553 Women Join Panhellenic Sororities

After a long weekend of conversation and tough decisions, 553 women completed the formal recruitment process and found their home away from home in a Panhellenic chapter.

Starting Friday, August 19, sororities welcomed unaffiliated women into their homes and encouraged these women to join their special sisterhood. Chapter women dressed to impress, sang and clapped their traditional chants, worked on philanthropic projects and discussed the history of their respective organizations. 

The five-day process culminated yesterday in “Bid Day” celebrations, where 553 women were extended “bids”, or formal invitations to join one of the Panhellenic chapters on campus.

All 13 sororities recruited members. About 825 women took part in the recruitment process, an increase of more than 100 women from formal recruitment in 2010.

The 13 sororities of the Panhellenic Association are Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Delta Tau and Sigma Kappa.

It's All Greek to Me! Defining Important Sorority Terms.

The Greek community is a unique opportunity and experience. During recruitment you may hear some terms that are unique to the Greek community and unfamiliar to you. Here is a list of a few terms that might help explain Greek life a little better.

Bid: a bid is a formal invitation to join a Greek organization.

Chapter: a chapter is a smaller piece of a larger organization. For example, Alpha Alpha Alpha sorority is a national organization with "chapters" on hundreds of campuses around the nation.

Charter: a charter is a document given to each chapter by their national organization recognizing them as an affiliated part of the organization.

Colony: a colony is the beginning stage in becoming a chapter. Once the colony completes certain requirements they can apply for a charter from their national organization to become a "chapter".

Four Pillars: the four pillars are the values that Greek life stands for. These pillars are scholarship, service, leadership and sisterhood/brotherhood.

IFC: this stands for Interfraternity Council. They are the governing body of all the IFC affiliated fraternities on campus.

Initiation: this is a ceremony through which you learn about the history of your organization and you become a true member.

Legacy: A legacy is woman who has an immediate family member (mother, grandmother, sister) who was a member of a Panhellenic sorority.

MGC: this stands for Multi-Cultural Greek Council. MGC is the governing body of all the MGC affiliated sororities and fraternities.


National Headquarters: every Panhellenic sorority here at KU is part of a larger organization. Each chapter follows the rules and regulations set forth by their national headquarters, and usually a representative from headquarters will visit the chapter each year.


New Member: a new member is a woman who has pledged to join a particular sorority but has not yet been initiated.

NPHC: this stands for National Pan-Hellenic Council. They are the governing body for the NPHC affiliated sororities and fraternities, which are historically African-American.

Panhellenic Association: The Panhellenic Association is the governing body of all 13 Panhellenic affiliated sororities here at KU.

Philanthropy: Greek life organizations often host Philanthropic events. The purpose of these events is to raise money for a charity of the Greek organization's choice. Each Greek organization usually supports the same charity  as their national organization. Philanthropic events are extremely diverse. They can be a traditional walk/run, a benefit concert, a pancake breakfast, a scavenger hunt or even a water balloon fight.


Pledge: an oath taken to signify your intention to join a particular organization.

Purpose/Creed/Motto: each Greek organization was founded on values and principles. Each organization has a statement of these values. Some statements are public while others can be known only to initiated members.

Ritual: this is the ceremony before every chapter meeting. It was created by each organization's founders and is known only to initiated members. Its purpose is to remind members of the values their organization stands for.

Rush: this is a term for recruitment used on other campuses around the nation. Here at KU we call the process Fall Formal Recruitment.

Why Sign Up for Fall Formal Recruitment?

There's only one week left to sign up for Fall Formal Recruitment!! If you've been debating whether or not Greek life is for you, hopefully this blog will you help you make that decision, or at least make the decision to give it a shot.

Going through Fall Formal Recruitment does not mean you are automatically stuck in Greek life. If you feel at any point that Greek life just isn't for you, that's ok! It isn't for everybody, but you'll never know until you try. Also, going through recruitment is a great way to meet women on a campus that can seem overwhelmingly large. The women you make during this week could become some of your closest friends. So why not try it out? You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain!

So what else do you gain by joining a Greek chapter? Well, every Greek chapter values what we call the four pillars. The four pillars of Greek Life stand for Service, Scholarship, Leadership and Sisterhood/Brotherhood.

Community service and philanthropic support is an integral part of fraternity and sorority life. Each chapter sponsors events to provide service, raise funding and raise awareness to a wide variety of organizations representing many worthy causes. These events can take many forms and they bring the entire Greek community together. Grab your sisters and head off to a water balloon fight, a date auction, a scavenger hunt or even a rock concert, all in the name of helping others! Most students report that helping others is one of the most rewarding experiences that fraternity or sorority membership provides.



