As someone who has gone through the recruitment process and is now in a sorority, I know a little bit about Greek life for those who are interested in joining. Now, the University of Tampa’s Greek life is not at all like Greek life at big universities, and it is definitely more laid back. First, we need to address why you’d want to join a sorority. If you’re searching for lifelong friends, looking to give back to your community, or trying to build a network of connections, then a sorority might be what you’re looking for. If you’re just looking to party and meet guys, do not go through recruitment because that’s not really what a sorority is about. So, if you’re looking for all of the things joining a sorority offers, great sign up to go through the recruitment process!
Now, the process is different everywhere, but here at UT, there is formal recruitment in the fall and informal recruitment in the spring. Formal recruitment is definitely more stressful than informal, but both are great ways to meet girls who are also interested in joining a sorority. If you decide to go the formal route, which I did, you are assigned Rho Gammas, and they’re in one of the sororities, and they just help guide you and talk through everything. Formal is normally split into four days: the open house is day one, day two is philanthropy day, aka ‘Philo’ day, preference is day three, and the last day is bid day. So, during open house day, you meet every sorority and learn a little bit about each, and you’re mostly talking about yourself the whole time, and then you rank all of the sororities. Then, you may be called back for Philo Day by up to 5 sororities, and you spend more time with them learning about their philanthropies than your rank. If you’re called back for pref, you could see up to 3 sororities, and you get to learn more about the sororities. It’s the longest out of the three days, then you rank. If you get called back, congratulations, you’re in. Bid day is the best day because you just get to hang out with your new family and talk about whatever you want. Now, let’s cover the wardrobe for these four days. For the open house, you are usually provided a shirt, and you can wear whatever bottoms you want; philanthropy day is more brunch attire, so a cute sundress or a flowy dress works perfectly. Preference is the most formal, so business attire is recommended. I suggest a professional-looking jumpsuit to stand out, and on bid day, your sorority provides a shirt for you, so wear whatever you’re comfortable in.
So you’re in a sorority, now what? Honestly, it’s a little rough when you first join because much stuff isn’t usually going on. Here at UT, we had to go through new member education before we were fully a part of our sorority, but we could still go to events, do community service, and spend time with our sisters. Then you get thrown into big/little dates so you can find a big one, which is basically a mentor. Your big will send you gifts; eventually, you will have a reveal and get a chance to spend time with your family. So, in a family, you have a Big, and you could have a twin or triplets or have other siblings, but you also have a Gbig, which is your Bigs Big, and sometimes a GGbig, who is the Big of your Gbig. Now, adjusting to all of this is a little hard, but it’s really fun because you get to hang out with people who are similar to you. I’m currently in Delta Phi Epsilon, and I’ve been really active by helping with events; my favorite was deeper dude, which is where a bunch of pledges in the frats perform silly dances. I’ve also done some community service by donating money for fundraisers and working with Feeding Tampa Bay. Additionally, we had a semi, which is a dance where you get dressed up, and you can bring a date, and you just have fun. Another thing is we get to have socials with the frats. One of the most famous types of social is a frat wedding, and I’m very excited about ours. Additionally, you can run for positions, and some are to run events or to help with community service, and it’s exciting.
Onto more serious things, when you’re fully initiated, you have to do certain things in your sorority to be able to attend events and dances. It’s all relatively easy; it’s fundraising and community service, and most of that is fun to do. It allows you to do all the fun things your sorority has to offer. UT has a serious no-hazing policy, so if you feel like you’re being hazed or mistreated, you can take it to a member of your board or the FSL chairs, and they will help resolve the issue. If you feel uncomfortable during recruitment, talk to your Rho Gamma; they’ll help. Additionally, you can not post certain things on your social media, you cannot post letters until initiation, nor can you post anything having to do with alcohol.
I hope this gives better insight into Greek life, specifically at UT. I don’t know much about recruitment in the spring, but if you’re interested in joining a sorority and would prefer less stress, consider going through it next semester. If you decide to go through recruitment, I just want you to know that you should go in with an open mind and know that what is meant for you will find you. Additionally, if you specifically go through recruitment at UT, I will be looking for a little this spring and can’t wait to meet potential new members next semester.