Recruiting for Recruitment

You might be wondering, "okay, well I know how theactual recruitment process works, but what about before recruitment? How can I start to learn about chapters now?" Making the decision to sign up and go through recruitment may seem like the first step, but you have even more time to do some prep work before jumping into the recruitment process. At Longwood specifically, students have an entire semester to learn about the Greek organizations on campus before they can join, which allows for plenty of time to learn about the different chapters and councils of which they are a part.

It is important to learn which of the organizations your school may have. By going to your school’s Greek life page, you can learn which organizations and councils your school has. Making sure you learn the organizations available your school is an essential first step. It won’t always happen just by looking around campus. I’ve known of many people to say if they had known their school had more organizations, they may have had a different outcome. In order to make sure you make the best decision, it is truly important to know all of your options. No two schools have the same chapters, and some schools may even have different councils as options.

After learning which organizations are available at your school, this is when you can began to learn about them as a national organization. A good way to do this is by looking at their national website, like this one for my sorority Alpha Sigma Alpha, or just doing a simple Google search. Every organization will have different mascots, philanthropies, and values. These are national level things that every chapter at any school will have in common. This is a good base for starting to learn which chapter catches your interest and matches what you believe in.

After learning the basics about which chapters are available at your school is when you can start to learn more about the chapter members themselves. Most every organization will host open houses for perspective Greek students to go and meet members. These open houses usually consist of a meet and greet of members, and some sort of game or activity.  Usually all of the members will be at these

Sigma Nu recently hosted a clothing drive in the  Dining Hall
 where anyone could come meet brothers and donate clothes.

open houses, so you are able to talk to multiple members and see whether you are able to connect with them.

When dealing with CPC sorority recruitment, these open houses are usually a good indicator of what recruitment is really like. It can sometimes be an uncomfortable situation to go into a room and make conversations with strangers who can potentially be your “brothers” or “sisters” in a matter of days, so open houses are a perfect step. If you are thinking about going through formal recruitment, attending open houses will help you prepare and feel more comfortable once the weekend comes.

Chapters also have different events throughout the semester that are open to the entire university to attend. These can be spirit nights at different restaurants, philanthropy events, and fundraisers. Going to these events can help members see that you are interested in what they are doing on campus, and also give you more information into what the chapters are about. Look out for events also put on by your Greek office or by the governing councils that may include all of the chapters available at your school. Longwood hosts a "Meet The Greeks" events where all social Greek organizations are there to answer any questions potential Greeks may have or just to represent their organization and meet the new students. 

   In order to learn about these events, it is important to look at social media. Social media is quickly becoming the way to stay updated in the Greek community. Most all of your organizations will have a Facebook, and probably an Instagram and Twitter as well which will all be operated by the chapter. These different places can show you more about the members, events, and happenings in the chapter.

In recent years, something that has really taken off and become a vital part for chapters before recruiting, is the art of the recruitment videos. Sororities in particular put time effort and money into creating the best recruitment video for potential members to see. These videos often include clips of members at their philanthropy events, doing different on campus activities, and enjoying time with sisters. Just by going on YouTube and typing in your school name and the chapter you are interested in, you can find videos that will feature members of that chapter.

ADPi was a chapter I learned about before joining
my current sorority ASA.

However, the most important part to finding the perfect chapter, is making personal connections with members. You can do all of the prep work in the world, and still go into the recruitment process and meet someone who changes your total thought process. Even after going to open houses and hanging out with members of one sorority, in the end I  joined a different one because I felt a personal connection to the girls in my chapter. However, because I did my research and learned about multiple chapters, I was able to feel confident when I found my home. I love my chapter, and I also love the chapter I was able to learn about and spend time with before recruitment.