You are going to want to know what to wear for recruitment. Welcome to Florida Atlantic University recruitment and life as a Potential New Member, or PNM! This is going to be an exciting time in your life when you get to find the chapter you will be spending your undergraduate years at. When preparing for recruitment, you’ll want to get to school prior to the Fall semester as recruitment begins before the start of classes. Over the course of a week, you’ll get to visit six chapters and get to know the sorority women who are a part of them. We’re here to give you a guide of what you can expect during this exciting time.

Orientation

Orientation happens the day before recruitment starts. Though we won’t be there to answer questions physically, you will be assigned a recruitment counselor, otherwise known as a Rho Gamma. The Rho Gamma is someone who is currently a sorority member and has been through recruitment, allowing them to better be able to assist you. They will not tell you which chapter they are a part of to provide you with a completely unbiased perspective should you have questions or concerns during your recruitment experience.

Towards the end, they typically do an ice cream social so the girls can get to know their recruitment group. During recruitment, you’ll be meeting chapter members in different conference rooms as there are no sorority houses at the university. This leads to the chapter dues being much less expensive than you would find at other universities. Prepare for your days to be busy and hectic, so refer to our list of essential items to keep with you throughout the process.

What to wear: This is super casual so girls can wear jeans and sandals or sneakers.

Round One: Sisterhood Round

Round one is known as the sister round. Sisters will discuss the sisterhood in the chapter and basically display all the fun events done all year such as formal, semi-formal, crush party, sisterhoods, socials, etc.

Round 1 is divided into 2 days and takes about 20 to 30 minutes at each chapter. Certain groups of PNMS will visit half of the sororities on day one and then they will see the other groups on the 2nd day. They do this so the PNMS and sisters are not overwhelmed. These days will be identical so it does not matter what day you attend, for example, the rooms, decor, and outfits stay the same.

This is your opportunity to ask questions about the chapters to begin to get to know them, while also giving the chapter members a glimpse of your personality so they have the opportunity to also get to know you. After visiting all six chapters, you will eliminate one sorority that you feel isn’t the right fit, and place it on your ‘non-favorite’ list.

What to wear: Sundress or romper

Outfits: Macy’s   Revolve   Amazon

Shoes: Nordstrom Rack   Revolve   Target

Jewelry: Princess Polly     Baublebar

Round Two: Leadership & Scholarship Round

Round 2 is both divided into 2 days. Certain groups of PNMS will visit half of the sororities on day one and then they will see the other groups on the 2nd day. They do this so the PNMS and sisters are not overwhelmed. These days will be identical so it does not matter what day you attend, for example, the rooms, decor, and outfits stay the same.

When heading back to the recruitment location for the second round, you will receive a list of what sororities you will have on your schedule for the day. This is based on mutual selection – just as you eliminate a chapter, chapters also will release PNM’s if they feel like it is not a good fit. Chapters will showcase their leadership opportunities and the benefits of joining a sorority. Many will discuss their chapter’s GPA, study schedule, study hour requirement. Plan on spending about 40 minutes at each chapter.

What to wear:  With this round, you can wear a casual skirt, romper, or dress paired with wedges or platform shoes. Make sure whatever you choose, you are comfortable and confident for the day ahead.

Outfits: Lulus     Lulus    Shein

Shoes:  Lulus     Nordstrom Rack    Nordstrom

Jewelry: Baublebar Free People    Anthropologie     Nordstrom

Round Three: Service & Philanthropy Round

Before you start the day, you’ll again receive a list of which chapters you will return to. At each chapter, you’ll learn more about a non-profit organization the chapter aligns itself with. Chapters have events and fundraisers throughout the year to raise money and awareness for said organization. You’ll also be speaking to additional members of the chapter to further get to know them and see if you can envision yourself in that chapter. Plan on spending about 40 minutes at each chapter.

What to wear: Round three wardrobe is a lot like round two, but think a step dressier. A nice sundress or romper is appropriate for this round paired with platform shoes/wedges. This could be something you would wear to a graduation party or daytime wedding, but again just make sure you are comfortable.

Outfits: Show Me Your Mumu   Revolve   Lulus

Shoes:  Nordstrom Rack   Revolve   Target

Jewelry: Nordstrom   Baublebar   Baublebar

Round Four: Preference Round (Prefs)

You made it to the last round of recruitment! Round Four is referred to as Preference Round as you will be making a decision of which sorority you want to be with at the end of recruitment. You’ll visit up to two houses on this day, and will speak to chapter members for longer than the previous rounds; about one hour. You’ll want to share more details about your values and where you envision yourself.

