With classes starting or soon to start at colleges and universities in the United States, Greek Life organizations are seeking new members on campuses across the country. The entire process is the stuff of movies and myth, and always gathers national attention, as the recent University of Alabama viral sorority recruitment videos on TikTok show. More locally, it is also underway right here at Case Western Reserve University. 

CWRU students have a wide variety of Greek Life organizations they can choose to join. With 10 Panhellenic Council (PHC) sororities, 15 Interfraternity Congress (IFC) fraternities, a Latina Sorority Interest Group and all nine National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC)—or historically Black fraternities and sororities—represented in the city of Cleveland, the CWRU and Cleveland community offers students a broad range of opportunities to join Greek Life. In total, the university’s Greek Life office reports that approximately 30% of CWRU undergraduates choose to join one of these numerous organizations, making it quite the popular aspect of the college experience. 

IFC fraternity recruitment is currently a visible part of the campus community, with fraternities tabling and hosting events impossible to miss all across campus. Whether it be bubble parties, barbeques, beach trips or game nights, fraternities are taking any opportunity they can to introduce themselves to prospective initiates. After a year of digital recruitment and limited opportunities to interact with brothers in-person, IFC fraternities are actively recruiting this semester, providing potential new members (PNMs) the opportunity to meet with multiple fraternities during the entire recruitment process. 

“For fraternities, we have our two-week rush period where you really just kind of speed date the 15 chapters we have on campus, and I think it’s a great way to jump-start your social network here at [CWRU],” third-year nutritional biochemistry major Dominic Orosa, the Vice President of Recruitment for IFC, said about fall fraternity recruitment. Orosa also sees Greek Life as a good opportunity for students coming out of a remote learning environment. 

“Personally, I spent my entire sophomore year living at home in California. I think Greek Life is a great way for people to reconnect with other students on campus,” he said. 

IFC fraternity recruitment is open to first-year students, where the majority of new bids go, but the process is also available to those wanting to join in their later years at CWRU. To see the full list of fraternities currently recruiting, please refer to the bottom of this article.

For CWRU’s PHC sororities, recruitment does not open to first-year students until the spring, but chapters are currently recruiting returning students. These recruitment events are taking a variety of forms, from one-on-one coffee dates to group events, such as cookouts and tie-dye sessions. To view the full list of sororities currently recruiting, please refer to the bottom of this article.

Regardless of their eligibility to go through recruitment, PHC is still being sure that students can connect with the CWRU sororities this fall in as many ways possible without directly recruiting people. PHC is hosting a series of events, running through the entire semester, starting with Scrapbooking with Sisters on Sept. 11 at noon, an Academic and Finances Networking event on Oct. 6 at 6 p.m., an event focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with a guest speaker on Oct. 27 at 4 p.m. and a Hard Rock Cafe event on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. These events are ostensibly focused on helping connect students with the Greek Life community rather than serving as pre-recruitment events specifically. 

“I’m not calling any of it recruitment [or] pre-recruitment, I’m trying to really separate that … to make these events an opportunity for people who are not part of chapters to have an opportunity to meet our community regardless of their interest in joining it, so [it’s both] a chance for people who are interested to meet [sisters and to] get to know them before recruitment in more natural settings,” said fourth-year psychology, anthropology and art major Madison Miles, the PHC Vice President of Recruitment, about the fall sororities events series. “ … I think having these more open events is really important just for the community’s transparency and to feel like the community knows us [in] who we are and what we do.” 

This fall, the new Latina Sorority Interest Group will be recruiting female and non-binary students in their second year or higher, a break from PHC sororities. Despite its name, the organization is open to students of all cultural backgrounds. As part of their recruitment process, they will be attending the sorority events series hosted by PHC, but are also hosting events of their own, such as Horchata con Hermanas on Sept. 19 at 6:30 p.m. and Creando Comunidad con La Sororidad on Oct. 16 at noon. 

The City of Cleveland is also home to the historically African American National Pan-Hellenic Council with 5 NPHC fraternities and 4 NPHC sororities, and each chapter having its own membership intake process. First started at Howard University in 1920, this unique form of Greek Life has historically sought to give Black students a Greek organization at a time when they were not allowed in Greek letter organizations founded by white people. It has since spread around the nation. Most NPHC organizations require that undergraduate students complete at least one grading period of courses before becoming members, but students interested in joining should contact individual organizations to inquire about specific membership policies. To see the full list of NPHC sororities and fraternities in Cleveland, please refer to the bottom of this article.

CWRU fraternities that are recruiting this semester: Beta Theta Pi, Delta Chi, Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), Phi Kappa Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Kappa Phi, Theta Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Zeta Beta Tau. Sigma Phi Epsilon will start recruitment after the initial fraternity rush period. 

Contact for IFC recruitment information: dlo25@case.edu. 

CWRU sororities that are recruiting this semester: Delta Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Phi Sigma Rho, Sigma Psi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Latina Sorority Interest Group. 

Contact for PHC recruitment information: mjm419@case.edu. 

For more information about PHC recruitment: @cwru.sorority.recruitment on Instagram.

For more information about the Latina Sorority’s recruitment: @cwru_latinasorority on Instagram.

For a directory of the city-wide NPHC chapters: https://www.csuohio.edu/student-involvement/chapters