By: Brie White, Senior Writer
A new recruitment manual has been issued for sorority women to guide their interactions with first-year students during the recruitment period which begins on Feb. 4, 2017. This new recruitment manual lays out different interactions deemed appropriate between sorority women and potential new members (PNMs) than in the past. Currently, all first year women are considered PNMs. Nonaffiliated, upperclass-women are only considered a PNM when they sign up for sorority recruitment.
“There were concerns about freshmen women feeling isolated and upperclassman feeling like they didn’t know how to interact with them. There was overcommunication and overstepping,” says Current PanHellenic President Lillian Fant. “Also, our previous rules were based on a system of mistrust in the Greek community. Wofford is a very close-knit community, so we can trust PanHellenic women to abide by the standards we hold them to.”
Karlee Tate, resident director and PanHellenic coordinator, agrees: “After receiving feedback from some first-year students and upperclassmen, we felt like the original rules were creating more of a barrier for students getting to know each other. As a values-based recruitment, we want to make sure first-year students learn about the organizations, their philanthropies and all the great things that make our groups special. The updated rules should give our students a better chance to build relationships with the organizations and its members.”
The new rules are less strict as compared to before. Greek women and PNMs can have one on one interaction, on or off campus. Groups of multiple women of one sorority may meet with a singular PNM. First year women can go to apartments of affiliated women and are encouraged to get to know women in all Greek organizations.
PanHellenic organizations have been notified through their chapter’s presidents and copies are available to both sorority woman and PNMs. “Greek women and PNMs were invited to a meeting on Nov. 15 to go over the new changes and ask any questions they may have had,” says Tate.
Fant adds, “There have been ample opportunities to know about this, so if you’re still confused it’s on you [to seek out answers]. PanHellenic has made an effort. If there is a miscommunication, myself, Ashley Snell, the PanHellenic recruitment chair, or Karlee will be happy to speak with anyone.”
Breaches of the new rules will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
