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Adarsh Puvvadi Ramamohan Kumar
Newly recruited members of the Gamma Phi chapter of Sigma Kappa are animated to join their sorority group during Bid Day celebrations at Greek Village on Sept. 3, 2019. Their motto is "One Heart, One Way" and is the first sorority founded on North Carolina State University's campus.
On Labor Day weekend, roughly 950 students participated in formal recruitment for one of the 20 fraternities and 11 sororities within the Interfraternity Council (IFC) or Panhellenic Association, respectively. Potential new members (PNMs) had the opportunity to meet all of the fraternities or sororities within these councils before deciding which organization was the right fit for them.
According to Winn Decker, assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, allowing students the opportunity to meet each of the organizations on campus is crucial to the formal recruitment process for both fraternities and sororities. Prior to 2014, all recruitment for IFC fraternities at NC State was informal, which led to students only joining organizations with a lot of presence on campus. Formal recruitment in the fall is now standard.
“Formal recruitment was implemented to give men an opportunity to see all the organizations that are an option.” Decker said. “Since we have implemented it, we have seen higher retention rates, so the men that are joining an organization are staying in the organization and being a part of it, and we’ve seen a decrease in the amount of student conduct cases that come from recruitment processes.”
Emily Mitch, assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said the formal recruitment process for IFC and Panhellenic organizations involves computerized mutual-match selection, meaning at the end of each day PNMs narrow their list of organizations they liked as organizations narrow their list of individuals they like.
“We have a computer algorithm that’s called Release Figure Methodology, or RFM, and it’s a statistical computer program that does mutual selection of those two lists,” Mitch said. “It then creates a schedule for the PNM for the next day based on those priorities, and that happens every single day of recruitment.”
While both fraternities and sororities use the mutual-match selection to decide on their new members, the recruitment process slightly differs between the two. According to Decker, formal recruitment for fraternities began on Thursday afternoon and Mitch said recruitment for sororities began at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon in order to mitigate academic impact. However, both Decker and Mitch said the most important thing about recruitment for fraternities and sororities is for PNMs to have an opportunity to meet with every organization on campus.
“At NC State, people don’t necessarily come here determined to join a fraternity, but when they have the opportunity to visit them all they seem to find a fit for them,” Decker said. “So, one of the big goals, moving from an informal process to a formal process, was to allow all of our chapters to be showcased, so when new students come in, they can find the chapter that best fits them.”
Mitch said many students are interested in Greek life because fraternities and sororities are able to act multifunctionally and provide many social, academic and leadership activities within one organization.
“What is really unique about fraternities and sororities compared to other student organizations is that they are ‘do-all’ organizations,” Mitch said. “You can find a lot of different things to pursue, your own personal or professional passions within your organization and get what you are looking for.”
While all chapters have their own practices, Mitch said, those who have joined an organization most recently can expect to commit a lot of time to their fraternity or sorority.
“Generally speaking, they all have the same components,” Mitch said. “They all have chapter meetings once a week that you have to go to if you are a new member; you will have weekly new member meetings that you need to attend just to learn about the organization and meet members. It is an investment of time, just like any student organization that you join, to be an interested and engaged member.”
However, the time students spend developing their brotherhood and sisterhood has the potential to extend beyond their time at NC State. Mitch cites Greek life as an amazing networking opportunity during and after college.
“When students move on from NC State, they can find their sorority sisters or fraternity brothers in almost any city throughout the United States wherever you end up,” Mitch said.
Further information can be found on IFC and Panhellenic recruitment websites.