On Sunday, Jan. 22 at 5 p.m. behind Lankford Student Union, a new crop of 123 Longwood girls ran toward a sorority that offered them a bid. After a long recruitment weekend, each girl was finally able to discover which sorority welcomed them into their sisterhood.
According to Collegiate Panhellenic Council President Whitney Beale, a total of 173 girls went through recruitment, which began Friday night. Those girls met with all eight sororities in 30-minute increments at each sorority's open house. Each girl is paired with a sister to get to know in each sorority. Following the open house, each girl lists their top five sororities of their preference and rank their bottom three.
On Saturday, the girls found out who called them back, and they went to as many gatherings as call backs that they received. For instance, if a girl got a call back from Sigma Kappa, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Delta Pi, she would go to all three of their gatherings that day. That afternoon, the girls picked their top two choices.
Sunday morning is when the girls found out the top two sororities that wanted them as a new member, and again, the girls went to the gatherings of those two sororities. Following those gatherings, the girls ranked those two sororities by preference. Next, if a girl did not get a call back by a certain time from the sororities they preferred, it meant they did not receive a bid.
Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the girls showed up to get ready for walk in the student union. The girls who received a bid were given an envelope. In that envelope was the name of the sorority that offered them a bid. Then, the ladies met their new member class and were decked out in the colors and accessories of the sorority that welcomed them as a new member. According to Beale, there was an 80 percent retention rate.
Alpha Delta Pi received 17 members, Alpha Gamma Delta, 17, Alpha Sigma Alpha, 17, Alpha Sigma Tau, seven, Delta Zeta, 18, Kappa Delta, 18, Sigma Kappa, 18 and Sigma Sigma Sigma, 11.
Katie Holloway, a junior who ran Sigma Sigma Sigma's way on Sunday, said, "It was a thrilling experience. We had to wait in the cold anxiously hoping that we did not fall running to our new sororities. After running, we were engulfed by so much excitement and happiness."
The girls now begin their new member education process, where they learn about the history and origin of their sorority and the different Greek organizations at Longwood. The length of new member education varies from sorority to sorority, and following this process, they will become initiated members of their sisterhood.
