General Info | FAQs | Helpful Definitions

Recruitment Information:

Before Recruitment(formerly known as Rush), Panhellenic will host a sign up table on campus & the three sororities will host information tables to answer any questions you may have. Most of your questions will be answered during this time, but following is some information to give you an idea of what will happen.

There are, typically, three days of Recruitment that all three sororities will participate in. The first two days are open for anyone signed up for Recruitment and are for you to get to know the sororities & for the sororities to get to know you. You will attend three parties thrown by the three sororities for the first two nights. The last night is called Preference & is by invitation only. If you receive invitations from all three sororities, you will have to choose only two parties to attend. Directly after Preference you will fill out a card listing your top two sorority choices. Suicide bidding, or writing down only one sorority choice, is highly frowned upon &a could hurt your chances of getting into a sorority. The next day is Bid Day, where you may* receive a bid by only one sorority. There will then be a period of silence where the sororities are unable to speak to you so that you may make your own decision to accept the bid. Once the period of silence is done, the fun begins! Good luck!

FAQs:

Q. When is Recruitment?
A. The University of La Verne has two Recruitment periods, in the Fall & Spring semesters. ULV has Deferred Recruitment, meaning Formal Recruitment isn't held until the Spring semester. To be eligible to go through Recruitment in the Fall, you must have completed at least 12 units in college. First year Freshman are ineligible to go through Recruitment during the Fall.

Q. What am I being judged on?
A. First, you are not being judged. Recruitment is NOT a beauty contest! It is a time for gathering information to make a very important decision in your life. The sorority members are trying to get to know you as a person. You, in turn, should also get to know them as much as possible. If you accept a bid, you're going to be spending a lot of time with these girls during & after college!

Q. What should I expect at the parties?
A. The three sororities host different parties each year, with different themes & activities. The first two nights are usually developed by each sorority to show you what they are all about, to give you information. The members will also talk with you to find out who you are. Just remember that this isn't an interview - you are choosing a sorority that best fits you just as much as they are choosing new members.

Q. How should I dress?
A. Although you are not being critiqued on how you dress, it is important to look nice since the sorority members do their best to look nice for you, too. The first two nights are casual/dressy. A way to describe this would be to dress like you're going on a first or second date. The third night, Preference, is more dressy as most of the sorority members will be in dressy/formal dresses. Nice dresses are highly recommended.

Q. What if I don't get into the sorority I really want?
A. This is a tough question to answer. You have to keep in mind that each sorority can only take a certain amount of new members each semester. The sororities must make very difficult decisions & sometimes it means that girls they want to extend membership to don't get a bid. If you absolutely know the sorority you want, try again the next semester or go through COB. Talk to the members of the sorority & let them know how much you are interested in being a member. Honesty will go a long way.

Q. How do I know if a sorority will continue to COB after Recruitment?
A. Usually, if a sorority will not be at House Total after taking Quota they will most likely COB after Recruitment. It is most common to COB directly after Recruitment so that all the new members begin their pledge period together. If you're not sure if a sorority will COB, contact their Vice President of Membership.

Q. Is there sorority housing?
A. Currently there is no sorority housing. It is very common for members to live together and rent houses or apartments off campus.

Q. When I join, will I have time to study & do other activities outside the sorority?
A. Sigma Kappa encourages its sisters to study. We help by teachng time management skills, having a tutor program & rewarding those sisters that achieve high grades and good scores on papers & exams. Sigma Kappa also encourages participation in outside activites. We believe that, in order to become a well-rounded woman, you have to participate in activities outside the sorority. Many of our sisters are in sports & other clubs/organizations on campus.

Helpful Definitions:

Active - Term no longer used - now "Initiated Member."

Alumna - A member of a sorority that has graduated college.

Bid - An invitation of membership to a sorority.

Chapter - A National sorority's local name. The ULV Sigma Kappa chapter is Theta Beta & is one of over 100 chapters in the US.

COB - Continuous Open Bidding. The sororities are able to extend bids during the semester, if they are still under house total.

House - Another word for sorority.

House Total - The total number of members each sorority is able to have. House total at ULV is 60 members.

Initiated Member - Formerly known as "Active." A current member of a sorority that has participated in initiation.

New Member - Formerly known as "Pledge." A member of a sorority that has not yet been initiated.

Panhellenic - The governing body of all the sororities on campus. Panhellenic puts together Recruitment & oversees the process with rules put together by the National Panhellenic Council.

Period of Silence - A set period of time, usually two days, where after passing out bids the sorority members and potential new members are not allowed to talk. This is done so that potential members may decide on their own whether joining a sorority is right for them.

Potential New Member - Formerly known as "Rushee." Any woman signed up for Recruitment.

Quota - The number of potential members each sorority is able to extend membership to. This number is usually the total number of women signed up for Recruitment, divided by the number of sororities on campus. If there were 30 women going through Recruitment, quota would most likely be 10.

Recruitment - Formerly known as "Rush." A set period of time, usually a week, where sororities may extend membership to other women.

*Going through Recruitment does not automatically ensure that you will be extended a bid to a sorority. Panhellenic makes every effort to place all the women that want to join a sorority, but there are instances where there is simply no match. This happens with all three sororities as we all adhere to Panhellenic rules & regulations.