Recruitment is always a stressful and exciting time for sorority women. They are worried about recruitment going off without a hitch and making sure that everything is put together and ready for the potential new members. The exciting part is that they are able to share their sisterhood with new members and create new bonds with new sisters.
Many schools have recruitment guides to help interested girls go through the recruitment process and provide unbiased feedback for them. They are called different things at each school but at Winthrop, we call them Rho Gammas.
Part of a Rho Gamma’s job is to disaffiliate from her chapter. This means that they take a step back from their chapters and give up their letters so that other girls can find theirs. During the recruitment period, Rho Gammas don’t affiliate with their chapter. They don’t wear letters, they don’t post pictures with sisters, they don’t throw their sign, and they don’t tell people what chapter they are a part of. This is so that they can remain impartial when recruitment weekend comes and really help the potential new members find their home.
Rho Gammas are not the only women who disaffiliate. The CPC, or College Panhellenic Council, executive board also disaffiliates. These women also give up their letters and take a step back from their chapters. They are the faces of CPC so they also need to be unbiased for any potential new member to come to them as well as the Rho Gammas.
Being disaffiliated is not easy. It’s emotional and challenging. It makes your heart ache for your chapter and to be a part of your sisterhood again. It’s a lot of work and it’s not something that every sorority woman can do. But for those who do disaffiliate, it’s one of the most rewarding experiences that they will have during their time as an active member of their sorority.
It takes a very strong and selfless woman to disaffiliate. When you join a sorority, you are part of something that is bigger than you. It makes you a better version of yourself and it makes you want to strive to be a better person so that you can represent your chapter in a positive light.
The women who choose to disaffiliate are helping to better the Panhellenic community. They are the women who will help the chapter’s new members decide what chapter will be their home. They chose to take on a job that not many women could do, and they do it well. They are the women that their chapter’s look up to and respect.
Disaffiliation is a difficult thing to go through but it is rewarding and it’s all worth it in the end on bid day, when the chapters are able to welcome home the future of the chapters.
If you want to find your home in the Greek community, register for spring rush for 2017!