Make sure you get all the information you feel you need and share everything about yourself that you would like to, as this is the final day before bid day. These conversations will give you a better idea of what the girls are like and their reputation. It will also give the sororities a better idea of who you are and your values since they are trying to bring girls in that match the sorority’s values.

What to wear: This is the fanciest round, so we recommend a semi-formal black dress paired with platforms/wedges. Compare this to a dress you would wear to a fancy dinner or graduation ceremony.

Outfits: Lulus   Lulus   Lulus

Shoes:  Lulus   Nordstrom   Bloomingdales

Jewelry:  Nordstrom   Baublebar   Baublebar

Bid Day

It’s finally here, the day you’ve been waiting for! Today you will receive a bid to one of the chapters you visited during the preference round. Once you open your envelope, you’ll head over to your new sisters and celebrate!

What to wear: You will receive a shirt from the sorority you are selected for and can pair that with jean shorts and comfortable shoes.

Outfits: Lulus    American Eagle

Shoes: Revolve   Amazon   Nordstrom Rack

Find more great outfits, shoes, and jewelry at the stores below. We hope you will look them over.

• Nordstrom
• Nordstrom Rack
• Show Me Your Mumu
• Lulu’s
• Revolve
• Macy’s
• Amazon
• Francesca’s
• American Eagle
• Etsy
• BaubleBar
• Princess Polly
• Shein
• Bloomingdales

Congratulations and welcome to Florida Atlantic University Panhellenic!

Lindsay Fine and Catie Kuter, FAU

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With an undergraduate enrollment of over 25,000 spanning across the Boca Raton Campus, FAU can feel huge. The large size of the campus means students should find a place where they feel at home. Some students will choose to rush a sorority or fraternity but others will not find Greek life their cup of tea. No worries; there are many other possible ways to get involved on campus.

Some of you may believe that your student’s first job is school, and I couldn’t agree more. That said; being involved in some way is rather important too. Firstly, joining a club will help your students build a community. Since they’re leaving their family and sometimes their friends behind, getting involved helps them to discover new friends with similar interests. It only takes a few friends to make a large school feel smaller. Joining clubs or organizations allows students to discover their passions and strengths.  It also helps them to discover what they don’t like, which can be just as important. Clubs and student organizations only enhance a student’s time at FAU.

Academic and personal growth often occurs in places other than inside the classroom. I would love to give you a list of all the different places your student can get involved, but FAU has a wide variety of recognized student organizations on campus covering almost any interest from dance, religion, politics, recreation, research, culture, music, adventure and more.

Below is a list of some popular clubs/organizations.

By far one of the most popular Student Organizations on campus is the Resident Student Organization. Students who live in FAU’s dorms run this organization. While they often create initiatives to make dorm living better, they also plan events to make dorm living fun and enjoyable for the students.

• Student Government– Perhaps a voice in FAU’s student government is of interest to your student. This is a great way to hone those leadership skills.
• OwlThon, or Dance Marathon as its commonly known, is wildly popular amongst sororities and fraternities, but truly there are many others who love to get involved. It is a yearlong event of planning and fundraising culminating in a dance marathon. When else would you get the chance to dance for 13.1 hours straight while raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network? It’s pretty awesome.
• Church groups – There are over 15 religious/spiritual organizations on campus.
• Hillel– Offers holiday and Shabbat dinners and a whole lot more. This is a great alternative since it can be difficult for kids to get home for holidays. Hillel also holds a variety of events throughout the semester for students to get involved in.
• Intramural Sports– are a great option. It can be fun and it provides exercise and stress relief. The sports choices change each semester.

It’s not necessarily what they do, but rather that they find their place. Encourage your student to get involved in one or more student organizations. It is too easy to feel lost at a large campus and getting involved will most definitely make the campus seem much smaller. Getting involved will also look good on their resume when they go to apply for internships or a job upon graduating.

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Going back to 1978 with the release of “Animal House”, which became one of the most successful comedies of all time, to 2014 with the release of “Neighbors”, fraternities have been portrayed as groups of Neanderthals that do nothing but party, drink alcohol and abuse drugs. Fraternities have been called out on national television for purported participation in horrific activities. Certainly, if a fraternity is engaging in rushing or any behavior that crosses the line, they should, and will, end up either on suspension or maybe even kicked off-campus. But talk with many of the young men in fraternities at FAU, and they will speak of brotherhood, a lifetime of friendships and access to leadership positions on campus.

