Throughout the years, sorority women have had a certain routine when it comes to recruitment. Past vice presidents of public relations and recruitment follow the same directions when it comes to preparing for recruitment, how each set looks and even what type of outfits we wear. After recruitment went online, a lot of our chapters no longer knew what it was like to do recruitment in-person; however, I think this is a great opportunity to switch up what we do in recruitment!

Do not be afraid to try something new! Recruitment does not have to look like what we traditionally think of. We do not always need one-on-one conversations between a member and potential new member to get to know them. If your chapter does not have enough women for one-on-one conversations, doing an activity during a set might be an easy way to interact with multiple potential new members at one time.

Here are some activities to incorporate into your recruitment rounds after the first round (open house):

Sisterhood Jenga
Coming up with questions during recruitment that are unique can be difficult! We often use the same type of questions with every potential new member. One way to have a bank of questions on hand so that you can focus on the potential new member’s answer is to play sisterhood Jenga. All you have to do is write different meaningful questions on each Jenga block. Then when it is time, set it up and play with the potential new member(s).

Crafting During Philanthropy
One way to take away the recruitment nerves is to be working on something, like a craft! We can show potential new members how we support our philanthropies by creating something for Girls on the Run or Special Olympics. For Girls on the Run, you can have stations to work on encouraging cards and posters. Have potential new members write positive and motivating messages for coaches or the girls. You can also have them create small beaded bracelets for your chapter to give out later. Our Alpha Chapter creates medals with their potential new members during recruitment to give out at Special Olympic events!

*Be sure that you can keep track of all supplies. It is against policy for potential new members to remove materials from the recruitment room.

Meaningful Letters for Preference
Over at the Beta Epsilon Chapter, the women go the extra mile before their preference round to write letters to the potential new members that are attending. The chapter has their women write letters to the potential new member that their sister is talking to. For example, a little sister might write a letter for their big sister’s potential new member. This shows the potential new member that their recruiter has talked about them to their sisters and that they are welcomed into the chapter. To not break any policies, the chapter women read the letters aloud to the potential new members. The potential new members cannot take the letters with them, but I think it would be great to hold on to the letters to give them on bid day or when they get initiated.

There are tons of ways to help change up recruitment, so get creative! At the end of the day, we should be focused on having fun getting to know other women to help your chapter grow. Change brings growth in so many ways. Do not be afraid to be different than other chapters at your institution. Good luck with recruitment!

Alex Horton, IH