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Sorority Low-Down
When my daughter was accepted to UNF she was thrilled! She starting talking about where she would live, who her roommate would be and how they were going to decorate their room. Before too long, the topic of rushing and joining a sorority came up. I went to UF and one of the best experiences of my college life was rushing and joining a sorority – well maybe rushing wasn’t the best experience; however, joining a sorority was. So, when my daughter brought up the subject of going through rush, I thought it was a great idea.
UNF is a smaller school and with that also brings fewer sororities to choose from and a different Greek life than I went through. However, none of that would take away from the experience she would embark on. So, what is Greek life all about? First of all, there are different requirements to join. In order to join any Greek-letter organization, a student must be a fully admitted student at the UNF at the time of recruitment, which is in September. Some sororities also have spring rush, but not all of them. The student must be a full-time student at the university at the time of recruitment (unless the organization permits part-time students to join). Each of the sororities has its own academic requirements.
There are different types of sororities, some are social and some are academic. The process of joining these is very different. Typically, a student must be invited to join an academic sorority and this is usually based on their GPA. The process for joining a social sorority is made up of several days known as Formal Recruitment. During Formal Recruitment (also known as Rush), potential new members will have the opportunity to meet women from each of UNF’s Panhellenic chapters. This is considered a mutual selection process, as both chapters and “rushees” will have the ability to choose who they would like to see the following day.
Rushing is Recruitment
During recruitment, girls can be seen in their high heels, cute outfits, with hair and makeup done walking to the student union. It is a time that is filled with excitement and disappointment. Some girls will be accepted and get bids at the sorority that they love and some will not. Bid day, which is the last day of rush, is very exciting, and a little terrifying, and highly emotional as each girl receives a card with the sorority she was accepted to. They all open them at the same time, scream, cry and then will run to their new sorority.
When my daughter was going through rush, I tried to remind her that if she didn’t get into the sorority that she wanted, she would find her place and could rush again the following year. I will say this, after having my daughter go through Rush this year, I was very impressed by the process at UNF. It was organized and truly meant for the girls to find their proper place or home. My daughter told me that one of her friends did not get a bid at a sorority that she wanted and one of the sisters from another sorority called her and asked her to come to their bid day. This friend went and actually wound up meeting some wonderful girls and new friends. Whatever your daughter chooses to do and whatever sorority she chooses, the process of rush is just another part of her college life. For me, joining a sorority gave me life long friends and memories that I can never forget!
For more information about UNF’s recruitment click here. To learn more about sorority life click here.
We’ve got some great suggestions from our interns about what to wear for recruitment. You can read that here.
Finally, many parents like to send their daughters a gift on Bid Day. We recommend holding off as they will be getting gifts from the sorority they pledge on Bid Day and continually going forward from tank tops to water bottles and everything in between.
Should you decide to get them a congratulatory gift, we have some suggestions here from:
Desert Cactus Greek, Brit and Bee, Alexandra and Company, Go Greek Chic, Cotton Sisters, Sorority Shop, Signature Tumblers, and Gild the Lily.
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