Florida Atlantic University is home to 8 national or international fraternities. Just like the sororities, the fraternities do not have housing. Their meetings and events are typically held on campus. Rush is year-round, a formal is held in the fall and an informal event is held in the spring semester. The requirements for the fraternity rush are that all interested men must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours and must have at least a 2.5 GPA. FAU recommends students have at least a 2.75, however, some of the fraternities will accept students with a 2.5 GPA.

Rushing Around…

For parents of incoming freshmen, you have probably started to hear about rushing a fraternity. The way rush is handled for fraternities is radically different than sororities, but I am glad to give you the parent perspective on both, either way, you will not find too many who love the process.  But like it or not, Greek life does have its advantages. To ease the nerves of every parent, The University does not allow hazing of any kind; in fact, the FAU has a zero-tolerance policy on hazing. A few years back, the university rolled out its initiative “Real Owls Don’t Haze”. This program requires all prospective new members to complete an online program before registering for Rush and accepting a bid from any Greek-letter organization. If a hazing incident is reported, the fraternity or sorority will face action from their respective Council’s Judicial Board.

The more official rush is usually the second or third week of school when many of the chapters will host dinners, table out in the breezeway to talk to students and hold nightly events at various locations. At that time, boys can visit each fraternities’ tables to learn more or attend the events of Rush week. It is at these events that they are greeted by brothers who will “interview” them. They can get asked to leave (yes, asked to leave, as in, “We don’t think you will fit in here. You can leave now”) regardless of how much time they have invested getting to know some of the other brothers. Try to encourage your son to broaden his horizons and check out all the frats, not just the ones deemed popular. He may be pleasantly surprised by some of the smaller fraternities. Try to stay in touch with your son as his support system; should he need it. The rejection is real. Most boys do find their fraternity; others may not get accepted to the frat of their choice, but there is a second rush opportunity in the spring.

Hopefully, your son will be able to move beyond the labels and focus more on finding like-minded young men and a place where he will fit in. He may also want to consider the fraternity’s’ national standing. This can come in rather handy later when looking to network and find a job in the world beyond college even in another city.

Rush is based on first impressions, judgments, and appearances; certainly, in the first few rounds. This being said, mention to your son to be sure his social media is looking good. Don’t think they won’t check. The Interfraternity Council tries to promote the positive aspects of joining a fraternity and takes it very seriously.  They try to oversee that regulations are upheld, but they can only have eyes in so many places.

Here is a little about how it works.  Let’s say your son gets a bid from the house he wants. A bid is basically an invitation to join their fraternity. They then have three options to either 1.) Accept the bid and rush is over for him or 2.) Sit on the bid, the most common choice during rush week, as it allows him to continue to visit other frats and maybe even collect more bids. In the end, he can only accept one of the bids or 3.) Decline a bid and continue the hunt.  And then the fun really begins; new member period.

Rushing Spotlight

Once a bid has been accepted, your student becomes a new member. Fraternities have been in the national spotlight due to the tragic death of several members at various college campuses. Many Universities are taking a very strict approach to suspend any organization for any infraction that falls under their definition of hazing. Test your knowledge of hazing here. Talk to your student before he accepts a bid as to how to handle any situation that makes him feel uncomfortable.

At this point, you may be thinking why would I want my son to subject himself to going through this process? Personally speaking, while fraternity life may not be for everyone, they do offer a lot of benefits including being extremely visible and active on campus, involvement in philanthropies and they make FAU feel a little smaller.  Fraternity brothers partake in rituals that are unique to their letters, nationally and internationally, promoting brotherhood. Frats provide leadership opportunities as they are student-run organizations. It teaches them a great deal about social interactions and hopefully about being a gentleman as they will always be representing their letters. Each chapter charges its members’ dues. These dues pay for all of their programs and materials as well as their obligations to the international office. While there is a financial obligation, chapters do create payment plans for members needing special consideration. There may also be additional fees for retreats, formals, etc.

Learn the facts about Florida Atlantic University Fraternity rush click here.

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For parents of incoming freshman, you probably are starting to hear whispers about rushing, or sorority recruitment. What is rushing her way and your way through this whole process? Talk to any parent at any school, and you will not find too many who love the process.  But like the process or not, sororities do have their advantages, especially at a large college.

