Campus Sororities Recruit New Members

Last week, Shawnee State’s two Greek-letter sororities, Delta Phi Epsilon and Theta Phi Alpha, hosted recruitment activities in hopes of finding new members. Recruitment spanned four days, including three casual events capped off by a slightly more formal event on Thursday. Unlike fall recruitment, the theme for each sorority event was different. Delta Phi Epsilon’s theme centered around the hippie trend called “Get Groovy and Go Greek,” while Theta Phi Alpha’s was a beachy theme entitled “Ohana Means Family.”

Delta Phi Epsilon, informally known as DPhiE, kicked off the week by making flower crowns and inviting ladies to come and learn more about sorority life in an event called “Peace, Love, DPhiE.” Theta Phi Alpha, informally known as Theta Phi, started their festivities with “Sun’s Out, Theta Phi’s Out,” where sisters invited the ladies of campus to play games like get-to-know-you bingo and meet the current members.

On Tuesday, Delta Phi Epsilon hosted a dance party called “Groove Into DPhiE” while Theta Phi Alpha informed their potential new members about their philanthropies and community service projects during “Surf’s Up With Theta Phi.”

On Wednesday, Delta Phi Epsilon ended the informal events with their “Philanthropy Day” event where they explained their philanthropies and community service projects. Theta Phi Alpha finished their informal events with “Sweet Treat in Theta Phi Heat,” featuring another get-to-know-you game.

Thursday held the most formal of the week’s events, where potential new members got a peek into the sorority life with a special ceremony. Delta Phi Epsilon’s event held “Preference Night,” while Theta Phi Alpha hosted their “White Rose Ceremony.” These events are intended to help potential new members know which organization they would like to join if they’re given the choice on Bid Day.

Both organizations, alongside their governing body, the Shawnee Panhellenic Council, hosted Bid Day to end the week. Bid Day refers to the process known as bidding, in which new members are invited into a sorority. Sororities extended invitations, also known as bids, earlier in the day. Then the Greek advisor, Marlita Cadogan, along with the Shawnee Panhellenic Council called new members to inform them that they received a bid. New members then arrived at the event to privately learn which organization(s) extended an invitation for them to join and sign the form accepting their bid. After every member signed their bid, Cadogan and the Shawnee Panhellenic Council announced the new members to their respective organizations, who were eagerly awaiting the news.

As each new member was announced, cheers, claps and chants rang out from their new sisterhood. “Seeing them join the group of sisters that they felt welcome and open with the most was amazing,” Shawnee Panhellenic Council President Lexie Hubbard recounted. “The highlight of my week was getting to see the smiles and excitement on all the girls’ faces when they went to the events and after they got their bids.” On bid day, both Delta Phi Epsilon and Theta Phi Alpha welcomed three new sisters each, while one sorority got a fourth on Monday. “It was honestly emotional because you see them finding their connections with the sisters throughout recruitment,” said Hubbard.

Shawnee Panhellenic Council is the governing body for both sororities on Shawnee State’s campus. As an extension of the National Panhellenic Conference, SPC follows their bylaws and policies, including those on recruitment. The National Panhellenic Conference outlines multiple formats for recruitment based on the number of organizations on campus and the size of the university.

At Shawnee State, Greek life hosts recruitment week once every spring and fall semester. Typically, for sororities, fall semester is a larger effort called “formal recruitment,” whereas spring semester holds a smaller “informal recruitment.” The differences are nearly indistinguishable outside of size to anyone who hasn’t attended both. In fall, potential new members are asked to attend at least one event from each organization to ensure they find the right fit. In spring, however, potential new members aren’t required to do so to receive a bid. Similarly, Bid Day in fall semester is a larger, joint affair organized by Shawnee Panhellenic Council, whereas spring’s Bid Day is organized separately by the organizations but still hosted together. Semesterly recruitment week is done due to a new member process that takes place before ladies can obtain full sister status. To promote friendship and sisterhood, as well as to prevent confusion between who is where in the new member process, new members typically take part in the process and finish it together, unless a special arrangement is made.

Delta Phi Epsilon and Theta Phi Alpha are both chapters of national organizations under the National Panhellenic Conference, or NPC for short. The NPC is comprised of 26 women’s-only Greek letter organizations. All 26 member organizations are values-based social sororities, who charge the umbrella of the NPC with enhancing and advancing the sorority experience. Other notable member organizations are Alpha Delta Pi, also known as the world’s first secret society for women, Chi Omega, the world’s largest women’s fraternal organization and Gamma Phi Beta, the first organization to be coined a sorority rather than a women’s fraternity. National Panhellenic Conference is just one of many conferences of Greek letter organizations. Other notable conferences are the National Pan-Hellenic Conference, also known as the NPHC or “Divine Nine” due to having nine member organizations that are specifically historically African American, the National Multicultural Greek Council, or NMGC, houses eleven multicultural organizations.

Anyone interested in more information about the Greek organizations on Shawnee State’s Campus can contact Marlita Cadogan at [email protected].

Anyone in Greek life who would like to share happenings from their organization can leave a comment here!