As fall quarter begins, freshmen will settle into their residence halls, befriend fellow WOWies, have their first deeply unsatisfying campus meals and many will consider getting involved in greek life.
If you’re contemplating becoming a part of the greek community at Cal Poly, the first thing to do is sign up for recruitment.
“I’d say give it a shot, you know, if anything else, it can’t hurt to come out to rush and see for yourself what greek life is like and what it has to offer,” mechanical engineering senior and Interfraternity Council (IFC) president Alex Campbell said.
Panhellenic recruitment (for sororities), and IFC recruitment (for fraternities), are run very differently. Relative to sorority rush, fraternity rush is much less formal.
During the third week, IFC hosts a rush kickoff barbecue. All houses will be represented on Dexter Lawn, and prospective members can meet people from different houses and get their schedules for the week, which are also posted on the IFC website.
“From then on it’s pretty informal,” Campbell said. “You go to the events you want to go to and the ones that interest you, and you can bounce around between houses. It’s a lot less structured than a sorority rush; it’s much more informal.”
For sorority recruitment, Panhellenic Council president and business administration senior Kristen Henry said the best way to get involved is to sign up beforehand. Registration will open online on Sept. 1.
“If you already know that you want to go through recruitment, then that would be the first step that you would need to take,” Henry said, “and then that’s going to sign you up, give you all the instructions for the forms you need to fill out, all the dates that are involved, when the education sessions are offered, the orientation, all of those dates.”
Students thinking of going through sorority recruitment will also have an opportunity to interact with women from each sorority at the Week of Welcome club showcase on Sept. 20.
“People will be there to answer your questions, Panhellenic will have a booth set up to answer any questions about recruitment as a process or what greek life is kind of like on our campus,” Henry said.
Henry said it is important to keep an open mind when going through recruitment.
“If it works out, great, and if you decide it’s not for you after learning more about it, then that’s great also, but just keep an open mind,” Henry said. “You’re going to meet a ton of really wonderful women from all different houses and learn about everybody’s sisterhood, so definitely go in ready to learn and ready to keep an open mind.”
Both leaders thanked greek life for the opportunities it granted them.
“I never thought I’d join greek life, and I gave it a shot and it’s been one of the best experiences I’ve had in my college career,” Campbell said.