Sororities distribute bids

Tears of happiness and sadness streamed down women’s faces Monday night across campus as Rho Gammas delivered final bids.

Sophomore Shannon Houpt, who received a bid from Delta Zeta, said she had been waiting on that moment since she was 4 years old.

About 1,700 women signed up for recruitment this year. There was a 9-to-1 ratio of freshmen to sophomores, according to the Panhellenic Association.

Women who decide to go through rush start with 21 party, when they visit every sorority. The women who decide to stay with the process then rank their top houses, and houses rank their top girls, making for mutual selection. When the rankings match up, the girl gets invited back until either the rankings never match up or she gets into a house. A woman can also decide to drop out of the process at any time.

“IU places girls based on a unique quota-setting system and is the only campus to use it,” PHA Vice President of Recruitment Megan Allardt said. “Other campuses place girls based on the number of girls who sign up for recruitment divided by the number of chapters, which is called a total quota-setting system. We do it differently because it is the way we have always done it.”

Total quota-setting system means everyone is placed into a house. IU’s unique quota-setting system makes the process very competitive.

At IU each sorority does something different when it comes to deciding how many women to accept into their house. Some take the number of women the house has beds for, while others make arrangements, such as live-out houses, to accept as many women as they can. PHA implemented the live-out houses about three years ago in order to create more space. If a sorority does not have a house, then the chapter gets to decide how many women they want to take or the national chapter will tell the chapter how many women they can take. They still do not take everyone who rushes.

If a chapter does not meet their numbers at the end of the recruitment process, sororities can choose to give out snap bids. Snap bids are an informal recruitment tactic to invite girls into the chapter after bid night is over.

PHA made it a goal this year to place more women than they ever have before. This year, no one was released after 14 party or eight party. Last year they placed 900 women, and this year they placed more than 1,000.

Women who do not receive or accept a bid the first time they rush can choose to rush again as sophomores. Second-time recruitment participants are not less likely to receive bids, but there are fewer sophomores to choose from.

Jessi Grealish, a senior Alpha Delta Pi member, also known as “Tally” the Rho Gamma this year, said she went through recruitment as a freshman, but dropped after the 21 party because she was too busy.

“I am so happy I rushed as a sophomore,” Grealish said. “I didn’t get my first choice house, but I am so happy there. So, give whatever happened a chance.”

Some women get into their first-choice house, but most do not. If a woman does not get a bid or decides to drop out of the Greek system, she can try again next year or she can turn her attention to other groups.

“If you don’t get into the house you want, just make the best of it,” sophomore Alpha Gamma Delta member Katie Snyder said. “There are so many great opportunities at IU, so don’t be afraid to get involved in other things.”