Nothing about this year is normal; classes and RSO’s are no different and for the most part, online. So how does one aspect of college life, specifically Greek life, adapt to the new normal? 

Maria Luo, a junior and a pre-vet animal science major, participated in this year’s rush for a sorority on campus. She saw an ad for online rushing in a Facebook group she was in and decided why not? From there she was added to an additional group to receive more information.

Luo filled out an application and sent a two-minute video about herself, along with a $5 for the application.

From there she was placed into the hands of a Rho Gamma, where she guides new potential members through the rushing process. The Rho Gamma answered questions about the process, outfits needed for different Zoom meetings and gave reassurance to candidates when needed.

After all the sororities saw every potential candidate’s videos, Luo’s Rho Gamma then showed a video of every sorority on campus to decide which sororities she would be interested in and which sororities she was not interested in.

“So, every group submits their own separate video and that’s how we get a gage of what each place’s vibe is kind of like and that’s kind of literally the only thing we have to really go off of what sorority we think we would be placed in. So, it’s not super thorough in a lot of ways that in-person experience of like […] from the video you don’t get as much as you would get from meeting in person,” said Luo.

The next step for Luo was to meet with sororities that were interested in her for an entire day. Her Rho Gamma would preface what was to come and send her all the zoom links. 

However, Luo was working a job at Whole Foods while having to juggle class and wasn’t sure if she could make the meetings. If she didn’t make the meetings, there was the possibility of her not completing recruitment. Fortunately, she was able to get part of the day off and she was able to meet with two of her three choices.  

With every house that she met with, each meeting was set differently. In her Zoom meeting with Sigma Sigma Sigma, she talked with two different sisters within 45 minutes to see if she would fit in their house or a different house. 

In her Zoom meetings with Iota Gamma Upsilon, it was more laid back and casual. “IGU did it differently than Tri Sig, which is, again, emphasis of [how] it’s not like a specific pattern, each group does their own thing,” said Luo. Her conversation with IGU was much more casual and flowed a lot easier.

Luo said, “A big thing that these sorority girls emphasize and what your Rho Gamma emphasizes is like you will know what house you fit in when you just feel comfortable, the conversation’s easy, when you know you can be yourself.”

In her second round of conversations, IGU wanted to speak with her again and try to impress her and she talked with even more sisters. The next day she would receive a bid from IGU to which she accepted.

Overall Luo said that the process was organized really well, “I’m actually so impressed by how they put it all together because it was so stressful. There are so many layers to go through and so many girls to sort through and put into groups to make sure everyone got all the right information. It was clearly a lot of hard work and I’m genuinely very impressed because to do all this on Zoom is like stressful and you don’t know how it’s gonna come out.”

She goes on to say, “Everyone kept saying this is so weird, like sorry if we seem awkward because it’s so unnatural for them because everyone that’s gone through normal recruitment has done it a certain way and this is completely out of their element…for all the semesters and all the years they’ve been doing this they’ve never had to convert to an online thing.” 

Luo emphasizes how on top of the stress of applying, the houses are also stressed because they truly can’t display what they are like and what their values are.

“Overall they made it a very pleasant process even though it’s extremely intense and just demands a lot of time from you. They made it as smooth as possible and genuinely I would give them a round of applause,” said Luo. 

Follow Nicole on Twitter @NicoleBiagioni_ or email her at [email protected].