Dear Potential New Member,

We are excited that you are interested in learning more about Sorority Life at Wash U! Being a part of a Greek organization is something that has enhanced many women’s college experience and we hope that you too will find your home in one of our chapters. Joining a sorority is an important choice in a woman’s college career. It offers women a variety of enriching and meaningful experiences that they might not otherwise have had. All of the chapters are excellent conduits for service, philanthropy and leadership. Many women form special bonds of friendships with their sisters that extend well beyond college.

You must register with Washington University Panhellenic to participate in formal recruitment. Registration will be open until December 1st, 2010. See the registration section bellow for more information.

We encourage you to look at our FAQ section if you have any questions. If you do not find your answer there, please feel free to contact Melissa Bryan, VP of Recruitment at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or stop by the Greek Life Suite in the DUC.

We are confident that the sisterhood, philanthropy, academic standards and leadership development our chapters offer will enrich not only your college experience, but also your life. We hope that you will consider participating in formal Panhellenic Recruitment 2011.

Sincerely,
Women’s Panhellenic Association

Registration & Cost

Follow this link, My Campus Director, to register. Registration will remain open until December 1st, 2010. It is recommended, although not required, that you pay the registration fee at the time of registration. You may pay by credit card through the webpage or bring a check into the Greek Life Suite. This fee is used to cover the early move-in fees charged by residential life and for the food that Panhellenic gets you throughout recruitment. Below are the fees broken down based on the date you pay…

• $90 – Early Bird Rate (register and pay between Sept 1 – Oct 31, 2010)
• $100 – Normal Rate (register and pay between Nov 1 – 30, 2010)
• $125 – Late Rate (register and pay any time after Dec 1, 2010)
• ***Partial refunds (minus a $25 cancellation fee) may be available for women who withdraw before December 20, 2010. No refunds will be granted for any cancellations after this date.

Schedule

Recruitment consists of 4 days of parties with one break day in the middle. Recruitment parties are not what you typically think of as a party. They are simply events held in various rooms around campus where you will have the opportunity to have conversations with sorority women. The recruitment process is based on mutual selection. This means that as the week of recruitment goes on the PNMs are given an opportunity to rank the chapters based on their preferences and these rankings are used to help match them to a chapter. After registration each PNM is assigned to a Gamma Chi (recruitment councilor) who will guide the women through the recruitment process. These women have volunteered to temporarily disaffiliate from their chapter in order to provide PNMs with an unbiased source of advice throughout recruitment. Below is more detailed information about the schedule. Also please note that a high percentage of women receive bids at the end of recruitment, but we cannot guarantee that all women will receive a bid.

January 10th, 2011 – Welcome Dinner

This evening we will have a dinner and go over everything you need to know before recruitment begins the following morning. We ask that all women be on campus by 5 PM in order to ensure they are able to attend this evening’s event.

January 11th, 2011 – Arete Day One

January 12th, 2011 – Arete Day Two

The first two days of recruitment consist of hour-long parties. You will attend events with 3 of the sororities one day and 4 the other day. The dress code is jeans and a casual black shirt.

January 13th, 2011 – Break Day

Enjoy your day off with other PNMs.

January 14th, 2011 – Outsides

The parties on Outsides last for 45 minutes. In addition to meeting more women, you will also see a skit at each party you attend. You may attend up to 5 events on this day. Appropriate attire is a casual dress or slacks and a nice top.

January 15th, 2011 – Preferences

Preferences is the most special day of recruitment. The parties last for 55 minutes. You will have an extended conversation with one or two woman about what has made their experience in their sorority so special. You will also see a small part of the chapter’s ritual. Each chapter’s Preference party is very unique. You may attend up to 3 parties on this day. Appropriate attire is a cocktail dress.

January 16th, 2011 – Unity Day

In the morning your Gamma Chi will come to your room and tell you which chapter you are now a new member of. A celebration of our Panhellenic community will then be held in Graham Chapel before you join your new chapter for bid day celebrations.

