The Daily Gamecock

Greek Village kicks off sorority recruitment

A crowd of girls in matching blue shirts line up along the sidewalks of Greek Village waiting anxiously for the next chapter house to open its doors and reveal a tunnel of sorority sisters singing songs and cheering for the possible new members. It’s sorority recruitment season.

Over 1,700 girls have registered for Fall 2018 Sorority Recruitment, which runs from Aug. 15 through Aug. 26. Many of these girls are incoming freshmen who moved in early so they could find their home at one of the 13 Panhellenic sororities on the USC campus. 

“I decided to join a sorority because I wanted to make a lot of friends and find a sisterhood here at USC since it’s such a big school and I wanted to make it smaller,” said first-year nursing student Emily Etzel. 

Current sorority sisters prepare for fall recruitment months in advance. Alana Tyler, vice president of recruitment for the College Panhellenic Association, knows the stress of planning activities for nearly 2,000 girls better than most.

“I have been preparing for the past about eight months for formal fall recruitment, so this week I’ll be directing all the actions of the potential new members who will be visiting chapter homes and then also coordinating all the different chapter activities that are taking place within those homes,” Tyler said. 

Before recruitment officially started, the freshmen moving in were already talking about their excitement and fears surrounded the rush process. 

“I’m really excited to wear all the new outfits I got and meet a lot of people,” Etzel said. 

First-year business student Rebekah Taylor is on the other side of the spectrum when it comes to recruitment. She is most looking forward to the end of the process.

“It’s really nerve-racking,” Taylor said. “I’ve watched all the videos, and it’s people cheering and screaming and it’s very overwhelming.” 

At orientation, Tyler spoke about her sorority life and how it has made her into the person she is today. 

“Well, I know from personal experience, my sorority life not only has given me my best friends and my roommates, but it’s also given me a lot of confidence, and so I think it’s definitely built up my leadership development,” Tyler said. “I would not be in any form of internship role that I’ve had if I didn’t have the confidence that my sorority experience has given me.” 

Other girls were thrilled to speak about why they chose to rush. Some girls are looking for opportunities to get involved in the community through Circle of Sisterhood. Others are like Taylor and are seeking networking and business connections. However, the most common thing these girls want out of their sorority is a group of sisters that will be there to support them no matter what.

“I don’t know anyone coming to this school so I felt like having a group of friends would be a lot easier and a lot more fun,” said first-year political science student Alyssa Jezyck. 

Recruitment can be a long and difficult process, but those that complete the process and are initiated into a sorority speak positively on the impact it has on their lives. Tyler opened her orientation speech with a picture of when you know you’ve become a part of something meaningful.

“It’s when you open up your T-shirt and take off sprinting through the tunnel to run to that sister you talked to during preference round because you had an immediate connection,” Tyler said. “And then you get to senior year, and you take a few moments to try and write a speech and it hits you just how much of an impact sorority life has had on your college experience, and that it gave you your very best friends and has turned you into an amazingly confident and capable woman.” 


Comments