During Panhellenic recruitment, each group of 20 to 30 potential new members is assigned an upperclassman sorority sister as a reference person throughout the process.
To keep the recruitment as unbiased as possible, Rho Gammas must disassociate from their sororities.
For the purpose of this article, chapter names will be used in place of the Rho Gamma’s names to ensure their anonymity.
This semester there are 97 Rho Gammas representing 21 chapters, Rho Gamma director Anne Pappas said. These women are required to delete their Facebooks, change their names and privacy settings on all other social media sites and delete any other associations with their chapters, Pappas said.
Rho Gammas are also banned from wearing their sorority letters. Some Rho Gammas also adopt a new name during the recruitment process to ensure their potential new members do not find out their chapters, Pappas said.
“I was willing to give up my letters to help these women find the chapter that they want and they love,” the Phi Mu Rho Gamma said. “I want everyone else to experience what I’ve experienced through my college career.”
In dealing with the stress of disassociation, some Rho Gammas have found comfort in each other. The 97 Rho Gammas now have a unique bond between them, an Alpha Xi Delta Rho Gamma said.
“What this process has also taught me is that you identify so strongly with your chapter,” the Alpha Xi Delta Rho Gamma said. “But it’s also really great to identify yourself just as part of the greek community. It doesn’t matter what chapter you represent, fraternity or sorority. What matters is that you’re representing the community and how great it is.”
Stigmas and stereotypes associated with individual chapters are also factors in what makes Rho Gamma anonymity so important, the Alpha Xi Delta Rho Gamma said.
The recruitment process is meant for women to find their places within the greek system and not seek out sororities based on reputation.
“That’s why we take social media and changing our names so seriously,” the Phi Mu Rho Gamma said. “So that the women going through recruitment can have the best. Obviously, recruitment is physically and emotionally exhausting. They don’t need more stress. They don’t need to know what chapter I’m in. They need to figure out what they want.”
Pan-Hellenic Council has restructured recruitment this semester to reflect this.
Instead of recruitment rounds focusing on the number of bids a woman receives, they will be referred to categorically, Pappas said.
The renaming goes as follows: 22 party is skit round, 16 party is philanthropy round, nine party is sisterhood round and three party is preference round.
Last semester, out of 1,905 women registered, 1,319 women went through to bid matching. This semester the number of registered potential new members is expected to increase, Pappas said.
Registration for recruitment opened Oct. 1, but Rho Gamma training has been in the works since the first week of class.
A new eight-week class has been created this semester focusing on leadership, group dynamics, professionalism, inclusion and conflict resolution, Pappas said.
“We wanted to provide Rho Gammas with an all-inclusive training that touches on these skills, ones that are applicable to their role as a Rho Gamma but beyond as well,” Pappas said in an email.
The class meets once a week and discusses different scenarios of women going through recruitment. Rho Gammas practice how to deliver bid news, give unbiased advice and identify and report “dirty rushing.”
Dirty rushing constitutes any type of misleading or unfair advantage. For example, sorority sisters may not tell women they are likely to get a bid.
Rho Gammas are also unbiased eyes and ears for monitoring these recruitment violations, Pappas said.
This includes rounds exceeding their time limit or inappropriate content in sorority skits. If a violation occurs, the Rho Gamma will notify the Pan-Hellenic Council and file paperwork on the specific violation, Pappas said.
“A Rho Gamma’s first priority is her (potential new members),” Pappas said in an email. “By filing this paperwork and being vigilant during the rounds, she is ensuring that each and every woman going through recruitment will have a fair process.”
A Rho Gamma’s biggest role, though, is being a support system for the women rushing.
“I wanted to be that person to cheer girls on and be there for them if there’s good news, bad news and just ?receiving information through recruitment,” the Phi Mu Rho Gamma said.
With the competitive nature of IU’s greek system, Rho Gammas will be more than cheerleaders, though, when delivering disappointing news.
“I’m really nervous for when girls start getting back their houses and they’re disappointed,” the Alpha Xi Delta Rho Gamma said. “I like to think of myself as empathetic, but it’s going to be challenging in a whole new way.”
In these instances, Rho Gammas stress the IU experience extends outside of greek life, the Alpha Xi Delta Rho Gamma said.
“(We) try to provide as much support as possible but realize there are limits to what we can heal and help,” she said.
