Contrary to what some may believe, sorority members are not yet complete members of their organization after receiving their bids in September. In fact, girls in sororities first have to go through a specific process before they become initiated members, just like male students who are pledging fraternities. However, unlike the initiation process for fraternity members, sorority sisters complete a new member education program and are then showered with gifts.

For most of the sororities on campus, the new members are initiated between the months of October and December. Initiation week, or “I-week,” usually begins on a Monday and leads up to the final initiation ceremony that typically takes place on either Friday or Saturday. During this week, some houses restrict new members from going out to the bars or hanging out with boys. These rules are put in place to ensure the new members are bonding before the initiation process they’ll experience together.

“My favorite part was getting to know my whole pledge class through the week of initiation, and then once we were initiated, I felt like a true member of Chi Omega,” said Erica Williams, sophomore in Business.

Once the initiation ceremony has finished, it’s as if Christmas came a few weeks early. Between sweatshirts, raincoats, towel wraps, T-shirts, yoga pants, running shorts, paddles, lavalier necklaces, waterbottles, picture frames and various other decorative items, there’s no doubt that the freshly initiated pledge class will always be wearing something that displays their sorority affiliation.

“Part of being in a greek house is wanting to wear your letters everywhere, and after initiation, you get all these clothes so you feel more a part of the house,” said Emilie Johnson, sophomore in Media. “You can then wear all your letters and represent your sorority, which is really fun for a lot of girls.”

Depending on the rules each sorority decides on, some girls aren’t allowed to wear either their sorority’s letters or crest prior to initiation — making it more special when they’re finally able to do so.

All of the clothing and gifts are usually given in a large basket that is bought and arranged by each new member’s pledge mom. In addition to clothing, it’s also a tradition for pledge moms to craft presents for their pledge daughters. Rita Semro, sophomore in AHS, decided to follow her pledge mom’s example when creating an initiation basket for her own pledge daughter, and spent about $200 on the basket.

“I kind of played off of her and then got those same types of thing for my kid too,” Semro said.

To some, it might seem a bit ridiculous that older girls in the sorority have to spend money and buy gifts for the girls who are younger than them, especially because initiation baskets can get quite expensive. However, each girl in the sorority receives the same treatment when they go through initiation and therefore, the amount of money spent and gifts received ends up canceling out.

“I know that it can be a lot of money, but at the same time, I remember when I was going through initiation and it was really nice to have gifts, and it made me feel really special and important,” Semro said. “It just made the initiation process that much more special.”

Sorority initiation is meant to make the new members feel special and that they belong. So whether their basket contains a new sweatshirt embroidered with sorority letters or a lavalier necklace that will be worn every day, these items are given to represent the accomplishment of finishing the new member process and finally being a complete member of the sorority each girl will call their home.

Taylor can be reached at [email protected].