For the purpose of keeping recruitment fair for everyone, there are a set of rules that everyone must follow. There are rules for sororities and rules for potential members. If you keep reading below, you will see a list of the rules that are most important for you to know. If you have a question about whether or not a situation is a violation of the rules, please call our office at 334-844-4600 and we will be happy to help you.
Rules for the summer…
1. If you already have a friend who is in a sorority, you are still allowed to be her friend and hang out with her over the summer. If she incidentally introduces you to a friend or two, it is no big deal.
2. No one should be putting any pressure on you to join or not join any particular group.
3. Sorority members should not be discussing other chapters or their members with you. It is up to you to attend recruitment and decide for yourself what you think of each chapter and their members. It is a serious mistake for a person to let herself be influenced by the opinions of others and it is a serious offense for a sorority member to try to influence a potential member.
Recruitment week…
1. During recruitment week, we have a rule called Positive Panhellenic Contact. What this rule means is that you should try to stay away from sorority member friends until bids are out. It’s not a hard rule to follow since so much of your time will be spent with your Pi Chi group and the sorority members spend so much time working together. During recruitment, you shouldn’t call up a sorority friend to chat about the week. If you are at a grocery store and see a sorority friend, it’s still OK to say “hey” and let her know you’ll call her at the end of the week. By all means, if your car breaks down or you are lost and the only person you have left to call is a sorority friend, don’t be afraid to call her. This rule is for your protection, not to put up a wall between you and your friends. It’s just very important that you limit the contact between you and those friends for a few days out of fairness to the sororities and potential members.
2. Recruitment will have a series of meetings and parties. It is mandatory for you to attend all of those meetings. If you are sick and must miss something, you must let your Pi Chi know as soon as you can, so that we know where you are.
3. There will be moms and sorority alums helping with recruitment during the week. They are working more behind the scenes and won’t be inside of the parties. You might pass one on the sidewalk or something, though. They also have to follow the Positive Panhellenic Contact rules. So, if you see the mom of a friend, it’s OK to say “hi” but that’s about it. She probably has work to do and doesn’t want to get in trouble. The moms know about the silence rules, so their feelings won’t be hurt if you don’t stay and talk.
4. Your Pi Chi group will get together and meet each time that you need to decide which invitations to accept. After you accept your invitations, you need to go right back to the place you will be living in case your Pi Chi has any questions and needs to find you. For that matter, you need to make sure that your Pi Chi can find you any time that she needs to, because she often needs to find group members over urgent matters when there isn’t much time.