Guidelines

All of our chapters have agreed on rules to govern formal recruitment. We rely primarily on the women in chapters to enforce most of the rules, but you should be aware of what our expectations are of you as a potential new member (PNM).

1. All PNMs must be enrolled as full- time undergraduate students at Washington University in St. Louis.
2. A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 is required to participate in recruitment. Individual chapters may have a higher GPA requirement to extend a membership bid.
3. Women who were on Disciplinary Probation through the university in the previous semester are not eligible to participate in recruitment activities.
4. PNMs must not have ever been initiated into any National Panhellenic Conference sorority at any institution.
5. PNMs must register for sorority recruitment with the Washington University Women’s Panhellenic Association and pay a registration fee.
6. PNMs are not to enter the residence of active sorority women during the week of formal sorority recruitment. Exceptions are made for women who live with affiliated women.
7. Any PNM who signs a preference card and receives a bid during formal recruitment is ineligible to participate in any recruitment activities or receive a bid from another chapter for one calendar year.
8. PNMs must attend all recruitment events they are invited to. Failure to attend all parties without Panhellenic approval will result in immediate dismissal from the recruitment process.
9. PNMs may not use alcohol or illegal substances during the week of formal recruitment
10. PNMs should not discuss the recruitment process with men.
11. PNMs need to stay in their assigned resident halls every night of the formal recruitment process. Women living off campus are exempt from this rule.
12. PNMs are required to follow strict silence from the time they attend their final Preference party until after the Unity Day Ceremony. Strict Silence entails no contact or conversation with any active member of a sorority. This includes, but is not limited to, instant messages, phone calls, e-mails, letters, or facebook messages.
13. PNMs should not speak negatively about any Greek organization at Washington University.
14. Any PNM found in noncompliance with these rules may be withdrawn from recruitment at the discretion of the Washington University Women’s Panhellenic President, VP Recruitment, or Greek Life Staff.

If you have any questions about these rules or if you have any concerns that these rules have been violated, please come speak to the Panhellenic President, VP Recruitment, Director of Gamma Chis, or a member of the Greek Life staff.

Recommendations

None of our chapters require letters of recommendation and most women go through recruitment without them. Chapters will accept letters written by alumnae members of their organization. Should you desire to have letters submitted on your behalf, please have your alumnae recommender go through their national organization to find the appropriate forms. Every organization does this slightly differently, so we cannot provide specific information, but the inter/national website is usually a good place to start. Below is a list of the names of the Recruitment chairs for each chapter and the address of where the letters should be sent.

• Alpha Epsilon Phi – Lyndsay Nevins
• Alpha Omicron Pi – Sammie Higer
• Alpha Phi – Niki Dankner
• Chi Omega – Erica Berger
• Delta Gamma – Ashley Funk
• Kappa Kappa Gamma – Karissa Tocquigny
• Pi Beta Phi – Arielle Rothstein

(Chapter)
c/o (Recruitment Chair’s Name)
One Brookings Drive

Campus Box 1068
St. Louis, MO 63130

FAQs

Q: How do I join a sorority? 

A: We have deferred recruitment at Wash. U., which means you cannot go through recruitment until at least your second semester. Formal recruitment takes place every January and this is how the majority of women join sororities.

Q: When do I need to be back for recruitment 2011?

A: All women participating in recruitment 2011 need to be back on campus by 5 PM on Monday January 10th, 2011.

Q: What requirements are there for going through recruitment?

A: All women going through recruitment need to have completed at least 12 credit hours of college work with a minimum 2.5 GPA and be in good judicial standing with the university.

Q: Is recruitment only for second-semester freshmen?
A: Not at all! Every year we have sophomores, transfer students, and January-program scholars go through recruitment.

Q: Can exchange students join sororities?
A: Panhellenic will allow international students to register for an participate in recruitment, but it is unlikely that any chapter will want to extend a bid to a woman who will only be active in the chapter for a semester of year.

Q: My question isn’t answered on this page, what do I do?
A: Email Melissa Bryan, VP Recruitment at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and she will cheerfully reply to your inquiry!