Dartmouth Sorority Refuses To Participate In Formal Recruitment, Because Formal Recruitment Sucks

In my mind, the term “love/hate relationship” was inspired by one thing: recruitment. I love it because it’s fun to meet new people, get matching t-shirts, and scream/sing. I hate it because meeting the new people is done in a tightly controlled, slightly phony environment; I already have 8563 t-shirts, and I’m so exhausted by the end that I’m lucky if I can remember the words to recruitment songs, much less say them out loud.

Like most things we have a love/hate relationship with, we soldier on, sucking it up, putting a smile on our faces, and taking the good with the bad. But what if you could just quit recruitment? And I don’t mean just drop out as a PNM or not show up as a sister – what if your entire chapter just said “screw this” and didn’t do it anymore?

That’s what Sigma Delta at Dartmouth has reportedly done. In an announcement by the campus’ Panhellenic Council on Monday, it was announced that the local sorority has decided that they will no longer participate in formal recruitment, joining the other local on campus, Epsilon Kappa Theta, who stopped participating in Fall 2014. These two chapters will instead participate in a “shake out” process (whatever the hell that means).

Logistically, this is how it will work, according to the school’s newspaper, The Dartmouth:

PNMs will be allowed to both participate in formal recruitment and shake-out at Sigma Delta and Epsilon Kappa Theta. Sigma Delt will extend between 10 and 20 bids to women through the process this term. Bids can be accepted or declined by PNMs until 10 p.m. on preference night, Jan. 19, at which point they must drop out of formal recruitment if they wish to accept a Sigma Delt bid.

The Dartmouth also said that Sigma Delta released a statement that highlighted four key points in its decision not to participate in formal recruitment, including “criticisms of Panhell’s current recruitment process including alleged lack of agency for PNMs, bias against “shy and introverted personalities” and bias towards PNMs who already know affiliated women.”

Mmm, interesting. I don’t necessarily think Sigma Delta’s criticisms are wrong, but I wonder how successful they will be by not participating in formal recruitment. Stay tuned.

[via The Dartmouth]

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