In yesterday’s column (“Equality for Greeks begins with rushing”), Scott Nathan Green discussed his negative views on Panhellenic Council’s upcoming formal recruitment, insulting the process as a whole and the reasons behind its very existence. Along with many other members of the Panhellenic community, I was taken aback not just by the insulting assertions made by Green, but by the lack of truth in so many of the reasons behind these assertions. Not only does formal recruitment give sorority chapters the chance to uniquely present themselves, their ideals and their personalities to the Potential New Members (PNMs) going through recruitment, but it gives the PNMs the chance to choose the one chapter that they would most like to call their own for the rest of their college career.

Formal recruitment, despite what was suggested by Green, allows each participating Panhellenic chapter to show the PNMs what it is about their sorority that makes them special. They are given the freedom to entertain the PNMs with songs, skits, dances, or any other form of entertainment, and each chapter chooses its own unique process of meeting with and getting to know the women visiting their house. The focus throughout the entire formal recruitment process is on the conversations that occur between active chapter members and PNMs. It is within these conversations that a PNM is given the chance to get to know the personalities and environments of sororities as they welcome PNMs into their homes.

The biggest strength behind Panhellenic formal recruitment is that it gives every PNM the chance to visit each of the 18 participating chapter houses. Rather than act as a burden to the PNMs, as Green suggested, this aspect of recruitment is the very reason for its success. Many women start recruitment with very little knowledge of the sororities’ environments and cultures. By going to each chapter house, PNMs are able to see their broad range of choices and are given a greater likelihood of finding a chapter that they are most compatible with. Even if there are women going through recruitment who already have an idea of the sorority they would like to join, many of them will be surprised, as hundreds of others have been in past years, that their final choice of sorority is one that they had never previously considered. What a shame that a women should miss out on finding her new sorority chapter because she never thought to visit it, don’t you think, Green?

Even beyond the fact that this process allows PNMs to consider all of their options, the chance to visit every sorority chapter gives the PNMs the broad picture of the Panhellenic community they are about to enter. Women are excited to join their new sorority chapters on Bid Day, but what they also will now realize is that, as members of their chapter, they are part of a larger Panhellenic community striving to provide every woman with the best opportunities.

Panhellenic’s formal recruitment process demonstrates nothing but respect for the women participating. PNMs are given the opportunity to get to know 18 chapters in a comfortable and nonthreatening environment that allows them to truly see what each sorority can offer them. It is this process that serves to best welcome PNMs into the community that they will live and grow in throughout their college careers. I, along with the 3,300 members of Panhellenic Council, am proud and excited to meet the 1,200 Potential New Members starting formal recruitment this weekend!