A Sorority House Director is the Calm in the Middle of the Storm!
An Emotional Week
The hardest part of Rush/Recruitment comes during the last couple of days; depending on the campus, the ladies must start school. On top of all this busyness, they have to slip out to buy books, get schedules, and begin classes while the non-stop activities of Recruitment continue. You, discreet House Director, have been managing behind the scenes.
The House Director Stays Put
This is not a time that you can take off because you don’t seem needed – you are waiting in the wings to offset anything that might go awry. No TV should be heard coming from your apartment during the activities of the day. Stock up on paperback books, ear buds, and your hobby supplies.
Be prepared to jump into action if/when stuff breaks. For instance, when the ice machine breaks, you’ll buy bags and bags of ice until a repairman arrives. If the air conditioning breaks, you beg and borrow fans from other houses on the row and set them up. You make hurried shopping runs for the cook. Hopefully, the sorority already maintains good relations with several vendors and repairmen, as they’ll give you instant help when needed.
Hunting through the yellow pages for servicemen (who may get to you whenever), and getting authorization from a Board member (who may be away on vacation since they have nothing to do with Recruitment), is not the most serene way to begin a new job. We hope that isn’t ever the case for you.
Basically, the coeds don’t sleep this week. Tempers may be very short, emotions high; don’t take the drama personally, especially if you are new and don’t know the ropes.
The Big Reveal – Bid Day
Recruitment ends in a huge flood of orhestrated emotion. All the sororities and pledges meet in a central location. These are the chosen few. Some campuses use the stadium, setting up tables with sorority logos and colors manned by enthusiastic sisters. The new initiates are handed sealed envelopes containing the name of the sorority that is inviting them to join. Of course, young women fervently pray for their first choice.
First there’s a hush of anticipation, then a frenzied ripping of envelopes resulting in a white cloud of envelope confetti. The screaming is deafening. Sororities may heighten the excitement by delivering the giddy young women to their new Houses via fire engines or fancy convertibles. Since a woman can only join one sorority in her lifetime, some will not accept anything less than first choice. They’ll walk away. Others want the experience of sorority life and don’t have a specific preference. They’re just happy to be there – they don’t have a preconception of one House over another.
For those who’ve been welcomed into this all-female bastion, an enthusiastic evening awaits them. Your chapter members will have planned some kind of get-away. Some sororities might charter buses and head off for a nearby theme park or recreational activity; if that option doesn’t exist, then a lovely event will be hosted at the House. Something fun to wind up this loooong week.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch, er Messy Sorority House
Cleaning up the House begins immediately – the students will have made a jumble of the furniture. Knickknacks have been stuffed into closets or even piled into your apartment. The staff will pitch in to help the coeds rearrange and clean in a hurry. You might be lucky to be in a House that hired pros to move
the furniture to storage, and then places it back where it belongs. Or you have a great handyman and crew who can quickly restore order. The House Mother doesn’t do the physical work, but you may have to remind the Recruitment chairman to make arrangements to get this done. The energy for doing this task may be
lagging. If the students moved the dining room tables out on the patios, and don’t get them put away, make sure you have tarps on hand to protect them until they get around to it. While you don’t want to be a nag, you, dear House Director, are the protector of the House.
Excerpts from The Sorority House Director’s Survival Guide
© 2007- 2020 Mona O. Meyers – All Rights Reserved
