Informal Recruitment: Why?

[ASTalumna06]

I sat behind a girl in my meteorology class the first semester of my sophomore year. She wore an AST jacket, with huge letters on the back of it, almost every day. It was kind of hard to avoid looking at it. She was very outgoing, became close with the professor (not THAT close!) and would always help people around her when working on group projects/packets for labs. One day, I asked her, "What's Alpha Sigma Tau all about?" and of course she was excited. I found out later that she was friends with my friend KJ, a Delta Chi. So now the two of them were talking about getting me to join, without my knowing.

The following semester, that sister ended up transferring to another Penn State campus, and my thought of sororities had kind of dwindled to nothing. Out of sight, out of mind. But little did I know, KJ talked to another sister about me. This sister lived and breathed Alpha Sigma Tau. I think everyone on campus, including myself, knew her as "The Girl in Green." KJ introduced me to her, and she was really nice and friendly. She would approach me in the campus cafe and talk to me whenever possible. One day, she asked me to come to a recruitment event. Not too keen about the idea, I said, "Yea, I might be able to make it.." which was a lie. I had nothing to do that night, but the thought of walking into a room, by myself, with 15 girls I didn't know wasn't exactly my idea of a good time.

Another day, the sister asked me if I wanted to attend the recruitment party that night. I said I'd try to make it. She asked me, "If you want, I can meet you at your dorm and walk there with you." At that point, I figured why not, and I gave her my phone number. She called me that night when she was outside my building, and we went to the party together. I remember we watched 'Friends' that night, and just ate and talked. I went to a few more recruitment events after that, but I honestly couldn't even remember what we did. I can only recall the first one, probably because of the "special attention" I received.

If that sister hadn't walked with me to the event, I never would have joined. Remember that sometimes, all the wonderful events and great conversation skills won't get girls to your parties. Pay special attention to potential members, and remember how uncomfortable informal recruitment situations can be for them.