Maddie Ziller said she was excited to join Alpha Sigma Tau.

Alpha Sigma Tau does a lot of community service, such as working with people diagnosed with down syndrome, which Ziller said she was excited about being a part of.

“Ultimately I am where I wanted to be, but it took a lot more contemplating than I thought,” the freshman recruit said. “It was much more emotionally involved then I thought it would be. I didn’t give it enough credit.”

Sorority recruitment concluded Monday Sept. 16., with bid day.

Small whites boxes tied with purple bows contained a future in Greek Life for 157 women.

Inside each box lay an invitation from one of four sororities.

Cries of joy enveloped the basement of UC East as rushes simultaneously discovered who their new sorority families would be.

Recruitment percentage increased significantly, as opposed to previous years.

“86 percent of the women who participated in recruitment this year got a bid,” David Stetter, program advisor of Greek Life said. “Last year we placed 78 percent.”

There was also an increase of 30 women this year, he said.

Alpha Sigma Tau is the newest sorority in the national Panhellenic Council, making this their first experience with a formal recruitment process.

“Before, we would do open continuous bidding, people from headquarters would do one-on-one interviews with us,” said Kristin Hostetter, junior nursing major.

This type of recruitment is informal, and each girl only talks to one sorority, whereas during formal recruitment, each girl must visit all four sororities on campus before she can join one.

It’s basically speed dating with girls, she said.

After receiving their bids, recruits ran out to the amphitheater where their new sisters were waiting to greet them. Emotions were high as girls hugged and cheered.

Many wiped tears from their eyes as they congratulated one another.