Noelia Velasquez and Promise Davis
Feb. 3 through Feb. 5 marked the beginning of the FSC spring recruitment season for Greek Life.
The Panhellenic Council worked closely with the school to comply with the FSCares policies during the 2022 recruitment season.
This year’s recruitment season looked different than most.
Last year’s new class of recruits also had a different experience.
“I just got to focus on who I was talking to,” Alpha Chi Omega member Abi Gann said of this year’s in-person recruitment, adding that there’s a “disconnect” when doing recruitment virtually.
Last year’s recruitment was completely virtual and allowed the new recruits to connect with the sororities on a deeper level.
As told by Kappa Delta member Emery Roth, the first night was a series of thirty minutes with each sorority, the second night was separated into 45 minutes with four sororities and the last night was a preference night spent with two sororities.
New approaches taken by the Panhellenic include a three day recruitment consisting of two in-person days and one virtual day.
For all sororities, during transportation to the events, masks were worn at all times and there was one potential new member per seat on the charter buses, according to Ashlyn and Anni of the Panhellenic Council.
Hand sanitizers were provided on the bus and placed throughout the RP Funding Center – where sorority recruitment was held – for the duration of recruitment.
As a part of the guidelines created by the Panhellenic Council, there were less decorations adding the ability to situate everyone to accommodate six feet apart thirty potential new members per room, but the people that they are talking to are recurring.
Meanwhile, the parties will get smaller as the nights’ progress.
The goal of the precautions being addressed by the Panhellenic is to provide a safe and fun way for recruitment to happen in the midst of the pandemic.
After three days of recruitment, sororities celebrate their hard work by welcoming their new members in an event called bid day.
On bid day, sororities usually host a slew of activities so that new members can meet the rest of their sorority.
For bid day, sorority women were required to “wear masks indoors and to social distance as much as possible,” according to Vice President of Community Outreach for Panhellenic Hannah Luciano.
Amy Wieleba, Gamma Phi Beta representative, explains that Florida Southern sorority life shows “strong women taking over leadership roles,” which was a leading factor in reasons for her recruitment.
Along with verifying their efforts to abide by FSC protocols, the representatives spoke on their experiences during recruitment and what Greek life meant to them.
Zeta Member Brooke Bower went through the recruitment process two years ago, before COVID-19, and illustrated an exciting and heartwarming bid day including opening bid letters, running to your house and singing with her new sorority sisters.
Recruitment overall, is “a lot more than matching t-shirts, glitter, and fun,” Zeta member Brooke Bower said, emphasizing the connection that one builds with the women of a sorority.
