Sorority recruitment adapts to social distancing

Maxwell Mayleben ® Editor in Chief |

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Greek life is forced to take a brand new plan of attack for recruitment.

Sororities across the Minnesota State University, Mankato campus are seeking to create a new online and in person hybrid approach for their typical strict recruitment process. 

Traditionally, sorority recruitment is broken up into different social events, where potential new members speak to the different sororities and rank them based on which one they feel they’d fit best with.

At the same time, during each of these social events, sororities rank potential new members based on how they think each person would fit into their sorority.

This year, three of these social events will be held in person and three will be held online. The first event was held on the Performing Arts lawn last Friday.

After that, there is a mutual selection process, with the lists from both the recruits and the sororities being compared to each other via a computer program. This pairs the potential new members with a sorority that fits them best. 

There are four sororities at MNSU. A fifth, Zeta Phi Beta, is chartering this year. 

Alpha Chi Omega was the first sorority to come to MNSU in 1965 and is dedicated to creating devoted leaders. Their philanthropy includes, but is not limited to, domestic violence awareness.

Gamma Phi Beta, known across the country for being one of the oldest sororities in the U.S., has a mission of promoting “Love, Labor, Learning, and Loyalty.” They work with the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) as their philanthropy. 

Sigma Sigma Sigma, another sorority looking to recruit new members, is dedicated to serving those in need. The sorority supports hospital play therapy programs for children.

Finally, Alpha Sigma Alpha dedicates their sorority to developing women with “poise and purpose.” Their philanthropic endeavors include “Adopt-a-Highway” and “Dinner for Heroes.”

While each sorority houses different ideals and practices, the sentiment of longstanding sisterhood remains at the forefront of each organization. 

As far as the potential new members looking into joining Greek life, the numbers are fairly consistent with last year, according to Anna Thevenot, the Vice President of recruitment for the sororities.

“We typically have in the one-hundreds as far as registration,” said Thevenot. “The numbers we have now compared to people who have shown up to formal recruitment in the past is about the same.”

Once involved with a sorority, members find new ways to meet, including breaking into smaller groups in order to meet in person. Skyler Kottke, a current member of Alpha Sigma Alpha is excited about new members and the new year.

“It’s definitely  going to be different but it will give us a challenge,” said Kottke. “But it will make us figure out a better way to do recruitment so we can do better in the future.”