The Auburn Panhellenic Council and Auburn Greek Life have been closely monitoring the COVID-19 developments and its potential impact on our fall recruitment experience. We also reviewed recommendations from the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the governing body of the 26 member organization sororities, who recently released a Recruitment Contingencies Task Force Report encouraging the use of virtual and/or in-person recruitment with physical distancing guidelines. In collaboration with Greek Life, chapter leadership, advisors, campus partners, and NPC representatives, Auburn Panhellenic revised the recruitment format to enhance the safety of our community. As we await Auburn University’s announcement about fall instruction, we wanted to share Panhellenic’s plan for Primary Recruitment.
Revised Schedule and Format
The revised dates for Primary Recruitment are August 8-15. Plans include three options for virtual and in-person rounds:
Option 1: Normal Operations
Virtual: Ice Water Teas & Philanthropy Rounds
In-person: Sisterhood & Preference Rounds
Option 2: Elevated Risk
Virtual: Ice Water Teas, Philanthropy, and Sisterhood Rounds
In-person: Preference Round
Option 3: Immediate Risk
All Virtual Rounds
Our hope is to utilize Option 1. However, we will adhere to Auburn University and relevant federal, state, and local guidelines, keeping the health and safety of our community at the forefront of any decisions made. If there is an elevated risk, or immediate risk, we will move to option 2 or option 3, respectively.
Information about Bid Day
While Bid Day is tentatively scheduled for August 15, the specific details are still being finalized. Due to health and safety concerns, we are not able to host parents, families, and other guests at Bid Day activities. This was not an easy decision, but we feel this is the safest way to allow our potential new members and their new sisters to have a Bid Day experience.
Masks will be required for both PNMs and active chapter members during all in-person rounds of recruitment.
There will be a thorough cleaning of the recruiting spaces in between parties.PNMs will still receive a t-shirt to wear for Philanthropy Round, as well as a hard copy of the PNM Handbook. Due to this, as well as additional costs for recruitment, some of which are still unknown given the circumstances, we will maintain the No Refund Policy for recruitment registration.