Sorority recruitment ends in smiles

Freshman Lucy Rodriguez beamed as she stood among her new sisters in matching navy and gray hooded sweat shirts upon the steps of Delta Gamma on Sunday afternoon.\n"I couldn't be more excited," she said, clasping her fingers.\nRodriguez was one of more than 800 women who received invitations to be members of one of the 19 Panhellenic Association sorority chapters at IU.\nThe women's recruitment process, which began in early December with 19-Party, concluded this weekend with first and second invite on Friday and Saturday and, finally, bid day on Sunday.\n"It's a long process," said Rodriguez, who said she had witnessed crying throughout the week from other pledging women on her floor in McNutt Quad. "But mostly everyone was happy."\nAfter the freshman and sophomore pledges received their invitations in their dorm rooms Sunday, they boarded double-decker buses to their respective houses. Awaiting them were their new sisters, armed with sweat shirts, hugs and sometimes rehearsed cheers.\nPanhellenic Assocation's Vice President of Recruitment Kelly Jones, a senior, said recruitment started out with more than 1,600 women signed up. She said many drop out of the process on their own accord, failing to enjoy what they encounter while visiting the chapters during 19-Party. Others drop out because they don't meet the GPA requirements, which vary from house to house.\nJones also acknowledged that not all women who complete the recruitment process receive a bid.\nA woman is chosen for a particular house when both the individual and sorority "preference" one another during first and second invite parties. Both the sororities and potential recruits rank their choices, and a chapter's picks must match each individual woman's for her to be invited back for the next round.\nAlpha Phi President Kait Behan, a junior, said her chapter recruited 47 new members, one more than last year. Like her peers, she expressed excitement but felt the effects of missing out on sleep from the long weekend.\n"My voice sounds like a man right now," she said. "It was worth it. We were so happy with every girl we got."\nJones compared the recruitment weekend to being part of a "three-day long interview."\n"It does take a lot of time but it gives (prospective new members) the chance to experience all the houses," she said.\nAfter being greeted on the houses' lawns, new recruits were invited inside for reintroductions and photographs, but also to learn their obligations for the rest of the semester. While new recruits don't move into the houses until next school year, they must attend pledge-class meetings.\nRodriguez is looking forward to the semester with her newfound friends.\n"It makes a big campus seem a lot smaller," she said.