‘Very stressful, very fun’ | Penn State students reflect on sorority rush (2024)

Editor's Note: One of the names in this story has been changed to protect the identity of the individual involved. The Daily Collegian has verified through fact checking this individual exists.

On Jan. 16, Penn State’s 21 social sororities began recruitment activities. For the next two weeks, first- and second-year students went through “rush,” which entails a whirlwind of parties, rankings and very early mornings.

This year’s recruitment class was one of the largest in Penn State history with over 1,900 first- and second-year students participating.

“With this unexpected number of potential new members,” the Panhellenic Council said in a statement, “the recruitment team was tasked with editing our original primary recruitment schedule in hopes of creating the best experience possible for all who participated.”

The Panhellenic Council was “extremely excited” to have a “record number” of students participate in the recruitment process.

After the first two rounds of rush, around 1,000 students were dropped, according to Brooke Dougherty, a new member of Phi Sigma Sigma.

The first round, values, was held virtually. Dougherty, a first-year studying advertising and public relations, said people who were rushing sent in one-minute videos discussing their proudest moment in life.

A lot of people thought the virtual round was unfair, she said.

“It’s hard to gauge someone’s personality off of a video,” Hannah Hughes, a new member of Alpha Phi, said.

Jane, a student who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said her roommate, a current sorority member, had to watch about 200 of those videos.

Potential new members uploaded their videos to YouTube, and when Jane looked at the analytics of her minute-long video, the average watch time was around eight seconds. Based on that data, she said she felt like she was being judged only on her looks.

Sara Nouhan, who “rushed” but chose to “drop,” or withdraw from recruitment before Bid Day, wanted to join Greek life to find a new circle of friends. Her major is very small and a lot of her friends are within the same program as her, so she wanted to branch out.

Nouhan, a second-year studying architecture, said it was tough to rank the sororities from their videos.

“You’re making decisions about them, and you don’t even talk to them first,” Nouhan said.

The only things potential new members (PNMs) had to rank a sorority were a short video and the sorority’s social media.

The next round of recruitment, philanthropy, was held in person. Sororities held 20-minute parties over the course of two days to talk about service opportunities in their organization. PNMs could be invited to a maximum of 13 parties.

Sorority recruitment works on a mutual ranking system. After every round, PNMs ranked the sororities and vice versa. On the first morning of each round, PNMs would receive their schedule.

If a PNM missed a party without a valid excuse, like a class conflict, they were no longer eligible to receive a bid to join a sorority.

Jane said there are clear “tiers” within the 21 sororities.

The “top five” are Kappa Delta, Alpha Phi, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Pi Beta Phi, according to Jane. Some girls dropped recruitment when they didn’t get invited back to one of these sororities, she said.

“People aren’t purposely trying to make you feel bad,” Dougherty said. “But it’s — dare I say — a mindf---.”

Hughes, a first-year studying biobehavioral health, said recruitment was “very stressful, but very fun.”

For her and many others, the stress was well worth it for the end result.

Following philanthropy was the sisterhood round, during which PNMs could be invited back to a maximum of eight sororities. In an effort to level the playing field, PNMs all wore the same shirt for the philanthropy and sisterhood rounds.

Preference was the last round in the recruitment process. PNMs could be invited back to two sororities for 45 to 50-minute parties. The next day, PNMs and current sorority sisters gathered in the Bryce Jordan Center for Bid Day.

“Bid Day is the best day,” Dougherty said.

The BJC turns into a “ball of energy” as the PNMs count down, she said. When the countdown hits zero, they open their envelopes to receive their bid, a formal invitation to join a sorority. Afterward, members celebrate with their new sisters.

Catherine Goldberg started recruitment for social sororities but ended up dropping. Instead, she went through recruitment for service sororities and joined Trilogy, which is a THON organization.

Goldberg, a first-year studying history, wasn’t set on joining a social sorority and said the financial and social responsibilities were a lot. She wanted to do Greek life to get more involved with THON.

She said recruitment for Trilogy was “a lot more low-key.” There was no Bid Day, Goldberg just received an email that said she’d been selected to join.

Jane said social sorority recruitment was “the most stressful week-and-a-half of (her) entire life.”

She started the philanthropy round with invites from four out of the “top five” sororities, but only received one invite for preference.

She said she felt she was only invited back for sisterhood because she’s from a beach town in California. Jane was dropped from a sorority because her GPA, at a 2.8, wasn’t high enough.

“You have to remember that this doesn’t define you … but they’re literally giving you a number ranking as soon as you walk out the door,” Jane said. “A lot of it is really superficial.”

The Panhellenic Council hosted “events to give (PNMs) the opportunities to learn about the recruitment process, understand expectations and meet chapter members” before the recruitment process began. During the recruitment process, the Council hosted a support zoom for questions and concerns and “did (its) best to accommodate (PNMs).”

Dougherty said it felt like she was getting “chewed up and spit out” when she didn’t hear back from her top sororities, but the most important thing during recruitment is to be authentic.

When Dougherty visited Phi Sigma Sigma during the preference round, she made an instant connection with the girls there because she kept an open mind. Her conversations with the sisters were easy, she said, and they made her feel at home.

“I found my place,” Dougherty said. “I feel loved.”

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