A dummy’s guide to all things Greek life.

This past weekend eager freshman and sophomores lined up for their chances to become part of some of Columbia’s exclusive clubs: the sororities of the university. Greek life isn’t a huge part of campus culture, but those that choose to partake are very serious about it. 

If you’re someone who’s unfamiliar with this process, it can be very intense. In a span of three days, the girls participate in three main events (and that’s if they make it through all of them). Orientation introduces the girls to the rushing process before these events kick off. After that the hundreds of girls rushing are split into three groups to meet the sororities on Zoom, this being deemed ‘Philanthropy Day.’ If one or multiple sororities decide to invite you back, you go to Development Day, where you get to meet the sororities who called you back in person. Again there’s another round of cuts, and some may get invited back to Preference Night the next day. Between each step of this process, girls who are rushing are also ranking which sororities they like best for themselves. The idea is to match girls who fit into specific sororities and match girls to a sorority that they would like.

After this extensive process, some lucky girls wake up Monday morning with a bid from a sorority. If they choose to accept it, they celebrate with themed parties alongside their newly found sisters. This process only happens once each year in the beginning of second semester, so those that did not get into a sorority or decide later to rush would have to wait till next January to make their attempt at joining.

Each sorority has a different “vibe” to it and they mix with different fraternities depending on which sorority one decides to join. Some sororities have houses for members to meet in, but others don’t. The girls joining are often very accomplished, intelligent and beautiful. Some members join to have a more active social life on campus, others for networking reasons, and others just for fun.

As someone unfamiliar to sororities and who did not participate in this process I can only imagine how stressful it could be for those participating in the rush process. For some this is an ideal way to meet new people and make friends, but for others their Barnumbia experience is complete without being involved in Greek life whatsoever. It’s really dependent on what a person wants out of their experience here, but for all those looking for a sneak peak into Greek life this article is for you.

Image via Bwog Archives