Shouts and chanting filled the air as each chapter of the Panhellenic Council yelled their sorority’s cheer, all trying to be heard over the other groups.
This year had the biggest group of incoming members in history, said Jennifer Jones-Hall, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of student life.
She said Greek Life now is about 14 percent of the student population, but her goal is to get to 20 percent. Last year, it was 12.31 percent of campus.
Kari Murphy, associate director of student life, said this was the first year that all chapters have made their quota, or the number of women each chapter needs each year. There were between 43 to 54 new women in each chapter.
About a half hour before Bid Day began, each new member was given an envelope containing the name of their new sorority.
After they received their bid card with the name of their sorority in it, the new members went and sat in front of the rest of the chapter. At the end of the event, they all ran to join their chapters and were united with their new sisters.
Demie Johnson, a new Delta Zeta and a sophomore broadcasting major, said she was most excited to have a new group of sisters.
“Everyone was so nervous and excited at the same time,” Johnson said. “I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect, they were just excited to get up and see who their new chapter was.”
Since all of the women going through recruitment had similar problems, Johnson said it was exciting to meet a lot of new people going through the same things.
Danica Craig, president of the Panhellenic Council, said 615 women registered for recruitment, while last year there was just under 600.
“We were definitely hoping to break 600 because we were so close last year,” Craig said. “I think it’s just growing with the size of Ball State growing, and also the size of the organizations growing. I think that more people in the organization spreads the word because there are more bodies to talk about it.”
Craig said the growth will be interesting because there are so many new girls joining the chapters.
“I think the chapters are all equipped to handle it because they are already larger in size and they can accommodate these new women and get to know them and provide them with a great chapter.”
Taylor Rohrman, an Alpha Phi and a sophomore athletic training major, said her favorite part about Bid Day was getting the new members.
“It makes our chapter bigger and it’s exciting,” Rorhman said. “And [the energy level] is wild, it’s fun.”
Rohrman was on the other side of recruitment last year, and while she said that was more exciting, she still loved the atmosphere of this year.
Miranda Miller, an Alpha Chi Omega and a sophomore special education major, said she was most excited to get her Pi Chi’s back.
Pi Chi’s are the recruitment counselors for the new members, and they have to disaffiliate from their chapter in order to do their role as a Pi Chi. When the Pi Chi’s were returned to their chapters, some of the girls from their chapter ran up to them through the aisles screaming and tackled them.
Miller said getting the new members is so much fun because they can replace the seniors from last year and expand the chapter.
“It expands our chapter with a bunch of great new girls we all get to love,” Miller said.
View our full Bid Day gallery!
