Ramapo’s sororities welcome new members

Women of Ramapo were welcomed home by their new sisters these past two weeks. Sororities within Ramapo’s College Panhellenic Council (CPH) held their spring formal recruitment week for any students interested in becoming part of one of the six organizations. This year, there were just under 70 potential new members (PNM) that met with the six sororities to find their best match.

The six sororities Ramapo’s CPH represent are Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Delta Phi Epsilon, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Sigma Sigma (Tri Sigma) and Theta Phi Alpha. According to senior and CPH president Angelina Reyes, “CPH, by definition, is the collegiate branch of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), which is the umbrella organization of 26 national and international sororities consisting of 26 sororities… NPC governs all of these social sororities and has a set of rules that standardize voting processes and general organizational procedures.”

Reyes, a sister of Sigma Delta Tau, worked hard in her year-long role to ensure recruitment runs smoothly, in addition to other duties, such as administering weekly meetings with the CPH executive board and sorority delegates, planning philanthropy events and working four hours a week in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. Her biggest role during recruitment weekend, which was held Feb. 3-5, was to oversee the entire process.

The recruitment process consists of three rounds that PNMs participate in: Sisterhood, Philanthropy and Preference. Each round is spread out over the weekend, and each sorority has its own themes and ceremonies performed during each stage.

During the Sisterhood round, every PNM is required to meet with all six organizations, Reyes said. After, they can decide on up to four sororities they would like to meet with in the Philanthropy round, where they learn about each sorority’s philanthropies and other financial information. Lastly, PNMs rank their top two sororities and meet with them in the Preference round, when “organizations allow PNMs an inside look at a ritual that encapsulates that specific org’s values and the overall feel of what it’s like to be in that org,” according to Reyes. 

“After this, another round of ranking occurs and then orgs and PNMs are matched for bids. We use a specific algorithmic program that matches PNMs to orgs for each round, which keeps the matching unbiased and fair,” she continued. “During this period, organizations are not allowed to promise bids to PNMs or recruit outside of these rounds. Each round is strictly timed down to the second, so that the process is as fair as possible across the board.”

Jessica Miller, junior and president of Tri Sigma, shared that its Sisterhood round was pirate-themed. Their Philanthropy round celebrated their philanthropy, The Tri Sig Foundation, as well as their partnerships with the Robbie Page Memorial Fund and the March of Dimes. During their Preference round, they held a ceremony “to share why [Tri Sigma] is such a special organization to us as sisters,” she said. 

Miller said that she chose her sorority because she “immediately felt at home” and identified with their philanthropy. Like her, many PNMs expressed interest in Tri Sigma because of its genuineness and small chapter size. 

Tri Sigma was happy to bring more members into its fold. Photo courtesy of Jessica Miller.

At the start of recruitment, Tri Sigma consisted of 22 women, and they recruited 11 new women. Taylor Gracey, junior and president of Sigma Delta Tau, said that they started with 31 members and recruited nine. The quota for bids this year was nine, so each sorority recruited between nine and 11 new members. 

Bid Day was held on the Monday after recruitment weekend, and all of the women have since been partaking in their new member process. This past week, each organization was required to go through a six-day dry new member process before their new members are officially initiated. 

Reyes, Miller and Gracey collectively shared that being part of Greek Life on campus is a special way to build community and purpose. They are excited to give the new CPH sisters the same experience. 

“Being in a sorority presents a lot of social, leadership and service opportunities, but it’s up to the individual to take it… people find friends that they wouldn’t have otherwise, they find a passion, they find themselves excelling professionally, academically, or both,” Reyes said. 

 

emelvin@ramapo.edu

Featured photo courtesy of Taylor Gracey