Panhellenic Recruitment

Interested In Joining A Sorority?

Panhellenic chapters participate in two types of recruitment throughout the academic year - Formal Recruitment, occurring each January, and Continuous Open Bidding (COB), an informal recruitment process that can occur throughout the semester.

Regardless of recruitment type, first-semester, first-year students are unable to join a social Greek-lettered organization. Any first-year student interested in joining an Panhellenic sorority will need to register and participate in deferred recruitment during the spring semester.

All recruitment and New Member-related events and activities are substance-free environments. Please be aware - new members are required to complete educational training opportunities regarding Hazing Prevention, Bystander Intervention, and Hosting Events with Alcohol.

 

Formal Recruitment

Annually every January, students may participate in the formal recruitment process to join a PHC sorority. Students must register in order to participate in formal recruitment. There is no cost to register for recruitment.

Once a student registers for recruitment, they need to participate in the Recruitment 101 and 102 programs. This program is mandatory and an important aspect of the recruitment process. During both sessions, the recruitment team will review the recruitment schedule, chapter events, guidelines and policies, chapter information, GPA requirements and dues. 

During formal recruitment in January, PNMs participate in a series of events over the course of two weekends that allow PNMs to meet each chapter, and learn about philanthropy and sisterhood. Then PNMs may be invited to closed events before Bid Day. Each PNM is assigned a recruitment guide who they can meet with throughout the process for advice and guidance. 

Each PHC sorority has a new member program that occurs prior to initiation—the time varies between one and five weeks. The University of Richmond requires that new member periods cannot last longer than five weeks.

Informal Recruitment

Informal recruitment, also called continuous open bidding (COB) can occur during the fall semester or spring semester (after formal recruitment). First-year students may not participate in COB in the fall semester.

COB is a very informal process that sororities use to take in new members. When a sorority holds COB, they simply contact a PNM on their own and hold a series of informal events to get to know them better. Each chapter does it differently. Some might go to dinner with a potential member. Some chapters might hold a ‘board game night’ and invite potential members to attend.