At a small school like Sonoma State, people sometimes get lost trying to find where they belong. This past weekend, over 400 girls made the decision to go through Panhellenic Fall Formal Recruitment to see if Greek life was the right fit for them. By the end of the weekend, most discovered that it was. 

Sonoma State has six Panhellenic sororities on campus including Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Xi Delta, Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Sigma Sigma, as well as an associate member, Lambda Kappa Pi. Formal Recruitment took place on campus from Friday to Momnday. Leading into the weekend, Panhellenic held three informational meetings in order to give women interested in the process the chance to learn more about what Panhellenic does and what the weekend of recruitment was going to be like. 

Although each sorority has their individual differences, they all are founded upon similar values. Concepts such as leadership, personal growth, academics and loyalty are all things that are focused on in the Greek community.

Each sorority has a specific philanthropy that they raise money for throughout the year. However, at almost all of these philanthropy events, one is bound to find members from other sororities helping raise the money for that specific philanthropy. Here at Sonoma State, Greek unity is a very important standard. Particularly between Panhellenic sororities, they all try to be there for each other in positive ways all throughout the year. 

Panhellenic President Samantha Mraz, a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, had been looking forward to this past weekend for a while. 

“From an active sorority member’s side, recruitment is one of the most exciting times of the year.  You get to meet hundreds of new women and form a bond with your sisters that no one else understands except for other sorority women,” said Mraz. 

Each day of recruitment had a specific focus. On the first day, the main importance was for each woman to get a taste of what each of the six sororities is really like. The days continue on through the weekend with focuses on philanthropy, learning more about the sisterhoods and eventually realizing which sorority they feel they are ready to become a part of.      

 “You have the opportunity to find a sisterhood that fits you and memories from that one weekend that you will take away for the rest of your life,” said Samantha Mraz.

The weekend ended on Monday evening with Bid Day. This is when the new members received their bids from the sorority they are soon to discover will be their home away from home. At this point, each group of new members from each sorority ran into the arms of their new sisters at the South Lawn behind the Student Center. Junior Jordan LoNigro of Alpha Omicron Pi loves that part of the experience the most. 

“It feels like our new sisters are running home to us, and it’s so exciting knowing that these girls are the future of our chapter,” said Jordan LoNigro. 

This past weekend was a time of self-discovery in the search for a home away from home here at Sonoma State. These women who took that leap of faith will now move forward to further discover the important history and sisterhood bonds behind the sorority they are now a part of. Recruitment was, as always, a huge success. Now these women have found a way to truly discover who they are with sisters by their side. Because it’s not just four years, it’s for life.