Sorority completes recruitment

They wore white.

One hundred and sixty women gathered in a lecture hall in the Kelley School of Business, meeting for the first time as a complete sisterhood after informal recruitment ended last week.

Alpha Sigma Alpha is the newest Panhellenic Association colony on campus. The colony will become fully installed as a chapter in February, said the Panhellenic Association Vice President of Communications Leila Palizi.

In order to establish itself as a colony on campus, the national organization visited from Indianapolis and had a call-out meeting for interested women. At the meeting, national chapter members talked about ASA’s values and what being a part of the community would entail. Women then filled out applications and did informal interviews.

Nationals gave 101 bids and got 96 back, President Nisha Boyington said.

“We really bonded as a sorority during recruitment and were able to fall in love with ASA all over again,” Boyington said.

After going through its first recruitment, ASA has 160 members. It gave 43 bids during formal recruitment and 21 through informal recruitment.

“Going through our first recruitment was very challenging, but all of our girls were very excited and passionate about ASA,” junior Mary Prusha said. “We are all founding members, which is a very unique experience.”

Vice President of Public Relations Samantha Sloan said ASA members were very independent in establishing themselves on campus and planning recruitment. She said they did not intentionally plan it that way, but all of the girls were very enthusiastic.

However, Prusha said establishing themselves socially took a little more group effort.

“We talked to other greek organizations, other sororities invited us over for dessert and girls have got together to go shopping or to hang out,” Prusha said. “We are continuing to build a name for ourselves.”

Prusha said they struggled with potential members not having heard of them and not having a house.

“It was a bonding experience for us,” Sloan said. “We had to find somewhere to host the recruitment events, decide groupings, plan a skit, set up a stage, put up decorations and go through all of the rankings. It was very challenging.”

Prusha said they are working on getting a house, but it will take a few years. However, she said not having a house didn’t slow them down on recruiting new members. In fact, she said they organize weekly sisterhood events to bond.

“You do not have to have a house to have a sisterhood,” Prusha said. “We just tried to find the right girls for us, just like everyone else.”

On Sunday, members elected their executive board.

“The biggest thing I want to establish as the new president, since we are all founding members, is taking everyone’s opinion and working together for what we want our legacy to be,” Boyington said.