You are under no obligation to join a sorority just because you register for Recruitment. Your student is encouraged to participate in Recruitment, because it is an excellent opportunity for her to learn about sorority life, meet new friends, and explore opportunities to get involved! If she doesn’t feel like a sorority is for her after participating, she can withdraw at any time.
One of the best ways to help your student succeed in Recruitment is to continually encourage her to learn about all of our Panhellenic chapters. Each of our 12 chapters are unique and offer their own rich traditions. It is important to enter the Recruitment process with an open mind, as opposed to having preconceived ideas as to which sorority is right for your student. It is important for your student to make her own decision with as little influence from others as possible.
Current sorority women should not be trying to form friendships with your student the summer before Recruitment begins. With that being said, women who already know your student should not be contacting her to talk about Recruitment, nor should your student receive cards, letters, or gifts from sorority women. It is also important to note that during Recruitment, your student should not receive any cards, letters (this includes communication via social media), gifts, or any other form of communication from sorority members, alums, or members’ mothers. This process is intended to ensure all chapters can be evaluated equally and without any preconceived notions and additional gifts or communications can indicate that one chapter is interested in a new member more than another. All policies have been created to ensure each potential new member is treated fairly and equitably.
Recruitment is different over time and between institutions. Please do not assume that the Recruitment process at the University of Oregon will be identical to the one that you remember. Many times friends can provide false information to parents and potential new members as well. We recognize that you and your student are both nervous and excited for Recruitment, so if you do have questions, the best place to direct those questions is the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life staff. We ask that you review the materials that we have compiled for you on this website, and if you still need questions answered, then please contact us and we will be happy to answer those. Additionally, if you hear information from a friend that conflicts with the website materials, go with the website, as we are the ones most closely linked to the Recruitment process. Please also keep in mind that this is Recruitment not Rush. Your student will be nervous about this process, but please encourage her to understand that chapters are equally as nervous to impress her and recruit her into their sorority’s membership.
As your student goes throughout the Recruitment process it will be her duty to share with you the experiences that she has. If you do call the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, we will be able to share with you very limited information. If you have questions about why she may have been released from a chapter or which chapters have asked her back for the day, we cannot share that information with you. In fact, chapters do not inform us of how they make their selections, or what their process looks like.
Not at all! Sorority life has many wonderful opportunities to offer to all college women. There is no reason for you to miss out on the experience because you are not a freshman. All undergraduate college women are encouraged to participate in Recruitment, regardless of their year in college. Panhellenic offers everyone the opportunity to experience the many benefits of sorority life.
Although most women participating in Recruitment are invited to join a chapter, there are no guarantees that your student will receive a bid. Typically, about 30% of women participating in Recruitment choose not to continue through the process for a variety of reasons. Fortunately, very few women participating in Recruitment are released from the process, meaning they are not invited back to any chapters. Overall, approximately 70-80% of women participating receive bids to join sororities at the end of the process.
No, new members do not live in chapter houses and all potential new members should make arrangements to live in a campus residence hall or off campus apartment/house. However, the Panhellenic Community does have a two-year live-in policy, so a member will be expected to live in the chapter house and fulfill this requirement after their first year of membership.
