Hanna Barker
Co-Commentary Editor/ Art Director
Some Greek organizations experienced slight changes this semester during Fall Recruitment, but larger changes are in the works for this Spring.
“Recruitment went well,” said junior Courtney Zimmerman of Phi Mu. “With a new Greek advisor there were some changes made, and more to come in the future, but overall it was a success.”
Christine Workman, Director of the Office of Student Engagement, is the new Greek advisor. She explained that most anticipated changes are only relevant to members of sororities.
“We need to select a style of Recruitment at McDaniel in order to better facilitate unaffiliated women joining organizations, and to promote the sorority experience,” said Workman.
The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the governing body of the country’s 26 national sororities, developed the “4 Styles of Sorority Recruitment” after conducting an extensive review of Recruitment processes across the country.
“For a campus like McDaniel, the NPC recommends either MSR [Minimally Structured Recruitment] or PSR [Partially Structured Recruitment],” said Workman.
As defined by the NPC, Minimally Structured Recruitment requires all Potential New Members (PNMs) to attend one round. Chapters then send out invitations to various events, with a deadline for bid extension. No bid matching process occurs and there is no formal bid day.
With a Partially Structured Recruitment style, there are several rounds, not all of which are required, and the deadline for sign-ups is extended through the first round to allow more women to participate. There is a formal bid matching process and a formal bid day.
“PHA [Panhellenic Association] will be conducting their research over the next few weeks and then chapters will vote on the style that they recommend for the community,” said Workman. “The dates for Recruitment will be announced and sign-ups will begin before we leave for the semester break.”
Currently, the Recruitment process for sororities works like this:
“All potential girls meet with Panhellenic Delegates from each chapter,” explained Zimmerman. “We introduce ourselves to them, and they are broken up into groups. Each group is taken to a different sorority to meet the sisters of that chapter. Each round focuses on a different aspect of the chapter, including general events and our Philanthropy.”
Senior Phi Mu member Linsey Turkett adds, “After they have completed their rounds, sororities pass out bids to girls they believe would make positive additions to their organizations. Once the girls accept, decline, or defer their offers, all of the sororities celebrate bid day.”
One of the changes noticed by Panhellenic members this semester involved bid day.
“Usually we are allowed to call out each girl’s name, but this year, we had to call them out as a group,” said Zimmerman.
This change was brought about to prevent hazing.
“NPC wants to make sure women feel comfortable,” said Workman.
Another aspect of Greek Recruitment that seemed different this year had to do with timing.
“Really, the main change this year with recruitment was how fast it was brought upon us,” said junior Kappa Delta Ro member Daniel Labson. “I spoke with some guys in the other fraternities as well and there really was no time for actual recruitment. We had a week maybe to do everything we could. That’s not enough time.”
According to Workman, this semester’s Recruitment was held at the same time as in previous semesters.
“These dates were set last Spring by [Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council] and their advisor at the time,” explained Workman.
Some feel that the transition to online sign-ups resulted in a lack of awareness.
“In the past, we have had tables outside of Glar advertising each organization and girls were allowed to fill out a piece of paper with general information to go through Rounds,” said Turkett. “This Fall, we did not have an effective method of getting the word out about Recruitment. I think this was the biggest change between recruitment seasons I have seen.”
According to statistics for the 2009-2010 year, 15% of women participate in sororities and 17% of men participate in fraternities at McDaniel College. Workman explained that classes of Fall Recruitment New Members are typically smaller since only upper-class students can participate.
“I would say that the process had comparable numbers to those of past semesters,” said Workman.
Although many Greek members noticed changes, most were still satisfied with the results.
“This year’s recruitment went wonderfully just like any other year,” said senior Phi Mu member Kimberly Kalinyak. “All the ladies who went through were great and recruitment was very organized as usual.
“Our recruitment went pretty well,” Labson added. “We got a pretty good group of new guys and that’s always the most important part.”
