposed to be one of the most exciting weekends for potential new members, not one in which they are really anxious or worried.”
McKenna said when recruitment was held on two weekends, they had it on two separate campuses because there weren’t enough large rooms on either campus to accommodate all of the students.
But now that Panhellenic sorority recruitment will be held during Labor Day weekend, McKenna said recruitment can now take place solely on the Mount Carmel campus.
“Because we do it that very first weekend, none of those intramurals and none of those [gym and dance] classes have started yet, so we have access to use the dance studios, which we normally wouldn’t have access to,” McKenna said. “And we wouldn’t have to have two sets of facilities staff working for two weekends.”
This change also means that the Panhellenic Council will not need to spend as much money during recruitment because they won’t need to spend money for shuttles to transport the members and potential members to and from the York Hill campus.
Sophia Giuffrida, a junior in Alpha Chi Omega, said the change in location is better, but that having the event on Labor Day weekend isn’t.
“I think it’s better that it’s all on main [campus] because it’ll probably go faster and flow easier,” Giuffrida said. “As for the three-day weekend, I don’t think it makes sense because it’s technically during a holiday and it’ll be a more hectic weekend.”
This earlier recruitment has one downside, according to McKenna: lack of extra time to inform potential women about recruitment.
“It does require the Panhellenic council, as well as my office, to think differently how we communicate to incoming students about recruitment because it is a quick decision,” McKenna said.
She said they intend to inform students and provide insight into recruitment during admitted students day and orientation, as well as through emails and social media.
The Panhellenic Council and McKenna decided this was a step in the right direction for recruitment because it provides a more complete experience.
“We’re really trying to make it a more user-friendly process,” McKenna said. “I’m very excited. I think it will be really good and really beneficial.”
