By: Olivia Olsen

Students on campus participated in Belmont Panhellenic’s Formal Sorority Recruitment via Zoom between Jan. 21-24, 2021.

Although the event is commonly held in person, campus safety regulations made recruitment fully virtual. Accommodations included Zoom breakout rooms replacing face-to-face meetings and converting written schedules into Excel spreadsheets.

As a participant in the process and student of communication, I reflected on how the channel of communication impacted the process considering all active members’ experiences with recruitment were in person. I would have been lying if I said I didn’t start the preparations for the event with a pessimistic attitude.

How could I maintain my energy in conversations staring at a green dot for hours, when last year I was constantly moving and changing my location to speak to prospective sorority sisters? What if there were technical difficulties throughout the weekend, and how would I recover from them when I logged back on? More importantly, how am I going to connect with women —  strangers — on a personal level over Zoom?

I pondered on these questions during the first days of my sorority’s recruitment workshops. It was only until the last week leading to the first official recruitment event when I felt truly excited. That is thanks to many hours spent by Panhellenic Council members and sorority leaders to create a system among our sororities that ran like a well oiled machine.

Panhellenic Council spent a year planning for this year’s virtual occasion. 

Similar to previous recruitments, women kept professional appearances. Every sorority had at least one meeting to check each woman’s setting for recruitment. It was integral to the integrity of the event for each woman involved to have an environment where they wouldn’t be distracted. For each party, every sorority also abided their chosen a themes and wore matching outfits within their organizations.

There were at least three week’s worth of trouble shooting meetings within my sorority, Alpha Sigma Tau. We took advantage of every single one, and it paid off.

When we had confidence in how to properly use Zoom’s features, we were able to go into our parties focusing on getting to know each woman, rather than handling our computers.

One of the most impactful aspects of recruitment was knowing each person who attended would end the weekend with a sisterhood to support her as she grows personally and professionally. That rang true whether we spoke to women in same room or via video chat.

Approximately 300 Potential New Members — also known as PNMs — participated in the annual event. Women involved were either going to class on campus or were living out-of-state attending school fully remote.

“This year was way less exhausting than last year’s recruitment,” said Emily Anderson, former Vice President of Recruitment of Belmont’s Panhellenic Executive Council. “Nights weren’t as long, and PNMs were still able to understand and enjoy the process.”

“You work an entire year to plan three days of events,” Anderson said. “The most fulfilling thing is to see everyone’s hard work within 72 hours.”

Anderson was not the only person in Belmont Greek Life to have a positive outlook on this year’s recruitment. Olivia Nelshoppen, Corporate Communications major and Alpha Sigma Tau Vice President of Organizational Development, shared her experience of the preparations leading to the event:

“My favorite part was getting to know [Alpha Sigma Tau] members that I may not have talked to before our workshops,” Nelshoppen said. “I think that eliminating the in-person aspect of recruitment helped everyone meet other sisters and not stay in groups they’re used to.”

The process started with Sisterhood Night — an introductory gathering for PNMs to get to know the four Panhellenic sorority chapters on Belmont’s campus: Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Sigma Tau, Kappa Alpha Theta and Phi Mu.

Each sorority had their own Zoom rooms where participants attended their scheduled parties ranging from times between 5-10 p.m.

“There were a few tech issues that were quickly figured out on the first night,” Anderson said.

PNMs met with their Rho Gammas to choose which chapters they wanted to see again once parties ended for the night. Rho Gammas are recruitment mentors who are temporarily unaffiliated with a sorority.

Both sororities and PNMs privately ranked one another on their virtues and values to narrow down which chapters women would revisit the next day, also known as dropping.

Next up was Philanthropy Night, another party when sororities talked to PNMs about charities they work with during and beyond the school year. PNMs and sororities ranked again after all gatherings were completed.

PNMs finished off their parties with Preference Night, when each candidate sat down with a sorority member and was given an opportunity to have an hour-long discussion. This final meeting provides girls with time to reflect on whether they see themselves as lifetime members of one of the chapters they’re choosing from.

After three nights of meeting with each sorority, PNMs found their home on Bid Day, a celebration that welcomed new members to their sisterhood.

Bid Day was also online due to COVID-19 safety guidelines. Each girl received their bid — an invitation to join their respective sorority — before the special occasion. Slight technical difficulties with mailing software left Panhellenic to individually email each PNM with their virtual bids.

“Each chapter had their bid lists, and we paid for everything,” Anderson said. “Come Sunday we hit submit [to send bids], and the software said it thought we were committing fraud because we needed to use four computers — one for each sorority.”

That didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, however. Celebrations continued via social media where Panhellenic members shared Bid Day outfits in photos with roommates or screenshots of Zoom festivities.

Opinions varied on whether in-person or virtual recruitment is best:

“Being on my laptop for hours was a bit of an adjustment,” Nelshoppen said.

“Personally, I would choose virtual over in-person recruitment,” Anderson said. “But it is important for girls to have the experience of walking into each chapter’s room for the first time and talk face-to-face.”

Like many events in the past year, student organizations like Belmont Panhellenic Council have been able to adapt to safer communication methods while engaging in university activities.

“I really enjoyed seeing how each chapter made the experience their own,” Anderson added. “The most fulfilling thing about recruitment is being able to see these women find their true homes.”