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Sororities were forced to think outside the box as they figured out how to recruit for the 2020 fall term. Because of COVID-19, recruitment was held via zoom and 135 potential new members attended virtual meetings with the four sororities throughout the week.
Holding recruitment during a pandemic forced UNK sororities to adapt.
“The unknown of virtual recruitment was a big concern for Panhellenic, but more specifically the technical difficulties with zoom and connecting with the potential new members,” said Rachael Page, the chapter advisor for Alpha Phi.
Even though events were primarily online, the recruitment team and first year students were kept busy.
On day one, potential new members filled out an application that was reviewed by each sorority. On day two, sororities met with potential new members via Zoom and had conversations with girls virtually. The third day or preference day was held online with each sorority doing a prerecorded preference day ceremony.
The sorority members gave it their all, while prioritizing the safety of the freshman.
“I worried about the connections we’d make with the girls since it wasn’t in person. Our chapter blew me away with their ability to adapt,” Page said.
Many of the students still had a fun experience despite the changes.
“Recruitment was good for us,” said Ashley Sweet, a senior and the head of recruitment for Alpha Omicron Pi. “I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it was and a lot harder to make connections, but our chapter felt pretty good about it and really didn’t mind.”
Alpha Omicron Pi successfully recruited 27 women into their new member class for 2020.
“I feel like it was a lot easier for potential new members to open up to us because they weren’t overwhelmed by too many people as they could have been if recruitment was in person,” Sweet said.
Bid day was in person and was held at Cope Stadium. The location of bid day was changed from the bell tower to Foster Field this year, in order to social distance more efficiently. Members and new members were required to wear masks and practice social distancing guidelines.
Throughout the week, safety was made a priority.
“The women on Alpha Phi handled recruitment this year with grace. We were given strict guidelines by Panhellenic in order to have bid day in person and our girls did a really good job of staying safe,” said Olivia Slater, a senior and the head of recruitment for Alpha Phi.
Even though recruitment was different than it had been in the past, that did not turn new members away. Sororities successfully recruited pledge classes that reflected the average size as the ones from previous years.
It could not have been done without the commitment of UNK’s sororities. “The hardest part of recruitment was definitely all of the small logistics,” Slater said.
