Gamma Phi Beta is returning to campus this winter and looking to recruit its first class of new members in four years.
Panhellenic Association winter recruitment marks the house’s official return to campus since its suspension in 2020, and anyone who rushes later this week will meet Gamma Phi Beta during round one of primary recruitment.
However, Gamma Phi Beta will not participate in the remaining rounds of primary recruitment, and potential new members, or PNMs, will not be able to rank it. Instead, Gamma Phi Beta will follow its own process of “extension recruitment,” according to the 2025-26 Northwestern PHA PNM Resource Guide.
“Extension recruitment” will start in February, when PNMs will meet with Gamma Phi Beta alumnae for thirty-minute personal appointments, according to the Gamma Phi Beta website. These appointments will be followed by an invitation-only “Preference Event,” and then “Bid Day” the day after.
For Communication freshman Kate Wieand, this alternative form of recruitment has made her less likely to rush the house. She also said the absence of active Gamma Phi Beta members on campus following the sorority’s disbandment in 2020 influenced her opinion.
“When we are comparing it to the other sororities, you’re really committing to an idea more than a group of people,” Wieand said. “I think, for a lot of people, the perk of the sorority is getting these built-in friend groups, and you aren’t necessarily going to get that immediately. And the connections to older grades — you would be the oldest grade. It’s just logistically very different.”
Gamma Phi Beta voted to relinquish its chapter in August 2020 during the Abolish Greek Life movement.
The movement started in July 2020 when an Instagram account called @abolishnugreeklife began to post students’ anonymous negative experiences related to Greek life at NU.
Gamma Phi Beta was one of two houses to hold a vote on disbandment, but it was the only one that relinquished its chapter.
Though she was not on campus at the time, Wieand said she read about the Abolish Greek Life movement before deciding to participate in sorority recruitment.
She said learning about the movement did not affect her perception of Gamma Phi Beta specifically.
“Partly the complaint is the idea of a sorority has roots in difficult areas, so it’s not that group (Gamma Phi Beta) specifically that was necessarily all that much worse,” Wieand said.
The chapter’s history with the Abolish Greek Life movement is a factor some potential new members are considering as they enter the recruitment process, but some PNMs have other concerns.
SESP freshman Emilia Jozwik said she heard rumors that Gamma Phi Beta disbanded in part because of allegations of racist incidents. Former members of the sorority described some of these incidents to The Daily in 2020, after the chapter voted to disband.
While Jozwik said that concerns her, she also does not know “the full extent of what happened.”
“I’m assuming that the reason they’re allowed to return is because they’ve handled whatever bad things happened, so that’s reassuring,” Jozwik said. “But also, their whole process is very confusing, and I imagine it’s hard to be a sorority that has to come back.”
Gamma Phi Beta representatives have been promoting the chapter to potential new members on campus since Fall Quarter, including tabling in Norris University Center.
Jozwik said the representatives left her with a positive impression.
“They’re always very friendly and very open,” Jozwik said.
At their tables in Norris, Gamma Phi Beta representatives offered small goodies such as candy and coffee along with information about the sorority.
Bienen freshman Vivian Van de Sype Cucu said she didn’t know much about any of the sororities she was planning on rushing, but she recalls Gamma Phi because they gave her a Celsius in Norris.
“It really made my day,” Van de Sype Cucu said. “They seem really nice and generous.”
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Related Stories:
— Gamma Phi Beta set to return to NU following charter suspension
— Northwestern chapter of Gamma Phi Beta votes to relinquish charter amid calls to abolish Greek life
