“You can’t sit with us.” To some it may be a funny quote from the movie Mean Girls, but to 150+ girls on Albright’s campus it was a reality. Yep it was that time of year again, Recruitment season, and the rules were in full force.
For the last two weeks the sisters of Alpha Delta Pi, Pi Mu and Sigma Kappa Sororities hustled and bustled to put on their biggest, and I mean biggest, event of the year, Spring Recruitment. It’s the event that determines the future president of your sorority, the next generation of your Greek family and the reputation of your sorority as a whole. Sound like a reason to freak out and worry a little? Hah, freaked out and worried would be an understatement when you have a foot long list of rules to follow while other sororities watch your every move in hopes that you will screw up and break one.
Where do these rules come from you may ask, the answer, Albright College’s Panhellenic Council. Panhel is an organization that acts as a governing body of the three sororities here at Albright. They are a national organization that performs this task at each school that has nationally recognized sororities. Fraternities are governed by a different organization.
Recruitment season is Panhel’s busiest time of the year; it is the period of time following a Go Greek Holiday Party in the first week of December up until the morning formal bids are handed out, usually in the first week of February. During this time Panhel issues and enforces a long list of rules that are designed to put each sorority on an equal playing field so that potential new members are not presented with a biased look at any of the sororities. Penalties are issued when any sister from any organization fails to follow any of the outlined rules.
What are some of these rules? Well I will tell you.
Rule #1: You cannot go out anywhere with independent girls (those not in a sorority).
Rule #2: Absolutely no independents can eat at your lunch table.
Rule #3: You may not talk to independents unless it is about school work, sports you are both involved in or just saying hi.
Rule #4: No hanging out in one another’s rooms, apartments etc.
Rule #5: Don’t even dare to take pictures and post them on facebook, let alone write a comment on their wall.
The list goes on and on but I won’t bore you with the 20+ other ones.
What I don’t understand is we put in tremendous amounts of effort to get these girls signed up and interested in recruitment and just before it starts we cut all ties and can barely speak to them. Why? Marci Nawrocki, President of Panhel, explained, “The rules are enforced so sororities aren’t pressuring girls to join the sorority they are in.”
Kim Thompson, a sister of Alpha Delta Pi, expressed, “I understand that we need rules to follow but I don’t think they have to be as extreme as they are. I mean it’s pretty pathetic when I live with a senior who is an independent who obviously is not going to join a sorority and I can’t be seen eating lunch with her outside of our apartment or my sorority might be fined.”
Heather-Ashley Spagnola, a Pi Mu sister, agreed, “Yes, we shouldn’t be taking girls out to eat right before Recruitment but just having a conversation with them should be allowed. I remember last year when I went through Recruitment it was so hard because most of my friends were already in a sorority and I felt like I had no one.”
According to Panhel the rules are put in place to keep each sorority on an equal level with one another. The rules are supposed to give the girls going through an open opportunity to get to know each sorority. However; I think sometimes these rules can turn the Recruitment process into a blood bath between sororities trying to battle it out with each other.
Beth Moran, a new member of Sigma Kappa, stated, “I play field hockey with some of the girls that are in sororities and it was hard to hear hey sorry I can’t really talk to you because of Recruitment. After just going through recruitment I think there is a way to alter the rules a little. I had a lot of friends who were in a different sorority than the one I chose and the rules had nothing to do with my decision at all.”
Rules, no rules what is your opinion? I think there must be a better way than sorry “You can’t sit here.”
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