Joining a sorority is the choice of a
lifetime. Membership in a sorority opens the door to
new and exciting things during your college years
and beyond.
The decision to participate in sorority recruitment
is one that should be well thought out and
investigated. On the following pages, we hope you
are able to gather a thorough understanding of the
recruitment process and why the choice of a lifetime
lies in the decision to join ALPHA PHI.
The most common way to pledge a sorority is through
the formal recruitment period. Each college campus
with sororities has an organization called
Panhellenic – the governing body that organizes
activities including all sorority chapters. The
Panhellenic organizes the time and events that make
up formal recruitment.
Contact the Panhellenic Association or Greek Life
office at your college campus to find out exactly
when your next formal recruitment term will occur.
You can also visit the institution’s Web site to see
if it is available on their campus events calendar
or Panhellenic Web site.
Formal recruitment is held either early in fall term
or at the beginning of spring term. It serves as a
great way to kick off the start of a new school
year. Recruitment may even take place prior to the
beginning of classes for that term. Check with your
Panhellenic for exact dates and procedures.
Formal recruitment is not the only time of year that
offers the opportunity for sorority membership. On
occasions, sororities have the ability to pledge
women through continuous open bidding (COB). This
term defines the process of pledging during the time
outside of formal recruitment.
COB is less formal than the Panhellenic’s organized
recruitment period. A chapter may arrange a series
of events for a group of potential members to
attend, or you may find yourself on small outings
with chapter members. These outings may take place
at the chapter facility, on campus or within the
community.
Continuous open bidding is also known as continuous
open recruitment (COR) or may be referred to as
continuous recruitment (CR).
The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is the
body that governs 26 inter/national women’s
Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. The
Panhellenic Compact has been discussed and
agreed upon by all sororities. You can learn more
about NPC at www.npcwomen.org
The Panhellenic Compact
provides:
1.
A woman who is or who has ever been an
initiated member of an existing NPC fraternity shall
not be eligible for membership in another NPC
fraternity.
2.
To be eligible to pledge an NPC fraternity chapter
on the campus where a
woman is enrolled, she shall be regularly
matriculated according to the
definition of matriculation established by that
institution.
3.
No female student shall be asked to join an NPC
fraternity during any
school recess except during a formal membership
recruitment period and
the ensuing continuous open bidding held immediately
prior to an
academic term.
4.
A signed Membership Recruitment Acceptance or a
Continuous Open
Bidding Acceptance is binding. If a potential member
receives a bid
under the preference system, she is ineligible to be
pledged to any other NPC
fraternity on the same campus for one calendar year.
If a potential member
does not receive a bid under the preference system,
she is eligible for COB.
5.
Each College Panhellenic Council shall establish a
Bid Day to conclude the
formal membership recruitment period. A Bid Day is
the scheduled time
when invitations to membership are issued.
6.
A woman who has had her pledge broken by an NPC
fraternity, or who has
broken her pledge to an NPC fraternity, may not be
asked to join another
NPC fraternity on the campus for one calendar year
from the date she was
originally pledged. However, she may be repledged by
the same NPC
fraternity chapter at any time within that calendar
year.
7.
When a woman who has been pledged but not yet
initiated transfers to
another campus, her pledge is broken, and she is
eligible to pledge an NPC
fraternity on that campus at the earliest
opportunity.
Women who have been pledged but not yet initiated
into a chapter whose
charter has been rescinded or relinquished or of a
colony that has been
dissolved shall be eligible to pledge another NPC
fraternity immediately
following the official release by the NPC
fraternity.
