Whether they’re Kanye West fans or not, hundreds of women will line the sidewalks of the Sorority Quads this Sunday afternoon, eager to learn about the 12 Panhellenic Association sororities.
This weekend’s philanthropy round will give interested women an opportunity to see every chapter house and meet its members. The philanthropy round also allows each sorority a chance to showcase its charity and warm up for Winter Quarter’s formal recruitment.
As of Thursday afternoon, 455 women had registered and paid for recruitment, said Paige Mackey, vice president of membership for Panhel.
“I would be very surprised if we didn’t break 500 (Friday),” said Mackey, a Weinberg junior.
Panhel organized the philanthropy round during Fall Quarter again this year, following last year’s successful event, Mackey said.
But there will be significant changes to last year’s template. For the first time, Panhel required women to pay the recruitment fee online, ensuring a more accurate count of participants. Last year, more than 50 students who registered online did not pay the fee for recruitment, depositing it at Scott Hall instead. And some who registered were not even women.
Mackey said Panhel might consider opening registration again after the philanthropy round depending on the number of women who sign up by today’s deadline.
Panhel also moved the event up one weekend. Last year’s round took place the weekend before Thanksgiving break. The timing put many potential and active members at a disadvantage because of tests and midterms scheduled right before the break, Mackey said.
This year’s event also is three hours shorter. The round will last about five hours, compared with last year’s eight-hour event, which was longer than any day of winter recruitment, Mackey said.
This bodes well for those who want to attend the Kanye West concert in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The round will end about 45 minutes before the doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. concert.
Medill freshman Jennifer Barnes plans on meeting up with her friends who will be “camping out” in front of Welsh-Ryan on Sunday. Barnes said she didn’t consider skipping the round to wait for seats.
“I’m just really curious,” Barnes said. “(Greek life) is really big here.”
The round gives many potential new members the opportunity to see each chapter and make their own judgements on Greek life.
“There are so many connotations to the word ‘sorority,'” said Christina Ford, a Weinberg freshman. “But here, so many girls rush. I’ll meet girls who are definitely not the sorority type and are in them and love it.”
Potential new members can jot down their impressions in Panhel’s newly designed booklet. This year’s version will be larger, more colorful and have more updated information, Mackey said.
Financial information has been updated and chapters wrote new biographies tailored to their experience at Northwestern. Advertisements for Evanston businesses helped support the project. Every woman going through recruitment will receive a free tan voucher from Tancun, a tanning salon on 818 Clark St.
Panhel is also sponsoring a raffle with a Coach purse as the main prize, although Mackey said she was hoping to make the reward an iPod.
Reach Deepa Seetharaman at
