Aug. 11-16, 2018, marked this year’s largest sorority recruitment for Auburn University with 859 out-of-state women and 807 Alabama residents participating.
At recruitment kickoff, the girls were told about 90 percent of them would receive a bid, while the other 10 percent would either be released or would eventually withdraw from the process.
This year 88 percent of the 1,645 women participating received a bid. The percent of women who withdrew was between 10-11 percent, and 2 percent were released.
The amount of women receiving bids this year was 1,458, with roughly 54 percent of that group out-of-state and about 46 percent in-state.
In the group of women who withdrew, 95 were out-of-state and 96 in-state, and for those released, 60 percent were out of state and 40 percent in state.
About 85 women signed up for continuous open bidding, making the COB list of interested participants estimated to be 300.
Some participants feel as though they faced harsher cuts because they do not have as many connections.
Other girls feel as though maybe they did not fit a certain mold the sororities were looking for.
“Sometimes it just kind of depends. Chapters have the opportunity to invite back whoever they want, so they get to invite back a certain number, and whoever they decide to invite back, they invite back. There really is no rhyme or reason to it. It’s just up to the chapter to invite back whoever they want that round,” said Lindsay Ollis, Panhellenic advisor, in regards to why and how cuts are made.
Rumors about chapters having a set list of girls they plan on giving bids to tend to rise frequently during recruitment.
“I would say that is definitely a rumor,” Ollis said. “All our chapters keep an open mind during recruitment. Sure, there might be some legacies coming through that they know they are going to give bids to, maybe a sister. For the most part, all of our chapters keep an open mind to meeting all of our potential new members.”
Despite all the rumors and withdrawals, the majority of participants pledged one of the 18 Panhellenic sororities Auburn has to offer.
Since Bid Day 2018, girls have been buying apparel with their letters on it, getting their outfits ready for upcoming swaps and socials and bonding with their new sisters. College life has become sorority life for those women.
In the 88 percent that found their new home, Grace Plagge accepted a bid from Sigma Sigma Sigma and is loving it.
“I liked that they wanted me, and I wanted them,” Plagge said. “It is nice to have a place to belong, and they have been really welcoming. They want us all to get to know each other, and on bid day, we went bowling together. They are doing their best to get us all involved even though we aren’t initiated yet.”
Plagge is an out-of-state, fourth-generation Auburn student from Maryland. She barely knew anyone at Auburn beside her twin brother, so joining a sorority has given her a home away from home.
“I did find a few a girls in (Sigma Sigma Sigma) who (were) from the same place as me, and my bid day buddy from from southern Maryland like me,” Plagge said. “Coming from out of state I would highly recommend doing a sorority because it is a great way to get involved.”
So far Plagge has not found her life as a new sorority member overwhelming and leaves time to get involved with other aspects of campus life.
“I don’t think it has been overbearing. I thought it would be more of a time commitment,” Plagge said. “The days I go to the sorority events gave me something to do instead of being in my dorm. I have enjoyed it because for the fall, as of right now, I just have sorority events but am thinking about other clubs. I will be doing athletic management in the spring.”
One new member of Kappa Delta is Lady Frances Hamilton. She has had nothing but a positive experience, especially from their new member retreat and making lots of friends.
“We got to go to the lake and just be goofy with our friends that we have started to make,” she aid. “I just got to hang out and get to know girls I have not really had a chance to yet. The weather was awesome. We ate Taco Mama, and it was just a chill day.”
After making all her new friends, Hamilton said that walking around campus and seeing other Kappa Delta women “makes Auburn feel smaller.”
For one potential new member who went through recruitment and withdrew, Auburn life looks a little different.
Claire, PNM who is an Alabama resident, discussed what her Auburn lifestyle looks like post recruitment.
“I got involved with Emerge and with a club for my major, which is global studies. I am excited at about it,” she said.
Claire also mentioned she is still very open to joining a sorority, even though she left on her own will, and has signed up for COB.
She wants to do COB to meet new people and learn more about the sororities she was dropped by early.
It is not uncommon for a PNM to be dropped by a lot of sororities early on in the process.
“It is more common not to receive a full schedule, and I know that is shocking to some people, but it is more common for you to get a not-full schedule than it is for you to get a full schedule back in any round of recruitment,” Ollis said.
Besides those who pledged or withdrew, the smallest group is the PNMs who were released, meaning all 18 sororities did not invite them back at any given time or they did not receive a bid due to not maximizing their options.
Mary Lamar Dudley falls in the 2 percent category of girls who were released after being strongly encouraged by a family member to go through recruitment.
Dudley was released after attending the philanthropy round. She said she “really did not care about it [being released] so much” because after going through it, she realized it just wasn’t for her.
Dudley is planning on getting involved with other organizations and clubs in her pre-vet/animal sciences major. Also, going through recruitment helped her make new friends.
“I still talk to two girls from my Pi Chi group,” she said.
Women who have gone through recruitment have varying opinions on what comes next, but students involved with Panhellenic are happy they joined a sisterhood.
Editor’s note: Claire ‘s last name was omitted because she did not want her involvement with this story to affect her future endeavors within Panhellenic at Auburn University.
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