By SAMANTHA HIGGINS & TAKEISHA SINCLAIR
STAFF WRITERS
[email protected]
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The week of Jan. 25 was Panhellenic sorority recruitment week at the University of New Haven. Out of the 105 women who went out for recruitment, 77 were extended bids to for the four sororities on campus: Phi Sigma Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Delta Phi Epsilon and Chi Kappa Rho sororities.

Lauren Houston, a junior majoring in criminal justice and founding member of Alpha Sigma Alpha here at UNH, who participated in formal recruitment for the first time says “Having such amazing individuals as my sisters, who have been working hard to build up this organization, made recruitment week seem less stressful. We worked together as a team and put in countless hours of work and planning. Seeing our 23 new members on bid day and seeing who came ‘home’ to ASA brought me nothing but joy to finally see how much our hard work paid off.”

She continued on, encouraging others to look at the positives involved with Greek life and sharing her own experiences with Greek life at UNH.

“I think Greek life on the UNH campus is great. Getting involved in Greek life gives you the opportunity to get involved, meet other individuals, and helps you to even grow as a person. For me personally, being in ASA has helped me to better manage my time, stay on top of my schoolwork, and has helped me to learn how to become a leader.”

Recruitment was slightly interrupted by the snow, which caused cancellations the Saturday and Sunday information sessions, but the rest of the week went on as planned. The women were encouraged to “dress to impress” on the first night by UNH’s Panhellenic committee. Throughout the week the women were broken into groups and lead to each sorority by Rho Gammas, who were active sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma, Chi Kappa Rho, and Delta Phi Epsilon that “gave up their letters to help [others] find their home” during the course of recruitment. Alpha Sigma Alpha members did not have sisters act as Rho Gammas this semester because they felt it was better for all sisters to participate in recruitment as an active member once.

On the first night, the women went to open houses for each of the four sororities to learn about each of them, the second night they went back to each sorority to learn more about them, and then they rated them on which they would most and least like to return to. Brianna Hill, a sophomore majoring in forensic science who accepted a bid to Delta Phi Epsilon, said “The great thing about going through formal recruitment was being able to see all the great things that each organization does.”

By Wednesday night the prospective members would only return to their top three choices. Thursday was preference night for each sorority, and that was the night that the students would only return to two sororities. Friday was the day that the women would be extended their bids and find their “home.”

Jacqueline Marie Teixeira, senior who is studying criminal justice with a concentration in forensic psychology and a member of Delta Phi Epsilon, shared that her sorority “had an amazing recruitment” and that “ we had such a great group of girls come out to, not only our organization, but to all of the Panhellenic organizations this spring.”

She, too, shared positive outlooks on Greek life saying how excited she was to see UNH Greek life grow with all of the women who accepted bids during recruitment this spring semester.

“As a whole, Greek life at UNH is a great opportunity to not only get involved on campus, but it also allows you to gain great leadership skills to succeed in not only your organization, but all of what UNH has to offer and even for the future,” Teixeira said.

On Bid Day, “women who received bids met in Bucknall Theater to find out who it was from” says Sarah Squatriglia, the graduate intern in the Office of Student Activities who assisted with recruitment throughout the week. When the students, arrived they not only found out who their new sisters were, but their Rho Gammas also revealed what organization they were members of.

Alex Erdman, a freshman majoring in political science major recruitment overwhelming at first, but said that as she was able to get to know the organizations better she felt most comfortable with ASA. On Bid Day she said she was “so excited and happy I was literally crying.”

After the festivities in Bucknall Theater, women were then walked over to the German club where all the sisters of each organization were waiting in different corners of the room for their new sisters to run through the doors and “come home.” After that, each organization was free to do their own, individual Bid Day celebrations.

For Hill, Bid Day was exciting because she had been wanting to go Greek for a long time, saying that getting her bid to DPhiE was like “being welcomed home” and that her sisters “make her feel so welcomed and important.”