UofSC Sorority Recruitment is here.

It’s late August, which means you’ve seen the hundreds of girls pouring into + out of UofSC’s Greek Village, off Blossom St., for Sorority Recruitment. Maybe you’ve even heard the chants.

While the concept of Greek Life is familiar to many in Columbia, others are mystified by UofSC’s circle of 20 sorority + fraternity houses, all the matching t-shirts and the iconic Bid Day festivities. We wanted to help de-mystify that.

(And while there are other Greek organizations at other local schools; the whole UofSC fraternity system; and NPHC and MGC sororities + fraternities – we’re just diving into UofSC NPC Sorority Recruitment.)

Here’s a look at the process of Sorority Recruitment – or new girls “rush” to find their fit within one of 13 sorority houses, if that’s their college prerogative – all broken down in layman's terms, with help from Fraternity and Sorority Life at UofSC.

First, what do all these abbreviations mean?

NPC: National Panhellenic Council // umbrella organization that governs 26 international women's sororities, founded in 1902

Recruitment: process where the NPC sororities + PNMs meet to “mutually-select” each other. Each sorority chapter has an internal team of women coordinating everything “inside” the houses, from recruitment workshops to planning new member events after Bid Day. PNMs are guided through the houses during recruitment by Pi Chis. (Pro tip: Don’t call it rush.) For those wondering There is no alcohol

PNM: Potential New Member // a woman who is going through the recruitment process

Pi Chi: Recruitment Counselor // an upperclassman sorority woman who is temporarily disaffiliated from her chapter to guide PNMs through the recruitment process

Bid Day: the last day of recruitment where PNMs receive a “bid,” or an invitation to join a sorority (formerly hosted on The Horseshoe, now in Colonial Life Arena)

Bid Day 2013 on The Horseshoe | video by Student Gamecock Television via YouTube

Gimme the stats.

1,618 | PNMs in 2015

1,625 | PNMs in 2016

1,883 | PNMs in 2017 (record-breaking)

400 | 2017 PNMs that are upperclassmen

~5,800 | total freshmen at UofSC this year

~32% | percentage of PNMs in the 2017 freshman class

130 | Pi Chis for this year’s recruitment

~6,500 | Greeks at UofSC

4,279 | sorority members

2,227 fraternity members

27% | percentage of the UofSC student body that is Greek

~67,312 | community service hours Greeks give during a semester

~$480,648 | dollars donated to service organizations by Greeks per semester

47 | number of Greek organizations at UofSC

20 | houses in Greek Village on-campus facilities

4 | councils for Greek Life

3.0 | minimum GPA to not be considered a "grade risk" – a.k.a. have a 3.0> to get more invitations from sororities during recruitment (each sorority chapter has its own GPA requirements)

31% | percentage of fraternity + sorority members with a 3.75 GPA or above

$150-200 | registration fees for recruitment (includes t-shirts, backpack, lunches during recruitment rounds + some dinners)

$80 | early move-in fee for on-campus housing

$212-1,045 | first semester dues for new members to their sorority once joined

England + Australia | furthest away PNMs have come from to recruitment at UofSC

Image via 2017-2018 Guide to Fraternity and Sorority Life

Who are the sororities?

13 organizations participate in fall recruitment:

Alpha Chi Omega | ΑΧΩ | founded 1885 | scarlet red + olive green | Golden Lyre

Alpha Delta Pi | ΑΔΠ | 1851 | azure blue + white | diamond 💎 + lion 🦁

Alpha Gamma Delta | ΑΓΔ | 1904 | red, buff + green | squirrel 🐿

Alpha Xi Delta | ΑΞΔ | 1893 | double blue + gold | teddy bear 🐻

Chi Omega | ΧΩ | 1895 | cardinal (red) + straw (yellow) | owl 🦉

Delta Delta Delta | ΔΔΔ | 1888 | silver, gold + cerulean blue | dolphin 🐬

Delta Zeta | ΔΖ | 1902 | rose + green | turtle 🐢

Gamma Phi Beta | ΓΦΒ | 1874 | brown + pink | Crescent Moon 🌙

Kappa Delta | ΚΔ | 1897 | olive green + pearl white | teddy bear 🐻

Kappa Kappa Gamma | ΚΚΓ | 1870 | light and dark blue | key 🗝 + fleur de lis ⚜

Phi Mu | ΦΜ | 1852 | rose + white | quatrefoil 🗯

Pi Beta Phi | ΠΒΦ | 1867 | wine + silver blue | angel 👼

Zeta Tau Alpha | ΖΤΑ | 1898 | turquoise blue + steel gray | crown 👑 + strawberry 🍓

What’s the recruitment schedule like?

1½ weeks for PNMs; 2½ weeks for members

each day, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. | time window PNMs are prepared to be occupied during recruitment

Aug. 7 | Greek Village opens for sororities

Spirit Week | immediate week before recruitment in which sororities who will be hosting PNMs during recruitment practice cheers, routines for the different rounds, etc.

Aug. 16 | early on-campus move-in for PNMs + affiliated upperclassmen

Aug. 16 | mandatory recruitment orientation session

Aug. 17-18 | Round One: Go Greek // PNMs visit all 13 sororities for ~20 mins each for Go Greek & Sorority 101 programming – a.k.a. scholarship initiatives + academic success // casual dress

Aug. 19-20 | Round Two: Leading Women // PNMs visit a max of nine sororities for ~35 mins each for presentation + discussion of activities, sisterhood, traditions, friendship // casual dress

Aug. 21 | Total Solar Eclipse // no activities

Aug. 22-23 | Round Three: Philanthropy // PNMs visit a max of six sororities for ~45 mins each to learn about each sorority’s main charitable cause + activities // dressier attire

Aug. 23 | New Student Convocation // no activities

Aug. 24-25 | Classes begin // no activities

Aug. 26 | Round Four: Preference Round // PNMs visit a max of two sororities for ~1 hour each for a special ceremony to showcase the bond members share as sisters // cocktail/semi-formal dress

Aug. 27 | Bid Day at Colonial Life Arena // PNMs receive a “bid,” to a sorority + Pi Chis reveal which sorority they belong to and re-affiliate // open to public; seating first-come, first-served // active attire; sororities give t-shirts or tanks to new members

Whew, that’s a lot of info. Confession: I was in a sorority for a few years, and met a ton of my best friends from it. I was even a Pi Chi. But it’s crazy to look at everything that goes into recruitment on paper. YGGs.

Something I was interested in: Can transgendered people go through recruitment and join sororities + fraternities? Turns out this past February, the national HQ of Alpha Chi Omega at Indiana’s DePauw University became the first sorority in the U.S. to announce its welcome of trans women into all of its chapters nationwide.

Main takeaway? A lot of work is going on behind the scenes of those columned houses, allll throughout August. And in this Cola heat. Respect.

–Chloe

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