A large quantity of Depauw students are part of Greek life, including me, and in order to be a part of such organizations, students must go through the recruitment process. I have personally gone through the recruitment process twice: once as a first-year going in and secondly as a sophomore within a house. While both experiences were different, they provoked the same emotions. For numerous reasons, I have conflicted feelings about recruitment, and I will share these reasons with all of you.
Recruitment used to take place the weekend after classes started for spring semester, beginning on that first Thursday. This brought a lot of stress for my first-year self because I was in the middle of figuring out my new classes, and I had to begin the recruitment process in the midst of it all. Recruitment is a long and tiring process. In my opinion, the first round is the most exhausting because you go to all of the sorority houses on campus and speak with three different affiliated members. Most conversations include what activities you're involved in, what your major is, or what you like to do with your free time. Sometimes there were other random questions about your favorite Netflix show or your spirit animal. Either way, the experiences you have at each house almost blend together with the similarity of questions. However, it is possible to create a connection with one or more of the ladies you talk with, and I believe that wholeheartedly. What I do not believe is that these quick conversations define you as a person. I do not believe that each house has enough information about your personality to decide whether or not your are a viable candidate to join their house. Now having experience on the other side, I feel the same way. Each woman I talked to was spectacular in their own way, yet I did not feel as if I knew them at all. I only knew a few things about them. Although this is true in many cases, I still had to vote at the end of the day. This was hard for me both as a first-year and as a sophomore.
During my first year, I felt like I was being judged. I felt like whatever I was wearing would say something either positive or negative about me. I felt pressured to sound like the ultimate Depauw student just to seem interesting enough for every house. Sophomore year I felt like it was necessary to judge the participant’s first impressions in order to decipher whether they would be a good fit for our house or not. I loved when other people in the house knew the girls well. I trusted their instinct of them and whether or not they would positively affect the house. However, this was only the case for a few women participating. As a result, I felt the same pressure as the year before. I felt distraught in the process, and as if it were unreliable and unfair for all who were participating.
Recruitment is now the weekend before classes which is even more stressful because of abroad trips and trying to get back to campus so quickly. The process is stressful, it can be devastating, and, in my opinion, it is unfair. It is unfair for most of the women to be questioned and evaluated over a short period of time. It is a waiting game, a popularity contest, an exam that you may never be passed. Do not get me wrong, I love my sorority. I love the friendships I have made and the opportunities that have arisen for me, but my heart goes out for those who felt unfairly judged by the process or taken advantage of. Why vote? Why not accept every woman for their quirks and interests and let them decide which house would make them happiest since they do indeed know themselves better than anybody else. My only hope is that the process could change for the future and become more of an accepting and open affair, rather than a closed-off ballot. My last words will be this: remember that recruitment does not define you as a person or indicate your self worth by any means.