As spring recruitment for Greek Life arrives, Penn State’s Panhellenic Council has already begun planning for the next round of formal recruitment in the fall. Potential new members (PNMs) in Fall 2015 will have a recruitment experience quite different from previous years.

The biggest change, said Panhellenic President Abby Renko, is that open house rounds — the initial stage of recruitment where PNMs meet every chapter — will be held in the Bryce Jordan Center. Over 1,800 young women registered for sorority recruitment last year, and Panhellenic expects to see that number only continue to grow.

“Though the exponentially increasing number of girls who register for recruitment each year is very exciting for us, the numbers have grown to a point at which it is becoming very challenging to fit the needed number of parties during each round,” Renko said.

By moving to the BJC, Panhellenic hopes that all the parties can be fit into one day with a more streamlined process, as PNMs won’t have to run between multiple buildings in South and Pollock to all the sorority suites for each party.

“The lack of decorative abilities also encourages girls to focus primarily on their conversations with chapter members, and make their ranking decisions after open houses based on those conversations rather than on other more superficial aspects,” Renko said.

She hopes hosting the open house rounds in the BJC will give each chapter an “equal chance” to recruit young women on the first day. Panhellenic will also be enforcing a two-week dry period immediately following recruitment to encourage new sisters to get to know their chapters outside of alcohol-related events.

“We acknowledge that the social aspect of a sorority is important to many members, but PNMs should not be joining a sorority with primarily social aspirations in mind,” Renko said. “The experience of joining a sorority is meant to enrich members’ undergraduate experience, so we hope this dry period will give girls a more well-rounded perspective on what the next few years will bring for them as a member of a sorority.”

Recruitment will also be held much earlier than it historically has been, as the football schedule for Fall 2015 includes five home games in a row. In order to avoid conflicts, the fall recruitment schedule was adjusted as seen below.

August

• Tuesday, Aug. 25 – Last Day to Register for Fall Recruitment
• Saturday, Aug. 29 – Orientation for PNMs, BJC
• Sunday, Aug. 30 – Open Houses, BJC
  • Sweet perk: All PNMs will be fed lunch and dinner during the day.

September

• Tuesday, Sept. 1 to Friday, Sept. 4 – First Rounds, sorority suites
  • Times TBA, in the evening.
• Saturday, Sept. 5 and Sunday, Sept. 6 – Second Rounds, sorority suites
  • Times TBA, likely all day.
• Monday, Sept. 7 – Preference Night/Day, sorority suites
  • Times TBA, throughout the day.
• Tuesday, Sept. 8 – Bid Day, Old Main Lawn
  • Times TBA, plan for 5:30/6:00pm.