Sorority formal recruitment wrapped up this past weekend, with the final step—bid acceptance—on Monday, Jan. 30. Lines extended across the second floor of Tinkham Veale University Center, from the Greek Life Office’s doors to the stairs and beyond, with the potential new members (PNMs) nervously and excitedly waiting to be handed their bids.

Sorority formal recruitment happens every January at Case Western Reserve University and consists of the first two weekends of the school year, totalling four days. Each day, every sorority holds a certain number of “parties” within Tinkham Veale University Center and Thwing Center Ballrooms. (They are referred to as parties, but are better described as  a casual networking event, where PNMS meet current sorority members and get to know them).

The potential new members enter the parties and have conversations with the members of the sorority and can do the activities the sorority has planned, which may be watching the recruitment video or participating in ceremonies. On day one the potential new members go and meet each sorority. After that day there is a mutual selection process that narrows down the number of sororities with each passing day. Day one is all nine sororities, day two is up to seven, day three is up to five and the final day is two.

An important part of this process are Rho Chis, who are sorority members who have disaffiliated from their sorority during the fall semester and recruitment to unbiasedly aid the potential new members in the selection process and any concerns they may have.

“Being a Rho Chi has ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences in my four year Greek life career at [CWRU],” said fourth-year student Andrea Lau, a Rho Chi at the time, and member of Pi Beta Phi. “Besides befriending all the other Rho Chis and becoming more connected with the Panhellenic community, my favorite part was watching women go through recruitment and come out of their comfort zone to try something new that might’ve scared them. Everyday, I watched my PNMs learn more about themselves and listened as they fawned over the amazing women they met and the connections they’d made. My heart bursts to think that I could’ve had even the smallest role helping wonderful people find their second homes in Case’s Greek community.”
Despite long hours and the work put into formal recruitment, the process allows people to interact with all the sorority chapters, make new connections and find a new home within the Greek Life community. The nine sorority chapters on campus have each gained somewhere between 3 and 25 new members.