A lot of planning, a lot of communication and a lot of coffee: That is what recently defined the life of a group of students, as well as Nathan Wehr, the director of Greek Life.

This week marks another year of sorority recruitment, and as students continuously walk in and out of Wehr’s office asking for help or taking care of behind the scenes planning for the week’s events, potential new sorority members wait for Thursday’s open house.

When asked what happens inside sorority recruitment, Wehr threw his head back and laughed.

“Oh God,” Wehr said, taking a deep breath. “A lot of coffee, a lot of coffee.”

Victoria Cox, the vice president of recruitment, and Panhellenic council adviser Nora Kollar, laughed with Wehr after he said that. 

After all, these were people who had been planning sorority recruitment as far back as April, so they shared the same sentiment.

“We’ve had recruitment round tables since after spring break so we kind of marched through the end of April beginning of May so it was about a six week process in the spring,” Wehr said.

The planning did not stop there though; there were two recruitment planning meetings in August, tabling events for the first few weeks of school, including first weekend events, recruitment workshops, programming, logistics and tech memos.

“It’s a lot of what the potential new members and other individuals may not see,” Wehr said.

But why is the planning so long?

Wehr sighed and chuckled as he looked at Cox and Kollar, who, as if on cue, did the same.

Wehr explained that the sorority recruitment process is very different from other governing councils on campus because of the National Panhellenic Conference requiring more rules and regulations that the nine sororities in Eastern’s Panhellenic Council need to follow.

“There’s a lot of making sure there’s no frills and a lot of spaced recruitment and you’re trying to give the (potential new members) the best experience you can and that the chapters understand the recruitment rules and making sure they have positive interactions with the (potential new members),” he said.

“We just try to be fair across the board so that way everyone has a fair chance,” Wehr and Cox said.

Part of being fair also means that sorority members who are helping with recruitment need to disaffiliate with their house, something Cox had to do.

Wehr said that by providing this disaffiliation it helps potential new members find a new home because they have unbiased individuals creating a fair playing field and not forcing them to join a single sorority.

What happens this week?

After months of planning, everything unfolds starting Thursday with the first round of recruitment at 5 p.m. 

It will be an open house where the potential new members will spend 30 minutes inside each of the nine chapter houses.

Wehr said this round focuses on the financial aspect of joining an organization and provides potential new members with some information about each chapter so they can begin to narrow down their preferred chapters.

Then the potential new members will select and rank their preferred chapters after each round of recruitment.

Round two is the philanthropy and community service round and will begin at 5 p.m. Friday.

During the second round, the potential new members will have the opportunity to visit up to seven of the chapters and learn about the different philanthropies hosted on campus, nationwide and other community service event each chapter hosts.

The potential new members will narrow their options down to five preferred chapters during the third round. They will learn about the different sisterhood events provided, as well as obtain more information regarding financial obligations for each.

This round begins at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and the potential new members will spend about 45 minutes in each of the five houses they have ranked highest on their preference list.

The fourth round, the preference round, begins 9 a.m. Sunday, and Wehr described it as the most somber round.

“They show the ritual a little bit and who they are as a sorority,” Wehr said. “Preference round is kind of the final round where they hope their wish is the same as yours.”

From there, the potential new members will tighten their choices to two chapters before bid day begins at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Wehr described the bid matching as a mutual selection type of process.

“If you’re in a chapter’s preference round, you will be on their bid list somewhere,” he said. “Once the chapters submit their bid list and the (potential new members) submit their preferences, then we do a bid match and hopefully the wish is the same as everybody’s.”

Wehr’s advice to the potential new members is to come in with an open mind.

“Make sure you give every chapter a chance,” Wehr said. “They’re trying to impress you just as much as you’re trying to impress them.”

How do you get people to join?

When it comes to convincing potential new members to join a sorority, Cox, Wehr and Kollar draw on their experiences and start a conversation.

Wehr said there are those students who come in knowing what they are going to do, but there are other students who might be on the fence. When that is the case the conversation shifts.

“Those are the students where you change the conversation into ‘What did you do in high school?’ or ‘What were you involved in?’ ‘Do you do community service?’ What are some of your values?’” Wehr said.

Then he said those who are recruiting tell that student about the different organizations and what they provide and allow that student to build a connection with an organization that fits them. It also allows them to do the things they like to do with other people instead of doing things alone.

“At the end of the day, people join people. You can have the Greek letters on your chest, live in the chapter house…but at the end of the day, after all the hoo-ha…and all this show you are joining people,” Wehr said. “You’re building that connection with other individuals. People you vibe with.”

But Kollar said it all starts with just saying hi.

How do you know when it’s the one?

Wehr, Cox and Kollar said finding the right fit is different for everyone, and sometimes people do not always find what they are looking for at first.

However, even though their stories were different, and reasons for joining were different, they shared one common trait.

They all fell in love.

“I think it’s very different for each person because I fell in love with my chapter’s philanthropy,” Cox said. “Then I fell in love with the members inside of that because they were also passionate about what I was passionate about so that’s how I found my home within my chapter.”

Kollar said when she was going through her recruitment process she was looking for where she felt most comfortable, something that takes a while to figure out.

“Sometimes you get a missed connection kind of vibe, but sometimes you get an ‘Oh we clicked instantly’ (vibe),” Kollar said.

Wehr said sometimes the reasons someone joins are very different than the reasons they stay.

For example, he said he joined for social reasons but the reason he stayed was because of the bonds he built and he fell in love with his philanthropy and with what his fraternity (Lambda Chi) stood for as an organization.

Wehr also said part of knowing a sorority is a right fit is if a student can sense good vibes and Cox agreed.

“Who do you see yourself sitting on the couch with no makeup on watching whatever TV show you want? The people you’re most comfortable around that’s who you need to join because those are your people,” Cox said.

Analicia Haynes and Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]