This is an unusual, unprecedented time. The situation and circumstances continue to evolve daily. Please start your planning for any event by checking your university website.

Before my daughter mentioned she was interested in joining a sorority, I heard all of the common misconceptions of rushing a sorority. However, after seeing all three of my daughters recruitment and enjoy all that sororities have to offer, there is so much more to these organizations than I had previously thought.

As a mother of three daughters who joined three different sororities, I’ve seen it all. I’ve attended more than my fair share of mother/daughter weekends, mother’s brunch, and family weekends. All of my daughters had very different experiences when they rushed; two went through formal fall recruitment while my middle daughter opted into the more casual style of spring recruitment, yet they achieved their common rushing goal. All three of my girls set out to find a place to call their home away from home for the next four years. After a very long, emotional week, their goal was accomplished. My second two daughters were considered to be legacies of their sister’s sorority; meaning that their sister was considered an alumna. She could write a letter of recommendation on their behalf as could any other family member, no matter what university they went to. Click here for the email address to send a letter of recommendation.

All students that wish to join Sorority Recruitment must complete an online module entitled: Hazing Prevention: It’s everyone’s responsibility before they will be able to accept any bid requests. A link to this will be included in the confirmation page after registration.

Rushing

When my student was accepted into FAU, her journey through recruitment gave me a whole other perspective than I had with my older daughters because my FAU owl was closer to home. FAU sorority recruitment follows a typical schedule of other larger universities, the major difference being that there were fewer sororities to choose from, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most of the women going through recruitment have heard both the positives and negatives of each chapter; this includes which of the six are the most popular. There is a preconceived belief amongst those going through sorority recruitment that they want to wear certain letters (all of the sororities have different combinations of Greek letters).

I am not going to chocolate coat sorority recruitment- it is based on first impressions, judgments, and appearances; certainly in the first few rounds where conversations last about 10-15 minutes. The Panhellenic Council tries very hard to promote the positive aspects of joining a sorority and in recent years have scaled back how much the sororities decorate their on-campus rooms. Sorority recruitment at FAU is moving towards a Value-Based Recruitment model; this model focuses on showcasing each chapters values and finding the women who best meet these values. Be this as it may, there is still the preconceived ideas and of course judgments made by first impressions.

We’ve got some great suggestions from our interns about what to wear for recruitment. You can read that here.

Speaking Greek

If I am speaking Greek, let’s address some of the particulars. Recruitment will begin August 30th and ends with Bid Day on September 6th.  Registration for recruitment opens in the summer. There is a fee, but this fee will get her a Panhellenic T-shirt and a bag. Due to the current situation, Recruitment will be held via a hybrid model. The Potential New Member orientation, Open House Round, and Invitational Round will be held virtually. Preference Round will be held in person. However, if a Potential New Member feels uncomfortable attending in person, there will be a virtual option. This is subject to change according to current CDC recommendations and local ordinances.

Florida Atlantic University has six sororities on campus. The sororities do not have houses on campus at this time. Each sorority gets a room in the student union to call home for the week and use it during rush. These rooms are typically fully decorated around a central theme for the week. For meetings and other events, each sorority chapter is assigned a room, typically in the student union, to use for the duration of the semester. Students who would like to participate in Sorority rush must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours and have a GPA of 2.75 or higher.

Recruitment involves four rounds and a bid day. As your daughter goes through each round, she will go to fewer sorority houses. She may not get invited back to every house; chances are likely that she will not; however, she will have options that hopefully are one of the houses she was considering.  If your daughter is registered for recruitment, she is expected to attend every round and to visit every sorority on her schedule. If she must miss a round due to class, she can inform a member of the Panhellenic council so she is excused for the evening.

Perhaps your daughter will be able to look past the process and focus more on finding like-minded young women and a place where she will fit in. I have witnessed girls joining sororities because of specific Greek letters only to realize after a few weeks, their choice was not the right choice for them.

Yes, there are judgments being made based on the brand of clothes being worn, disingenuous conversations and misrepresentations.  The advice I gave my daughters is to be true to themselves. Creating a false persona just to get into a specific sorority would not result in making true friendships. When one of my daughters had her selection narrowed down to just a few, she called me panic-stricken, asking which sorority she should choose. I simply told her to go with the sorority she felt most comfortable in and to pick a Sorority where she could truly see herself calling the women her sisters.

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.

Once they have chosen a sorority, read out blog Sorority Girl to learn more about sorority life.

Learn the facts about Florida Atlantic University Sorority Recruitment.

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