After two weeks of recruitment, potential new members of the 12 Panhellenic sororities at Syracuse University gathered together on Monday inside the Goldstein Auditorium for the annual culminating ceremony: Bid Day.

Potential new members filled the seats on the main floor of the auditorium, with each girl holding a card with her bid. Everyone was smiling as excited conversations between potential new members echoed through the room.

In the balconies above stood about 20 representatives for each of the 12 sororities accepting new members. The representatives wore different colored shirts, hats and other accessories to show off their house pride. Current members waved large colorfully decorated letters and signs for each sorority when the speakers would announce the houses.

Sophia Heslov, a current member of Sigma Delta Tau, described the Bid Day experience as “amazing and so much fun.” She said her favorite part of the whole experience was “being with everyone in the house.”

All of the potential new members sang and danced to popular songs as they eagerly awaited the reveal of the Rho Gammas. During the reveal, the Rho Gammas, or representatives from different sororities who guide potential new members through the recruitment process, showed the audience their true house identities, which had been kept secret throughout the recruitment process in order to prevent bias. After each Rho Gamma revealed her sorority, current members of that particular sorority would cheer loudly from the balconies.

Twelve sororities were present during the Bid Day ceremony, including: Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Delta Phi Epsilon, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Sigma Sigma and Sigma Delta Tau.

“It’s a new beginning for all of the sororities. It’s really exciting to see our chapter grow and to see new girls welcomed to the house,” said Kendra O’Connor, a current member of Phi Sigma Sigma.

After the reveal, potential new members of each sorority were dismissed alphabetically to go to their prospective classrooms across the SU campus. At the classrooms, the members of each sorority’s pledge classes received their house-themed shirts. Finally, the new members ran through the snow to their prospective houses where they were welcomed by their new sisters.

“My favorite part is seeing all of their faces when they come back to the house and the fact that they are now going to be a part of our sisterhood,” O’Connor said.

“It’s truly an amazing experience,” added Jennie Stirling, a current member of Delta Delta Delta. “It gives current members a chance to show how much we care about being in a house and it gives these girls a way to branch out and find themselves if they haven’t already.”

Published on January 27, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann