On Monday evening, 241 women jumped off stage in the field house arena into a sea of over 800 women affiliated with the Panhellenic Association. The 241 women had just become new members of the Panhellenic community at Grand Valley State University.

The recruitment process is a weekend-long event that involves 4 rounds; informational, philanthropy, house tours, and preference. After each round the potential new members (PNMs) and the chapters go through a mutual selection process where the PNMs and the sororities determine their best matches.

The weekend had been a year in the making and due to all of the advanced preparation, new member class sizes for each of the 8 sororities range from 27 to 33 women which are some of the largest new member class sizes to date.

“I got to see our Panhellenic chapters share what makes them unique,” said Molly Goss Panhellenic recruitment director. “It was so rewarding to see the excitement on the faces of the potential new members after each round… Seeing the joy on their faces when they would get back from visiting their favorite chapter is truly remarkable.”

Each PNM is assigned a Rho Gamma group. A Rho Gamma is a disaffiliated woman of a sorority on campus that acts as an unbiased guide to the PNMs as they go through the process.

“It was most rewarding seeing how excited and invested the Rho Gammas got into where the girls in their group were going,” said Kelsey O’Dell, Vice President of Rho Gammas.

This process is not without its struggles. O’Dell said that the recruitment process is an emotional roller coaster but she was happy to be able to provide comfort and support to women at their low points throughout the weekend.

Bid night was the final evening of the recruitment process where PNMs receive bid cards from one of their top two sororities they met over the weekend.

“Seeing girls open their envelopes, hearing them scream with excitement, and seeing them light up truly made all of the work I put into this weekend worth it 100 times over,” Goss said.

Bid night is also the time when Rho Gammas are reunited with their chapters. These women give up much of their time with their chapters to help the PNMs find their homes in the Panhellenic community.

“At the end of bid night, one of my girls walked up to me and said she couldn’t thank me enough for everything throughout the weekend and gave me a huge hug,” said Chelsea Brauning, a Rho Gamma. “It was then that I realized I truly had made an impact.”

For more information about upcoming recruitment seasons visit http://www.gvsu.edu/greeklife/pa.

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