Registration for Clemson’s annual Panhellenic recruitment closed Aug. 4 with a record-breaking sum of 1,947 potential new members, composed of first and second-year female Clemson students.
Clemson’s Panhellenic Association, with 13 current sororities and one chapter chartering this year, boasts an experience of sisterhood, leadership and philanthropy for its members. Clemson’s Panhellenic Association’s goal is to promote “love beyond letters” in the Greek community on campus, according to the organization’s Instagram.
According to its mission statement, the Clemson Panhellenic Association aims “to inspire, empower, and create women leaders by providing opportunities for both personal and professional development.” This mission also carries a vision “to see every woman lead without limitations.”
For over 3,000 Clemson Panhellenic women, average new member dues are $441 per semester and average initiated member dues are $784 per semester. There is also an additional Fraternity and Sorority Life fee. More information about membership costs is outlined in the chapter financial cards on the Clemson Panhellenic website.
Clemson Panhellenic hosts a week of recruitment with a mutual selection process every year before the academic year begins.
Most sororities will spend three to four days preparing for these recruitment events during “work week,” a week set aside to prepare for PNMs and the fall semester’s rush. As “RushTok” continues to rise in popularity, work week activities, costumes and dances are shared with the internet on TikTok by schools with large Greek life presences, including the University’s own chapters.
Across social media platforms, videos of sisters dancing and singing along to popular TikTok sounds have amassed thousands of likes.
Some of work week’s common themes at Clemson this year include “Can’t wait to squeeze you,” showcasing lemon-inspired looks, and “(Insert sorority) at work,” inspiring outfits accessorized with bright colored construction vests and tools.
Some sororities took on less common themes, such as Alpha Phi’s, “Me? An APHI? Shut up!” inspired by “The Princess Diaries” series or Kappa Kappa Gamma’s “Kamp Kappa” theme. Delta Gamma also hosted a “Lucky me, I’m a DG” theme for the first day of work week.
Following work week, Clemson’s recruitment process commenced. This process is split into four rounds: open house, philanthropy, sisterhood and preference.
Supporting the PNMs throughout the process are dedicated Pi Chis, or recruitment counselors. These women are active members of various sororities who disassociated from their chapters with the intention of supporting younger girls during recruitment. They complete eight months of training to fill this role.
The formal recruitment process unofficially started Tuesday, Aug. 12, with PNM move-in. Wednesday, Aug. 13, was the official first day of rush at Clemson, which starts with convocation and open houses. This first day is reserved for PNM orientation and round one videos.
PNMs are required to make authentic personal videos to share with all chapters. Each chapter will also create a video to represent the values it stands for. Voting after this round is where PNMs and chapters will make mutual selections for the parties that each PNM will attend the next day.
Round two, philanthropy, is split across two days, where each PNM will have the opportunity to meet with a maximum of 10 chapters. Dress code is simple: PNMs are required to wear their Panhellenic t-shirt, and are encouraged to wear comfortable shorts or skirts. This round is a time when each chapter gets to share the philanthropic cause that is close to their heart.
For Chi Omega, this important cause is Make-A-Wish. Members of Chi Omega raise money for their philanthropy through hosting Swishes for Wishes — a basketball tournament — every fall, and Wings for Wishes — a wing-eating competition — each spring.
Delta Zeta supports many hearing-related organizations, such as the Starkey Hearing Foundation, the American Society for Deaf Children and SeriousFun Children’s Network. Locally, they support the Meyer Center in Greenville, South Carolina, which assists children with various disabilities or special needs.
This round is again followed by mutual selection voting by both PNMs and sororities to determine which parties each PNM visits in the following days.
During the sisterhood round, each PNM attends a maximum of six, 35-minute parties. This round again is split between two days, Aug. 16 and 17. Clemson Panhellenic encourages a dressy casual attire, according to their guidebook.
Alpha Delta Pi boasts an opportunity to build lifetime friendships. The sorority’s motto is “we live for each other,” which they achieve by hosting events such as the $5 Prom, Mallard Ball and ADPisland. They have called one of the floors in Barnett Hall home since 1965.
Before the final round, each PNM must narrow down their list to just two sororities.
Round four, preference, is where PNMs attend parties for the two sororities they find to be the best match. The parties are 45 minutes long, and classy cocktail attire is expected. This round provides an opportunity for the most meaningful conversations in the entire rush process.
Before bid day, PNMs will either sign the Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement, MRABA, or withdraw from recruitment. In this form, they will list the top two sororities from which they would be willing to accept a membership bid. Each PNM hoping to run home to one of their top-choice sororities the following day signs the form.
The commitment of signing an MRABA lasts a full calendar year, from August to August, meaning that once the contract has been signed, a woman interested in Greek life cannot join another sorority besides the one that offers her a bid.
If a PNM chooses to withdraw, she will still have the opportunity to participate in Continuous Open Bidding, COB. Not all sororities participate in this process, but all have the opportunity to do so if their membership is below the predetermined chapter total. COB is a more casual process in which each sorority chooses how to connect with PNMs, according to the Potential New Member Guide.
A silent period occurs in the timeframe between the preference round and the distribution of bids, where there is no contact between PNMs and sorority members.
The final day of recruitment, Tuesday, Aug. 19, is bid day. The Panhellenic community gathers on the Upper Intramural Fields to distribute bids around midday. Many chapters host off-campus activities following this event. On this day, PNMs pledge themselves to the new member process for their sorority.
Alpha Omicron Pi is chartering a new chapter this fall and will hold separate recruitment events. Their philanthropy round is set to be held on Sept. 3, followed by the sisterhood round on Sept. 4 and an invite-only preference round on Sept. 5. They will also hold interviews throughout the week for potential new members. Clemson AOII’s first bid day is scheduled for Sept. 7.
Any interested women should visit the Clemson AOII Instagram page for more information.
