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Weekend 2: This weekend is easier than last weekend, but still pretty intense. The chapter hosts 8 parties on Saturday for Sisterhood Round and 5 parties on Sunday for Preference Round. Because this chapter is new to recruitment, we also have a mock recruitment party on Friday night. 30 KD sisters from St. Louis University troop down to Washington University to let our chapter practice recruitment on them.
Round 3: Sisterhood Round. The PNMs attend 4 parties today in groups of 25-30. The chapter hosts 8 parties today.
The horrible stomach bug has run its course through the chapters and PNMs, so this weekend we don’t have any puking recruiters or PNMs to contend with. On the other hand, it decides snow like crazy for about an hour. It’s warm, so it’s not sticking, and it changes over to rain, but the PNMs are getting a little wet traveling from party to party.
We are in a smaller room in the Danforth University Center today; the chapter has chosen an “Emerald City” theme for this round. I’m sort of cringing about it, because so many chapters do Wizard of Oz parties and so many of them end up being cheesy. This party is gorgeous and way more sophisticated than anything we did when I was a collegian, though. The chapter has black tablecloths with shiny, emerald green “city” centerpieces. The decorations also include gold table decorations and small signs that say “Welcome to the Emerald City.” One of the chapter members painted super fabulous “Wizard of Oz” themed letters for table decorations.
The chapter members are wearing emerald green dresses or black skirts/pants with emerald green shirts. They all look fabulous and their look is very unified with the room decorations, without being too matchy-matchy or cheesy. The general impression is something more serious and grown-up than last week, even though the theme didn’t initially strike me as “serious” or “grown up.”
After greeting the PNMS and talking with them for awhile, the chapter sings a song and shows a video. The video includes footage of our chapter doing things and video of our chapter members talking about sisterhood. When the PNMs walk in, a picture of the chapter in front of Brookings Hall is projected on the video screen with the caption “There’s No Place Like Home.”
We can’t begin to fit all of our members in the Formal Lounge, so the rest of the chapter is in a nearby room making name tags and arranging flower centerpieces for Preference Round. Our CAB president bought a huge box of flowers from a wholesale florist and now it is being turned into gorgeous centerpieces. The best white roses are also being cleaned up and decorated with ribbons for the preference ceremony.
The alums are also making dozens of sandwiches for lunch in between rounds. While I’m making sandwiches, I talk with two collegians about law school, one collegian about internships, and one collegian about skipping internships. Yay for alumnae advising!
Recruitment is going well for the chapter. Return rates improved from the last round to this round; recruitment is definitely getting easier for this chapter with practice and experience. Many of their rush crushes returned and they’ve developed a few new rush crushes in Round 2 and Round 3. Some PNMs have grown on them a lot during this round.
The chapter has another long day, because they will have a membership selection session after the last party and dinner.
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