How Do You Pursue Greek Life?
Making the decision to pursue membership in a fraternity or sorority is indeed an important one, and should not be made casually. Membership is a privilege and like any successful organization, there are obligations which accompany membership.
For freshmen, the first opportunity to actively participate in membership recruitment events occurs in January. At the start of the spring semester, a student must have completed at least 11 credit hours, have earned a minimum GPA of 2.5, and be in good judicial standing with the University to be eligible to participate in Recruitment. Spring recruitment is the centralized process in which Greek leaders plan and implement specific events for potential new members and active Greeks to meet and highlight the unique components of one fraternity to another. The process is mutually selective which means that potential new members make decisions about returning to a future chapter event while the chapters are extending invitations for future events to men and women they are interested in extending a bid to. Though the process is not perfect, potential new members who remain objective, genuine, and intentional about their decisions, are most pleased with the outcome of Recruitment.
Formal Sorority Recruitment
In January each year, Sorority Recruitment starts the week BEFORE classes begin and lasts for one week. This then requires that women return to campus early (the Monday the week of recruitment). Women who wish to return before that Monday, need to make arrangements with the Residents Life Office as the Women's Panhellenic Association can only ensure room access the week that recruitment is actually being held. The registration process for women opens September 1st and only registered women are permitted to participate in Recruitment. Once registered, potential new members will be assigned to a Recruitment Counselor, or Gamma Chi, who disaffiliates from her own chapter in order to serve as an unbiased, pressure-free resource for the women. Potential New Members begin by attending events hosted by all sororities and throughout the 1 week period, narrows down her preferences and attends fewer sorority events, however potential new members are required to attend ever event she is invited to. On the final night of recruitment, potential new members select their #1, #2, and #3 sorority preference but will not receive more than ONE BID for membership. A high percentage of women receive a sorority bid for membership, but there is no guarantee that all women will receive a bid.
Letters of recommendation are NOT required to participate in formal or informal recruitment. If an alumni of one of the seven national organizations would like to submit a reference form, they can do so by contacting their national office to get the proper form and instructions on how to submit the form.
This is the normal breakdown of registration fees each year:
*$90 Early-Bird Registration Fee Sept 1 - Oct 31
$100 Regular Registration Fee Nov 1-31
$125 Late Registration Fee after Dec 1
FORMAL RECRUITMENT 2013 will take place January 8-13, 2013. Registration will open on September 1, 2012 and women participating will need to be back by 5pm on Monday, January 7, 2013. If you are interested in joining our community, please email us at greeklife@wustl.edu and we will provide you information about future opportunities.
Formal Fraternity Recruitment
Fraternity Recruitment occurs at the beginning of the Spring semester. The registration process occurs in December and January. All men attending even ONE recruitment event must register with the Interfraternity Council. Prior to the start of the recruitment process, men who did not meet the minimum academic requirements will be notified. Interested men will find posters around campus, which indicate when and where each fraternity is hosting Recruitment events over the three-week period. Men will pick and choose the events they wish to attend until the end of Recruitment. Typically there is a period of about 1-2 weeks of open events where anyone can attend and then most fraternities have a week of closed events that are by invitation only. After events have stopped, potential new members may receive one bid or multiple bids to join different fraternities. There is a 24 hour no-contact period to give the potential new member some time to make his decision. Bid acceptance day takes place two days after bid extension and this is when the potential new member accepts his bid to one fraternity. For more information on men's recruitment, please visit the IFC website at www.washuifc.org.
Informal Fall Recruitment
Some fraternities and sororities host a fall membership drive in which upper-class students are eligible to participate, provided the minimum academic requirements have been met. It is important to note that the only opportunity to attend and get to know ALL Greek organizations is in January. Fall recruitment is informal and left up to each chapter to plan if they so desire. Typically not all sororities participate in informal recruitment, but if you are an upperclassmen who has questions about women's informal recruitment options, please contact the Women's Panhellenic Association at washupanhellic@gmail.com.
Information about men's fall recruitment can be found on the Interfraternity Council webpage located under the "Fraternity Life" tab location in the menu bar on the left.