Theta! How Can I Resist Ya?
Sorority life at Tufts is not like sorority life that you see in the South on TikTok. We don’t have any chants or cheers, and only a small percentage of students (10-15%) are involved with sorority and fraternity life. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t go all out for recruitment!
Every good event has a theme, and Theta recruitment is no different. This year, our theme was candy.
Recruitment was weird for many of us, as it was our first real recruitment. At Tufts, you cannot rush until sophomore year, and with Covid, many of us rushed virtually, so we did not know what the process entailed. Luckily, our national office sent in advisors to help us learn how recruitment works.
First, we started with two informal open houses on the Theta porch, where women could come and meet the Thetas. It was a sweet time, both figuratively and literally, as I ate way more than my share of the candy and had an amazing time!
After the open houses, the potential new members had to choose if they wanted to go the panhellenic route, and rush Theta and Chi Omega, or the local route, and rush Thalia and The Ivy. Thalia and The Ivy are two new sororities on campus that are not affiliated nationally. I really like being in a national sorority because of the support we get from our national office (i.e. recruitment), and the connections that we can form with women across the country.
The women who chose to rush the panhellenic sororities then came to two recruitment days the next week. At Theta’s recruitment rounds, we each talked to about twelve women. I had some great conversations with the potential new members, ranging from the art of costume design, to the inadequacies of the foster care system. As the Chief External Affairs officer, I also presented on Theta’s national philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).
Then, on Saturday, we hosted pref day, to which all of the women were invited back. This day, we had three long conversations with the women to really get to know them. It was nice getting to form deeper connections, and all of the girls I talked to ended up getting a bid for Theta, so I will have even more opportunities to get to know them now. The president, my lovely big, Hannah, spoke about why she loves Theta, and then my two other friends spoke about their big and little experience.
To culminate recruitment week, the potential new members all sat in Cabot Auditorium on Sunday morning. The Theta Chief Recruitment Officer, Katelyn, and I led a count down with the two representatives from Chi O, and the women all opened letters that Tufts Panhel had written for them, naming the sorority for which they got a bid.
Once the girls knew which one they were in, we all ran to our sorority houses. At the Theta house, the Bid Day festivities began! The Bid Day theme was Mamma Mia (cue “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”), and we all got the shirts featured above (Theta! How Can I Resist Ya?). The day included much dancing and laughing and singing, and I am so excited to get to know all of these wonderful new members in the upcoming weeks!
My advice this week is to keep an open mind. I originally attached a really negative connotation to sororities. I always pictured the musical Legally Blonde, when Elle Woods cheers her way into the Ivy League with her sorority sisters by her side. My mom encouraged me to rush, and this year when I sat with all of my friends during recruitment, listening to why they chose Theta, it struck me how lucky I am to have this group of kind, compassionate women. These are the friends who lend me dresses for a formal on a Friday night, eat brunch with me on a Saturday, and study with me in the library on a Sunday. If I had the chance for a re-do, would I rush Theta again? Of course, I would—how could I resist Theta?