http://www.alligator.org/edit/news/i...30825rush.html
Sororities see largest turnout yet
By Claudia Adrien
Alligator Writer
MEGAN V. WINSLOW / ALLIGATOR STAFF
Just seconds before Rush participants open their recruitment invitations, an unidentified "streaker" prances across Norman Field to the dismay of police officers and the delight of the crowd.
Months of planning and a grueling week of sorority recruitment ended abruptly Sunday evening when envelopes were torn open and excitement swelled to screams and tears.
Some of the girls balanced cell phones as they excitedly called friends to find out which house each got bids from, while others sauntered away resigned to the idea that they weren't in the house of their choosing.
Throughout the pandemonium, the women zigzagged the field gravitating toward balloons held by different sorority members.
The moment was the culmination of Panhellenic Recruitment Week, which members say had a turnout that exceeded expectations. Three hundred more women than last year attended the weeklong recruitment – a number that officials attribute to increased advertising and higher UF enrollment.
This year's last day of recruitment called Bid Day included Bob Marley's music, a scantily clad man and 900 women dashing across Norman Field – all in 20 minutes time.
"It's so exciting to see them [new recruits] a part of what we have now," said wildlife conservation junior Elizabeth Merchant, a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority.
As the new sorority women made their walks, skips or runs, building construction senior Trent Gornton played Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" on a stereo for the recruits who cried at the news. He and several friends have met for two years to watch Bid Day, partly for entertainment and partly just to hang out.
"My friends and I hope to have functions with sororities," he said, slightly smiling, knowing the unrealistic probability of the suggestion.
Despite the excitement, by 6:45 p.m. "they were all gone," said Katie Vandenberg, a Pi Beta Phi Sorority member, who came to watch new members officially become a part of her sorority. She said it was amazing that hundreds of onlookers could clear the area so quickly.
The only male participants during Recruitment Week surrounded Norman Field on Sunday along with hundreds of students who watched 900 women wearing fashionable dresses open their bid cards, which are thick pieces of card stock that will be pressed onto scrapbook pages for years to come.
But lovely turned outrageous when UF student Todd C. Maxwell ran across the field wearing a jock strap, a hockey mask, and a blue winter cap.
Minutes earlier, Student Body President Kyle Jones, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, had said he hoped Panhellenic wouldn't have a streaker this year as they did in 2001.
UPD Lt. Nicholas Vellis said Maxwell, who was arrested shortly after his dash, faces first degree misdemeanor charges.
But overall, sorority recruitment was "without problems," said Vellas, adding that Panhellenic Council makes UPD feel appreciated. "You feel like you're doing something worthwhile."
Panhellenic recruitment began Aug. 17 when more than 1,500 women interested in sorority life met for orientation in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom where, despite the large venue, there was standing room only.
Freshman Allie Slavens came prepared and with hopes of making it into the same sorority that her grandmothers and aunts were in.
She understood it may not be possible to earn a spot in the few houses she desired most, but the casually dressed Slavens said she has a few others in mind to learn about.
"I'm really open to everything, even though I have a few narrow choices," said Slavens, who added it would be inappropriate to say which houses she would like to join.
Terri Porter, Panhellenic Council president, said she believes the number of potential recruits was up because of better advertising during UF Preview, including more informative and visually appealing Greek life publications.
The council also advertised a redesigned Web site where potential members had to register for a $55 fee.
"This year's recruitment process is more comfortable too," Porter said.
Retaining potential members throughout the week's activities meant offering more conveniences, the sociology senior said. For dinner, potential members had pizza donated by Domino's Pizza. Buses transported people from the parking garage to Sorority Row.
This year a lounge in Norman Hall also was accessible to recruits so they could take a quick break by "sitting in air-conditioning" and not "talking to anyone," said Erica Gomez, PC executive vice president.
Panhellenic Counselors, or Pi Chis, helped 50 groups of 30 women navigate recruitment, answering questions and supporting recruits during the hectic seven days.
Throughout the week, the 100 Pi Chis set their alarms daily for 6 a.m., but preparations for this one-week event began at the start of Spring semester when all were required to take a two-credit class on women's Greek leadership.
A hotel stay for the Pi Chis along with the courtesy buses and access to the Reitz Union totaled $30,000 – all paid for by PC.
Having Pi Chis stay in the hotel, rather than at home, helps recruitment organization and it assists in disaffiliating them from their particular sororities, Porter said.
Pi Chis only are known to recruits by their first name because officials don't want potential members to be influenced by current sorority members, especially those helping throughout the week, she said.
The Pi Chis donned signature orange and blue hats and each day became one big party.
The three rounds of recruitment plus a fourth round called preferentials are divided by a series of parties held so potential members can visit chapter houses. If recruits miss even one party, they forfeit recruitment week.
As they make their way through the process, sorority members select their favorite candidates and recruits select their favorite houses, then the process is done entirely by computer, Porter said. Because several hundred women participate in recruitment, parties can last from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
There are 16 sorority houses to visit and 1,500-plus women who want to be houseguests so get-to-know-you-chats are precisely timed.
"Literally by the second," Gomez said.
All Pi Chis and chapter liaisons carried stopwatches timed succinctly, she said.
The reorganized recruits sat Wednesday under tents along Sorority Row, fanning themselves, applying make-up and adjusting skirts.
Each round has a suggested dress code from casual to semi-formal, so high school homecoming dresses were dusted-off for Saturday's preferentials.
First impressions mattered for current sorority women as well. Cut grass adjoined crisp, just-spread mulch at each house.
"It's a mutual decision," Gomez said.
Sororities enticed potential members at parties with "anything from painting flowerpots, to making sock puppets," she said.
The chapters also involved potential members in their adopted philanthropic activities. One sorority used their activity to support the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine.
One house stood miles apart from the rest, literally. Chartered in 2002, Delta Zeta used Alpha Tau Omega's fraternity house for recruitment purposes because they do not have a house on Sorority Row.
"More women have been retained throughout the week's recruitment process," said Porter, amounting to a 5 percent increase from last year.
The hot, wet Florida weather was bothersome for some recruits, one was so annoyed by the heat that she brought a portable hand-fan, Gomez said.
"Unfortunately, it got stuck in her hair," she said.
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