Simpson College’s sororities held formal recruitment Oct. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Greek life is an important aspect of the Simpson community and plays a huge role for many on campus.  Formal recruitment is the main time when new members learn about sororities and then choose which sisterhood best fits them to join.  There are three main rounds of recruitment that start with an open house where members can see the houses.  The second-round centers around philanthropy and the importance of each house’s philanthropic missions.  The third and final round is the preference round where new recruits and old members all get the chance to interact and really get to know each other. 

Madeline Gude, President of Tri Delta, elaborated on the membership qualities that Tri Delta looks for in new recruits, “Our three values are to be truthful, to sacrifice oneself or to be self-sacrificing and friendship, and then our motto is to be brave and bold and kind.”. Gude said.  Pi Beta Phi Vice President of Recruitment, Hannah Mulligan, shared that the characteristics are shared for new members during the open house round, “We have open house round which the girls come into the house, they see our beautiful house, and actually get to talk about our values.  Integrity, lifelong commitment, sincere friendship, and a couple others as well”. Mulligan said.

The recruitment process is back in person after being held virtually last fall, “Recruitments actually been normal, so we’re really excited about that. This was something I hadn’t got to experience so I really relied on my seniors and my upperclassmen to kind of show me the ropes. We just finished formal recruitment which went amazing for all chapters so I’m really excited.” Mulligan said.

While things were back in person there were still restrictions and low turnout, “Everyone had to wear masks. There were masking COVID rules, not only that were brought down by Panhel, but from each individual sorority’s National Executive Office.  It affected our events, or pre-recruitment events, they all have to be held outside, or you know within the confines of COVID rules. Even at those events there wasn’t a lot of turnout.” Gude said.

Greek life has a large impact on campus and on the members personally, “Greek life for me has been absolutely life changing. Not only have I had those leadership opportunities that I may not have had unless I joined Greek life, but I also have that sister support. I see people on campus I know all the time through Greek life, whether that be SAE or Koi or Lambda, or even my sorority sisters Pi Phi, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Tri Delta and SLG as well. I absolutely love our community that we have at Simpson college, you wouldn’t get that at other big schools.” Mulligan said. 

Beyond Greek Life many members are active on campus and formal recruitment is a time where they all gather together to welcome new members, “For Tri Delta we have a lot of busy sisters involved in like athletics and the arts in clubs, various positions jobs outside of campus, and this was like the one time that we were all able to come together for like a weekend and just focus on one thing together.  It was a great community and unifying bonding opportunity for us.” Gude said.