The day has come and sorority bids are in. With Bid Day comes over-the-top themes, arguably the best part of sorority rush. There are 17 chapters at Penn State, all of which just wrapped up their two-week-long rush process.
I myself am not in a sorority, but I love seeing how each girl group comes up with a unique way to welcome each of their new members. The outfits, the merch, the vibes, nothing gets better than Bid Day.
Here are my picks for the top five Bid Day themes with a couple of honorable mentions. Rankings are decided on originality, creativity and execution.
Honorable mentions
Zeta Tau Alpha: Zlam Dunk
I thought this theme was super creative and the jerseys were adorable. I thought they could do more with the decor and additional details. Overall execution could have been better but it was a great idea.
Delta Phi Epsilon: Birthday
DPhiE chose a very unique theme for their Bid Day. I thought their merch for the new members was the best overall, super cute! They could have done more for their decor, but the overarching theme definitely “took the cake.”
TOP FIVE
5. Delta Zeta: Snow Place Like Home
Originality: 6/10 Creativity: 7/10 Execution: 8/10
I really liked this theme because it combined the overused “Winter in Aspen” theme but made it more original.
The merch was cute and the new members could definitely re-wear it without it being obnoxious.
Existing members had a lot of creative accessories and decorations were right on par with the theme.
4. Kappa Delta: We Hit a Home Run
Originality: 6/10 Creativity: 7/10 Execution: 8/10
I haven’t seen this theme done very frequently in the past and this group did a great job executing their outfits.
All the existing members wore real customized baseball jerseys to welcome their new members, each of which wore their own version of baby blue baseball tees.
The theme was cute and paired well with all the additional elements, they knocked it out of the park, literally.
3. Delta Gamma: Welcome to the Club ~ Delta Gamma Tennis Club
Originality: 7/10 Creativity: 6/10 Execution: 10/10
Even though this isn’t the most original theme out there, the girls at Delta Gamma know what they are doing.
All the details from the tennis racket name cards to the country club style sweatshirts perfectly fit to make the theme flawless.
I loved the decor as well and thought the existing members did a great job taking the theme to a whole other level.
2. Sigma Delta Tau: Built Sig Delt Proud
Originality: 9/10 Creativity: 8/10 Execution: 7/10
This was by far the most “out there” theme from this year’s bid day lineups. They took out of the box theme to a whole other level.
The sign saying “honk for PC ‘23,” the colors, and the merch were all adorable and incredibly innovative.
This theme is definitely obscure, but I think they rocked it and did a great job with it.
1. Phi Sigma Sigma: Orange Crush/Orange You Glad to Be a Phi Sigma
Originality: 8/10 Creativity: 9/10 Execution: 10/10
This theme totally knocked it out of the park. I have never seen this theme before, not to say it hasn’t been done, but it definitely hits the mark for creativity.
All around they did an excellent job with the theme and it was very original and cute.
I loved the shirts and the decor, the rush chairs at Phi Sig have some creative minds.
The pop of orange color and the extra details really shined through.
At the end of the day, all the sororities had some creative and clever themes that I loved researching.
Happy Bid Day to the new pledge classes!