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| Sorority Membership Recruitment Week is one week concentrating on potential members becoming acquainted with the sorority system. The week begins with a recruitment orientation and concludes with sororities offering bids for membership. Students participating in the week.s activities will be allowed to move into their assigned university housing before recruitment activities begin. Each activity planned helps potential members and sorority members acquaint themselves with one another. During recruitment functions, potential members talk one-on-one with sorority members. Presentations also provide information about each sorority.s activities and values. As the week progresses, sororities extend invitations to additional functions. Potential members accept as many invitations as the recruitment schedule permits. Membership selection is a subjective process. Both sorority members and potential members actively participate in the mutual decision. Both groups must consider several factors when considering invitations. Open House: Open house the first recruitment function marks the beginning of the Membership Recruitment activities. Every potential member attends a thirty-minute function at each of the thirteen houses participating in Membership Recruitment Week. On the first day of Recruitment you will be assigned a Recruitment Counselor and a recruitment group. Your Gamma Chi and recruitment group will accompany you to each house during the first recruitment functions. During this round, and the ones to follow, do not hesitate to ask questions about sorority life, scholarships and financial requirements, or leadership opportunities. Sorority members expect and understand that you may not understand that you may not understand all that sorority life involves. Second Recruitment Functions: The second round of membership recruitment functions focuses on each sorority.s community service activities. They will feature presentations and activities that explain their chosen philanthropy. Sororities may also ask you to participate in hands-on activities benefiting various charities. You will again have the opportunity to talk with several members of the sorority so that you become more familiar with each sorority, which will make your decision at the end of the week easier. The second round of recruitment functions marks the beginning of the invitational rounds. Potential members accept only ten invitations to the chapters. Because each potential member in a recruitment group accepts different invitations, you will attend these functions by yourself. Third Round: The third round, second invitational, allows potential members to visit six chapters. Each function lasts longer to facilitate more in-depth conversation. Sororities present information about the ideals, responsibilities, and bonds that unite members. By this rounds you may bbegin to recognize faces in the chapters you visit. You will also be able to recognize the individuality and spirit of each sorority. While talking with a sorority member she may share personal feelings about her chapter to assist you in understanding the uniqueness of her sorority. Preference: Preference ends the membership recruitment functions. An invitation to a preference party indicates a sorority.s strong interest in you as a future member. You may attend three preference functions. During the preference round, a sorority.s presentation reflects the values and ideals held in esteem by its members. Listen carefully to what the women say; they are revealing to you the strongest characteristics of their chapter. &nbs; After preference functions are complete, you will go directly to Memorial Hall to list your membership preferences in order. The sororities will be doing the same thing at the same time. It is important to understand that this is a mutual selection process. The actual preference matching is done by a computer program. Potential members. preferences receive priority over the sorority.s preference. Panhellenic limits the size of each sorority .s new member class so it is a possibility that you may not match with your first choice. The matching process is then applied to your second or third choices. The process will be more completely explained on bid day. Bid Day: Bid Day is the last day of Recruitment Week. It is the day potential members receive their invitations, or bid, to join a sorority. It is an exciting day because it is when potential members meet their new sorority sisters and pledge the sorority. Pledging: Pledging is a very special experience. It.s the period of time between when a woman joins a sorority and her initiation. This new member education period can last from four weeks to a whole semester, depending on the individual chapter. During this time you learn about the history of your chapter, your national organization, and other Greek organizations at the University of Kentucky. Getting to know your sisters and other members of your new member class is the best part of pledgeship. This is easy to accomplish through the special activities planned throughout the semester. New Member classes usually meet one night each week in order to plane these activities. Most sororities establish special scholarship programs to assist new members with their studies. Participation in service projects and social activities is also an important part of the semester.s activities. This is not an official site of the University of Kentucky and is maintained by the University of Kentucky's Panhellenic Council. | | |
