By Morgan Swem
Hurricane Irma put a damper on this dry campus. Not only did Irma cause the evacuation of students, damage to the school and Saturday makeup class; it also necessitated the dates recruitment change for students hoping to go Greek.
Recruitment week (being pushed from the second to last week of September to the first week in October) has caused stress for potential new members, Rho Gammas (recruitment counselors), the Panhellenic Council and sorority and fraternity men and women alike.
“This change has made some of the potential new members feel more anxious about the recruitment process, since they now have longer to wait for it to start,” Rho Gamma Sheryl Coe said. “For me the biggest challenge would definitely be having to disassociate from my sorority and my sisters for more than I had originally planned. I miss them all so much.”
The last-minute change of recruitment dates has made plans extremely stressful for Greek organizations and its members. It caused them to not only change the dates of recruitment, but also change events on the calendar after recruitment.
According to Alpha Chi Omega, over 10 events and meetings unrelated to rush week had to be changed due to the change in recruitment.
The decision to change recruitment was made by Florida Southern College administration, not the Panhellenic Council. Panhellenic was informed about the change of dates at the same time as everyone else. The decision was informed by damage inflicted by Hurricane Irma. The College decided that pushing it back would be the safest option for both students and staff.
Recruitment being pushed back not only was done for the safety of our students, but for their educational wellbeing as well; it will also give affiliated members a chance to catch up on their studies before starting recruitment week. Furthermore, it will also be more beneficial to the potential new members, giving those going through recruitment more time to prepare and get used to a new school environment.
“Even though I was really looking forward to recruitment, I’m okay with the fact that it was pushed back due to Hurricane Irma,” potential new member Jillian Kurtz said. “Living in Orlando, I saw the damage that the hurricane did physically and emotionally. I think pushing recruitment back gave all the PNMs peace of mind, not having to worry about it right upon the return of having to readjust to living on a college campus.”
Though the school informed potential new members, the Panhellenic Council, and Greek organizations that the date of the new recruitment week will be the first week of October, the school is still saying that nothing is official quite yet.
“Nothing is finalized until Wednesday,” Sara Ellis, program coordinator said.
The school has a meeting Wednesday, September 20, to finalize all changes in the Florida Southern College calendar. For now, Greek organizations are still moving forward with the the idea that recruitment week will be on the first week of October until they are told otherwise.
It is clear that Hurricane Irma has caused a lot of chaos and stress for everyone, but the school is working hard to ensure that everything is done in a safe and timely manner.
