Rushing a sorority wasn’t something I necessarily came into Tufts intending to do, but this semester, I decided that it seemed like a great way for me to meet new people on campus during this crazy covid semester. Last week, our two panhellenic sororities, Alpha Kappa Theta (Theta) and Chi Omega (Chi O), held their recruitment. Normally, the sorority recruitment spans multiple weeks with many events, so that you can get to know the members and they can get to know you; however, this year, the schedule was condensed and it was all held over Zoom.
Thursday, I attended Chi O’s optional meeting, where we each got placed into breakout rooms with a few other sophomores who were rushing and one member of Chi O’s board. My breakout room played the game Code Names, which was a lot of fun. Theta’s meeting on Friday took a different format. Each of us got put into a breakout room with one or two other prospective members and one member of Theta. The Theta sisters answered all of our questions about Theta and recruitment, and were very encouraging about the whole rush process.
In the end, I believe about 60 girls completed recruitment, the last step of which was the interviewing process on Saturday. First, I interviewed with Theta, and I was put into a breakout room with two members. The three of us introduced ourselves and talked for 8 minutes, and then I was put in a second breakout room, this time with a different member. After this, I got sent to my Chi O interviews, which held the same format, but with three shorter breakout rooms instead of two longer ones. There, I also had lovely conversations.
After these interviews, we all got sent google forms and we ranked the two sororities. I felt like the whole process was so hard via Zoom, because I had to rank the sororities based on interactions I’d had with only a few girls, but I enjoyed talking to the girls I met from both sororities, so I felt confident that if I got a bid for either, I would be happy. Each sorority also ranked us, and then an adult at Tufts who is unaffiliated with either sorority decided if we would get a bid from either of the sororities. On Sunday, I got emailed that I got a bid for Theta, meaning that I am now in Theta, although not officially initiated yet.
Following getting a bid, we got goodie bags, with t-shirts, necklaces, sunglasses, candy, and scrunchies, which the Theta girls dropped outside our dorms. When I went down to retrieve mine, I ran into two other new members of Theta, and we got to talk and get to know each other. This week, Theta held outdoor, masks-on picture sessions, and I signed up for a time to go and take pictures with other new Thetas. I met five other girls there and started making friends already.
Additionally, we are now supposed to be “sister dating,” which means that we can hang out (virtually or socially distanced) with older Thetas and get to know them. Yesterday, I Zoomed with Caroline, who interviewed me, and I have more sister dates lined up for this weekend. In the past week alone, I have met more Tufts students than I did all of last semester because of the pandemic.
My Emma's advice this week is to step outside of your comfort zone. Normally, I may be nervous about asking girls I don’t know to go on walks or Zoom with me, but what I have found so far with Theta, is that everyone is looking to socialize. Already, I have met so many passionate, driven, and kind girls, and I feel fortunate to be finding a community in Theta here at Tufts.