Scholarship: it's why you're at KU in the first place! Joining a sorority means that you have an automatic network of support and older women willing to help out with subjects they've already taken. For more than 30 years the All-Greek Student GPA has been higher than the All-KU Student GPA. The Greek Community at KU is acclaimed for its strong scholastic performance and history of academic excellence. Each chapter maintains its own GPA requirements for membership and initiation and ensures continued academic success, through tutoring, academic advising, scholarships and reward systems.



Greek life also provides students with a wide variety of leadership opportunities. Members can participate within their chapter as an officer or on one of the committees each chapter maintains. There are also opportunities outside each chapter to become actively involved in KU’s 500 + student organizations. If you're interested in Student Senate, you will find that the student body president and vice president are members of the Greek community. Greeks are actively involved in sports, professional organizations, religious groups, community service opportunities, even the marching band. For members to achieve a well-rounded education, fraternities and sororities encourage active participation in a variety of KU leadership experiences.

Finally, alumni of Greek organizations often report that the most rewarding part of their Greek experience was the friendships they were able to build and maintain over the years. Fraternities and sororities build a unique bond of brotherhood and sisterhood that students carry with them throughout their lives. The connections that are built in a fraternity or sorority during the college years transcend time and often impact students many times after graduation.






Greek Life has a lot to offer and we would love for you to give the experience a chance. Look back through this blog to read the stories other Panhellenic women have shared about their experiences. Read why Caitlin decided to join a chapter here Read about Megan's experience as Student Body Vice President and how Greek life helped her get there. Or read about Courtney's sisters who supported her through her history of cancer.

And Don't forget to sign up for Fall Formal Recruitment before August 7th!

Dispelling Recruitment Myths: Chapter Selection

Some Chapters are better than others. FALSE

I won't be happy unless I am offered a bid by a particular chapter. FALSE


Fall Formal Recruitment can often be a hectic and uncertain week for potential new members and current chapter members alike. The pressure will only increase if you go into the process with preconceived notions about chapters. Until you meet the women of every chapter on campus, there is no way to know which chapter will fit you best.

Each and every chapter here at KU is unique in its own way. And every chapter changes with each incoming pledge class. Keep an open mind and make your own decisions. Being a sorority woman does not end with your four years at KU. You will be a sorority woman for life. You will come to cherish the time spent in your chapter and the women that surround you will be come your closest friends. This decision will affect you and you only. Don't allow anyone else to sway your decisions, you will be the only one who can decide where you belong.

It is my strongest belief that things always work out for the best. Try to keep this in mind during recruitment and especially on bid day. Sometimes, you might receive a bid from a chapter that was not your top choice. It is important to keep in mind that every chapter has a unique set of wonderful women. These women are scholars, leaders, philanthropists and most importantly, sisters. The women represented on your bid card want you. They see in you qualities that are important to them and they would love to welcome you into their sisterhood with open arms. They might not have been your first choice, but on graduation day you will look back and be unable to imagine your college experience any other way.

If you take any advice from these blogs to heart, let it be this. Go into recruitment with an Open Mind and always always always Be Yourself. Things have a funny way of working out in the end. You will end up in the chapter you were meant to be in.

Dispelling Recruitment Myths: Legacies

I am a Legacy for a certain chapter, so I will automatically get a bid.

My Mom/Grandma/Sister had a wonderful experience in "Alpha Alpha Alpha" so that's the only the chapter I will consider.

Both of the above statements are common recruitment myths. But before we start this blog we should define "What is a legacy?" A legacy is a potential new member whose mother, grandmother or sister is affiliated with a Panhellenic chapter.

In answer to the first recruitment myth, each potential new member is considered on an individual basis. Women who are legacies are not obligated to join a particular sorority and that particular sorority is not obligated to pledge her. The potential new member and the sorority are looking for a mutual compatibility, not family connections.

In reference to the second myth, we encourage all of the women participating in Fall Formal Recruitment to keep an open mind about each sorority. It is always wonderful to hear about the lasting friendships and bonds that tie a woman to her sorority. However, each campus is unique and each chapter changes and evolves every year with each new pledge class. It is important to follow your heart and choose the chapter and group of women you feel the most comfortable with. Keep in mind that which chapter to join is your own decision, no one else can make it for you.

