All-sorority recruitment begins Monday, Sept. 16 with one less group

The fall semester is a busy time of year. The Greek system here at Northern Michigan University is feeling the early semester stresses as they prepare for fall recruitment projects. This fall, there is a small change in the number of Greek organizations here at NMU. 

According to Alpha Xi Delta’s official Greek homepage, the National Council of Alpha Xi Delta voted and closed the Delta Delta chapter at NMU, effective Monday, Aug. 25, 2014. 

The Delta Delta chapter closed due to inabilities to recruit and retain members.

Senior social work major and Phi Sigma Sigma President Courtney Lehto said the Greek system is sad to see Alpha Xi Delta close. 

“I know we were all sad to hear the news about Alpha Xi Delta,” Lehto said. “They are a great group of ladies and we hope to still see them around Greek functions.”

Fraternities do not have any formal recruitment. 

Students interested in joining a fraternity can directly contact the organizations. Tau Kappa Epsilon president Anthony Wilson can be reached at [email protected] and Alpha Sigma Phi president Pat Cassingham can be reached at [email protected].

Informational meetings and opportunities to learn more about the sororities on campus will kick off 5:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 16 in the New Jamrich. 

Interested students will have the opportunity to meet and speak with representatives from NMU sororities. 

The Panhellenic Council is the governing body of the three sororities, according to the group’s NMU page. 

Sophomore community health education major Mallory Ryan is the president of the council. Ryan said she is looking forward to continuing Greek recruitment here at Northern Michigan University.

“I think recruitment will be really good this year and hopefully we can get it to stay like that,” Ryan said. “The acceptance rates across the sororities are fairly high here at NMU. I think the acceptance rate is pretty high because all chapters want girls.”

One formal recruitment and another week of open recruitment are in the plans this fall and one open recruitment for this winter, according to Ryan. 

“Recruitment is always a very exciting part of the semester,” Phi Sigma Sigma president said. “What I look forward to most is meeting the new ladies that could possibly be a part of the future Greek system. All of us want Greek life here to grow on campus and recruitment helps sororities grow.”

Joining a sorority opens the doors to a number of different opportunities for students, Lehto said. Family, friends, memories, leadership skill sets, philanthropy and scholarships are all possibilities and opportunities that Greek life offers. 

“Girls should really go out for recruitment and see if they think this is something that they would like to be a part of,” Lehto said. “I’ve gained a family away from home, leadership skills and amazing memories with some of my favorite people. Greek life is filled with philanthropy, scholarship, leadership opportunities and much much more.”

Quoting Greek life statistics, the Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the U.S., with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year. Students are encouraged to attend the informational meetings to learn more about what the Greek chapters at NMU are geared to. 

“Joining a sorority was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my years here at Northern,” Lehto said.