Jordan Harper grew nervous as she awaited word of which sorority she would be invited to join.

Rylan Howe

Carrie Galle, Leawood freshman, and Ali Mills, Overland Park freshman, embrace after opening their bid cards Saturday at the Kansas Union. Galle and Mills both received bids from Gamma Phi Beta sorority.

When the Chicago freshman learned she was a new member of Kappa Kappa Gamma smiles and shrieks of joy could be heard as she, and a wave of new sorority women, ran out of the Kansas Union filled with excitement.

“I was so nervous that I wasn’t going to get asked back. I’m pretty excited,” Harper said, as she posed for a group picture with the other new members of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The weeklong fall formal recruitment process for the 13 sororities of the Panhellenic Association concluded Saturday evening in the Kansas Union, as more than 700 women learned which sorority they would join.

Each woman was given a bid card that told which sorority she was invited membership in.

“I’m so excited,” Krista Meyers, Stillwell freshmen and new member of Alpha Gamma Delta, said. “It’s so nice to have sisters. It makes the campus a lot smaller.”

Outside the Union a party-like atmosphere awaited the women as active sorority members greeted the new members. The welcoming parties met the women with balloons and signs that bore each sorority’s colors. New members were greeted with open arms when they met their new sorority sisters.

Harper said the reception she received from members made her feel welcome.

“They have hugged me and told me how happy they are that I’m here,” she said.

Throughout the recruitment process, potential new members visited each of the Panhellenic sorority chapters, talked with members from each sorority and then narrowed down a list of chapters each day to include those chapters they were most interested in joining.

For Meyers, deciding on which chapter to join after visiting with many different women from many different chapters was difficult.

She said it was wonderful meeting all the members but difficult to pick that one chapter she wanted to call home.

“It’s really hard to narrow it down to the one house you think you will fit in because they are all so great in so many different ways,” Meyers said.

Throughout the recruitment process, both active and potential new members were asked to abstain from any social situation that involved bars, alcohol or men.

Harper said joining a sorority at the end of the week made up for the strictness of the rule.

“For a whole four years of something so great, one week isn’t that much to sacrifice,” Harper said.

Bid day excitement also carried over to active members, who eagerly anticipated the news of who would join their chapters.

Theresa Barron, St. Louis senior and member of Sigma Kappa, said the excitement of new members is because the women are important to the sorority’s success.

“When these new women come to our chapter they are the future,” Barron said. “Next year they will be working just as hard for recruitment to get even more girls to come home.”

Sarah Schmidt, Marysville senior and member of Gamma Phi Beta, said she’s excited to gain members who are committed to the sorority.

“It’s so important to get these women acclimated and really welcome them into our chapter because they have gone through this entire process of recruitment and they want to be here,” Schmidt said. “It’s an organization that will be a part of their life forever.”

Relief also set in for the recruitment staff and recruitment counselors as the work they put forth all week came to an end.

Women who were chosen to be recruitment counselors and recruitment staff members must remain neutral throughout the process. For the week of recruitment these women must disaffiliate themselves from their individual chapters. The women may not publicly socialize with members of their sororities. The sixteen women who made up the recruitment staff were required to stay at the Holiday Inn Holidome to maintain neutrality throughout the recruitment process.

Recruitment staff and recruitment counselors also had to put in long hours during the week attending meetings and assisting the potential new members with recruitment and getting acclimated to life at KU.

Lauren Harjung, Leawood junior and Vice President for Scholarship and Educational Programming for the Panhellenic Association, said she woke up as early 5 a.m. and would stay up past 1 a.m. She said the demanding schedule made her position on the recruitment staff difficult.

“It’s physically exhausting and draining. There are really long hours and sometimes you only sleep for a few hours a day,” Harjung said.

Now the recruitment staff and recruitment counselors can openly socialize with members of their chapters but must leave the women they helped throughout the week.

Harjung said she had mixed emotions as the week came to an end.

“It’s difficult because you meet so many women. You grow to care for them all,” Harjung said. “It will be exciting to be back home.”