One Mom's Thoughts on the Parental Role in Sorority Recruitment

Fall Formal Recruitment can be an emotional process for many women. It is often their first experience being away from home and the task of choosing a home for the next four years can be daunting. Parents often want to be parents during this time and help their daughters through the process. But as many parents of teenagers know, it can be hard to determine what is helpful and what is not. How can you best help your daughter during the week of Fall Formal Recruitment? 

Below is an excerpt from www.sororityparents.com. Blogger Mary Beth Rice offers some of her tips and advice. To read her full blog post click here.

"A couple of weeks ago I was asked to speak at our local University to the parents of potential new members going through Recruitment. It was move in day; the auditorium full of tired and emotional parents. I was asked to share some advice on what role they could play in their daughters’ upcoming sorority recruitment and start to college. This was a bit daunting to me and humility set in as I hoped I had at best a few encouraging words to share.

Fortunately, I did come up with a few suggestions parents could reflect upon in supporting their daughter through recruitment and beyond, yet allowing them to spread their own wings. I will share them with you too. Take them or leave them but do enjoy this new phase in life for the both of you.

1. Lose expectations or feelings from your own Greek life experience. Whether you have a Greek affiliation or not, you do have some opinion about Greek life if you went to college on a campus with a Greek system. Some of these opinions or biases may be based on a college experience quite a few years back. Try and encourage your daughter to form her own opinions AND only after she begins the process,  not taking to heart any bias from boyfriends, siblings, hometown friends, distant relatives, etc.

2. At each of the recruitment events, encourage her to look around those rooms and really get to know the other potential new members at each of the events. Those are the young women she will be living with and experiencing campus life with and each day of recruitment will help her know where she is most comfortable.

3. For daughters who may be shy or reserved, the recruitment process might be overwhelming. Encourage her to be open minded, taking a risk as she embarks on college. It is a great time to branch out and perhaps lose some of the high school labels we all put upon ourselves. One can really be and should be authentic and sincere throughout the whole process. Even if your daughter decides recruitment might not be a fit for her at this time, remind her that this experience will afford her a great opportunity to get to know other women on her residence hall floor and beyond. New friendships may come from it.

4. She will be exhausted and emotional. Allow her this indulgence and help her maintain her sense of humor. Remind her other potential new members are experiencing the same things.

5. Be a good listener. You don’t have to fix anything. If she can share the ups and downs of her experience she can sort through her feelings about all of it and often doesn’t need or want advice.

6. As she begins college try and become connected to your daughter through technology. NOTHING replaces voice to voice communication, eye contact or hugs…but this generation communicates on Facebook and in text messaging and there is no going back. Learn to text and possibly get a Facebook page (especially if your daughter is encouraging it) just to be connected….not to hover but just to be available. The technology allows a kind of subtle way to be present.

7. Encourage and frequently discuss safe choices especially regarding alcohol and driving under the influence or with others who have been drinking. The more we encourage them to be safe and smart, the more likely the messages will stick when presented with more risky choices. If you are informed about binge drinking and alcohol poisoning then you can help inform her. Awareness is the first essential step.

And finally,
8. Love her up and remind her of the gifts you see in her! As a parent I was not prepared for how difficult the transition was for my own daughter on many levels. One loses a bit of confidence beginning all over again out of high school-especially if the new campus is large. That is why it is EXCELLENT that our daughters want to join a sorority to engage in that support system and in those relationships as they begin college life.

Supporting our Military Sisters

Last month the Chairman of the National Panhellenic Conference wrote a special message to honor and recognize women in the military. You can read her message here.

Sorority women come from all walks of life and can be found in all types of careers. They can be found serving their country in all branches of the military and in high ranking positions. Notable sorority women in the military include:

Margaret A. Brewer, Brigadier General, Marine Corps
Marianne Blackburn Drew, Rear Admiral, Navy
Terri Walter Gabreski, Brigadier General, Air Force
Claudia Kennedy, General, Army

The National Panhellenic Conference also shared the story of a sorority woman, who at the age of 58, decided to join the military. You can find the podcast interview with Kappa Kappa Gamma Carol Haertlein Sells here.

In this podcast you will learn that Carol decided to join the U.S. Army after taking a visit to an Army rehabilitation center in Texas four years ago. She is part of a new doctoral program at Brooke Army Medical Center. She took a leap of faith from teaching occupational therapy in Wisconsin to instructing occupational therapists for the military – and she had to go through basic training along the way.

This Fourth of July we wanted to recognize our military sisters and send them our support. We recognize that freedom isn't free and our hearts go out to all the enlisted men and women as well as veterans that have served our nation and protected our families.