Brooke Stemen, vice president of recruitment and expansion, said that sisterhood is one of the best parts about being in a sorority.
Stemen began planning for sorority recruitment back in November.
“It’s really a lengthy process of recruitment round tables where we meet with the recruitment chairs of each chapter and go over ‘What do you guys think is fair?’ and ‘How do you think we should do this?’” Stemen said. “I don’t make all the decisions, so it’s really nice to have a committee of people to bounce ideas off of.”
Sorority recruitment began in June and will end with Bid Day Sunday.
“We have about 250 girls who are going through recruitment this year,” Stemen said.
Girls interested in joining sororities attended the open house Saturday, where they met with current members and learned about the chapter requirements for the five sororities on campus.
“Recruitment occurs over the course of three days, and it is such an enjoyable experience, not only for girls going through the process, but also for the active women of Greek life,” junior Delta Zeta Emily Howard said. “It is a fun opportunity to learn about each individual chapter and meet the women who are a part of it. It is an excellent opportunity to make new friends and learn about Greek sorority life here at USI.”
Sisterhood and Philanthropy Night and Preference Night, which will be held Friday and Saturday respectively, give current members a chance to share their stories with potential members as well as allow the new recruits to narrow their options.
“Sunday is our Bid Day and that’s when all the girls going through recruitment open their Bid Boxes and find out which chapter they were invited to join and it’s really exciting,” Stemen said. “We run out on the Quad and there’s a lot of screaming and jumping and happiness and crying even.”
As a Rho Sigma, Stemen temporarily gave up her letters during the recruitment process so that she could help new members find the sorority that fits them best without giving them a bias.
Bid Day is when recruitment counselors are allowed to return to their chapters.
The sororities on campus base their values on the four pillars of excellence: scholarship, leadership, service and sisterhood.
“Recruitment can be for absolutely anybody. You don’t have to look a certain way,” Stemen said. “You don’t have to be the stereotype because on our campus we really are open to anybody and we want everyone to be able to experience the great things we’ve gotten out of recruitment. We’re really just a big group of girls who like each other and have the same values.”
Stemen said she enjoys the sense of having a family and a home away from home on campus that she gets from her sorority.
“My GPA has skyrocketed since I joined a sorority just because the people there, they keep you accountable and help you with study groups,” she said.
Howard’s favorite part of sorority life is the sisterhood.
“My sisters have become my closest friends, and I have truly found a family here at USI thanks to them,” she said. “It is both motivating and encouraging to be surrounded by such intelligent, hard-working, kind and generous women. They inspire me to become a better version of myself every day, and they helped shape these formative college years into some of the most memorable and cherished years of my life.”
