By Marissa Mooney |Asst. A&E editor|
The tables are set up and the Greek letters are standing as the campus sororities and fraternities prepare for recruitment and rush week.
Fall quarter means the start of the new year and new students get to experience what college life is about.
Events, clubs and organizations gather around the Santos Manuel Student Union to greet and welcome the new body of students.
“When I am on my way to class or the library, I always see older students so involved and dedicated to their organizations and tabling outside to say hello and help the newer students,” said one freshman student.
Many Greek organizations remain dedicated to recruitment and the process for the first few weeks of school.
Fraternities set up shop on campus to not find, but show interested young men what Greek life and being in a fraternity can do to shape college years.
Most fraternities on campus recruit yearly, once in Fall and once in Spring. Members look for guys throughout the entire year that they create friendships with whether Greek or not through class or just on campus.
“Maybe if we didn’t happen to notice this guy this quarter, maybe they’re a transfer, or didn’t know how Greek life is, so they may want to come join in the Spring,” said Byron Samayoa of Sigma Chi.
One of the fraternities, Sigma Chi, holds recruitment events for any prospective male students interested in joining. Many of the events include laser tag, Monday Night Football and socials that are organized by the social chair of the fraternity. Recruitment events vary by each fraternity.
A bid is given to prospective members in each fraternity, which can be accepted or declined. Each fraternity advises male students to look at all their options, which include Sigma Nu, Sigma Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Sigma Phi and co-educational ones like Delta Sigma Chi before making a choice and accepting a bid.
“Being Greek means being apart of a family. At first when you pledge, you get to know your fraternity through your pledge brothers who are going through the same process of turning Greek as you,” said Samayoa
The bond built with the young men pledging strengthens once initiated. They become an active member of a fraternity by joining a family of brothers. Men that start off as strangers become close friends who get to experience their four years of college together.
Sororities on campus go through a different process than the fraternities or co-ed fraternities on campus.
A Panhellenic Council oversees the four main sororities on campus that consist of Alpha Phi, Zeta Tau Alpha, Kappa Delta and Alpha Delta Pi.
The Student Leadership and Development office in the Student Union advises the Greek organizations.
Natalie Cleary is in charge of all Greek life to make sure that each fraternity and sorority follows the recruitment rules on campus.
Sororities go through a formal process of recruitment. A carnival is held so the young women may explore each sorority with a few members representing each.
Events that follow include an information night for parents to further understand Greek life, open house and a Philanthropy Night where all the girls are introduced and philanthropies are explained. Each sorority donates, volunteers, and hosts events for their cause throughout the year.
On the final day, known as Preference or Bid Day, the girls get to choose the top two sororities in which they prefer to join. By the end of the day, decisions are made and the sisters from each sorority issue out bids to the girls.
Fraternities and sororities may have different processes of handling recruitment, but both work together to help each other and focus on each philanthropy.
The Greek life can be a social life that can provide opportunity to build good relationships between the campus and the individual. But one will never know if the Greek life is for them unless they test the waters.
For more information about Greek Life, email GreekLife@csusb.edu