Welcome to Formal Recruitment 2019! During this week, many students from all years go through a three round process in order to find an organization in which they feel at home with current members. While this high paced environment can seem stressful and overwhelming, meeting so many people from different places, majors and backgrounds is invigorating and pushes people out of their comfort zones established in their early college experiences.
This formal process is put on by three sororities, including Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Delta Gamma. However, there are actually many other Greek organizations on campus that have their own separate recruitment processes. Fraternities on campus include Delta Tau Delta, Phi Kappa Tau, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Two groups, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Sigma Alpha Iota, are a fellowship of musicians on campus. Finally, Beta Psi Nu is a sorority geared towards empowering women of color. With so many groups to choose from, new students have no problems finding an organization to thrive in.
It should be noted that while Greek Life is one way to get connected on campus, it only makes up a small part of the population, and is not valued higher than any other organization or club on campus. Lawrence offers endless ways to meet people, get involved and find a way to work as a moving piece in a much bigger picture.
As a freshman earning a degree in the conservatory, I found myself stuck at the music building for much of my time. I loved meeting and connecting with other musicians, and grew some really meaningful relationships that would follow me to my senior year. However, I was continually curious about the other 75% of the Lawrence freshman who spent most of their time on the other side of campus. I wanted to branch out and meet people who were nothing like me, and I felt that Greek Life could help me out with this mission. I am typically reserved in most new social situations and had been previously skeptical about Greek Life, so recruitment seemed a very daunting task. Much to my surprise, arriving to the first of the three rooms was such laid back and relaxing experience. Everyone was extremely friendly and genuinely cared to get to know who I was and what I was passionate about. There was such a sense of mutual excitement in the air, and I knew right away that Greek Life is something that I wanted to be a part of.
Flash forward three years, and I am now on the other side of my third recruitment. It is thrilling to me to be able to talk to so many women who are looking to expand their roots for many of the same reasons that I did. In my years in Greek Life, I have fostered many lifelong connections, gotten involved the Appleton community, held leadership positions, and felt more empowered and confident than when I entered Lawrence. Greek Life was not something that I expected to play such a large role in my college experience, and looking back, it was probably one of the best decisions I made at Lawrence.
Pictured: The Delta Gamma sisters after the third round of recruitment 2017