Most sisters have had the experience of going through formal recruitment and also done it through the sister side; both of these involve talking to people for a couple hours every night of recruitment and struggling to make decisions about who you want to be your sister. I joined Alpha Gamma Delta my freshman year, but through continuous open recruitment, not formal recruitment. Sophomore year I had the experience of a sister through recruitment, and then junior year I was a recruitment counselor, and this year, my senior year, a head recruitment counselor.
Being an RC brings a very different view to recruitment, as you are not deciding anything. Your job as an RC is to help the girls find the best fit for them, whether it is flipping a coin, writing a pro/con list with them, or just listening long enough that they justify their decision to themselves. Being an RC my junior year I met many fabulous women, some of whom are now my sisters, some of them who now part of the Panhellenic community, and some who made the decision that Greek life was not something they wanted to or were ready to be a part of.
Being a Head RC is even different than that. Being an RC I spent a lot of time talking to the potential new members helping them with decisions. As an HRC I dealt with more of the logistics side of things and made sure things ran smoothly. I was in charge of the Recruitment Counselors and making sure they were ready to handle the potential new members and get girls where they needed to be. I also got to be one of the people who talked to girls when they needed someone else. I didn’t have much face time with the potential new members, though was there when the RCs needed someone else whether it was to tell someone unfortunately they didn’t get a bid, or talking to someone who couldn’t decide what to do. It’s a very different job dealing with the background of recruitment versus talking to the girls.
I think my favorite memories of being an RC and head RC are things centered on bid day and reveal. Bid day is exciting for so many reasons and when the girls are deciding what they want to sign I loved talking to girls junior year helping them see what they want. It’s a great experience to talk to someone and help them see their fit into Greek life, something I hold so near and dear to my heart. I had a couple really awesome conversations with girls both last year and this year that I still talk about and look back on as moments to explain what being an RC really is. Reveal is amazing because you have 400-500 girls standing there cheering for you, it’s an amazing feeling.
As a HRC I did have to have a couple of those uncomfortable conversations, trying to tell a girl that she didn’t get a bid. I was backup this year for the RCs, going for support so that they had someone else if it was needed. From this year I think I will remember this moment a lot, and although it was a tough moment, it’s a great one. When a girl doesn’t get a bid she generally is either really excited, or really upset. This girl was the latter. But I talked to her about continuous open recruitment and about the snow outside, and about how bad it feels to feel rejected, and how to increase her chances of being able to COR into a chapter she wants. Then we started talking about chemical engineering (since both of us are chemical engineering majors) and then about how she wants to get more involved, and how I am going to be there for her and help her get involved into SocComm (since she was interested) and will be able to help her with her chem. Eng stuff if she needs. Yes, it still is sad she didn’t get the desired outcome from recruitment, but I hope that she see’s it’s not the end of the world and it’s not the end of the road either. This example to be represents what being Greek means to me. It’s not just the letters on my shirt or saying ritual. It’s learning to be there for people, especially sisters, but anyone. It’s learning to be a good sister and friend and reaching out to people if they need someone to come over and help them through something.
Being an RC it feels like you lose touch with your chapter slightly as you aren’t with them for probably about 40 hours when they are getting ready for recruitment, but for me it reinforces my decision to go Greek and join Alpha Gamma Delta. It reminds me that when you are either having a bad day or maybe just need a hug, there’s always someone there for you to talk it out and give you that needed hug. And even if a girl doesn’t want to join your chapter you can still make a new friend and help someone out.
Catherine Duffty
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