Primary sorority recruitment is a mutual selection process. Potential New Members (PNMs) rank their choices based on the Preference Parties they attended and then the PNMs are matched up with the chapter that offers them a bid, based on where the PNM appears on the chapter’s ranked bid list. It sounds like a complicated process and it is. Sometimes the PNM doesn’t get her first choice. Sometimes this causes much angst for the PNM (and perhaps her mother). Some PNMs are fine with whatever chapter appears on their bid card, but a few women decide not to accept the bid they are given and drop out of recruitment. It’s not always easy and while the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, adjusting dreams is a good lesson for the rest of one’s life. Blooming where one is planted is a skill which can come in handy throughout life. It’s all hard to explain to a 17 or 18-year-old who feels like she is the only one in the situation. All 26 NPC organizations are essentially the same, and one will have a similar experience in any of the groups. While our colors, badges, flowers, songs, etc. are all a little different, at the core, we believe in the same values.
This heartwarming story was posted by my Zeta Tau Alpha friend Gabbie Rimmaudo. For a time, she worked at Pi Beta Phi HQ and I loved that she would stop by the Archives when I was there. She loves fraternity history. I showed her the letter we have which was signed by Dr. May Agness Hopkins, who served as ZTA President. Her thoughts on getting her second choice chapter brought tears to my eyes and I told her so. I also told her that at that moment I was at Pi Phi’s Officer Workshop using a pen with Zeta’s letters on it because I love the teal color and it reminds me of her. I hope Gabbie’s story can resonate with some women who accepted bids to their second or third choice chapters. I hope they will embrace the opportunities that may be in their future.
***
The Pi Phi Officers Workshop was just what the doctor ordered. To be among Pi Phi friends catching up on what is new in Pi Phi land is good for my heart. On Friday night I happened to be standing next to a new face and said hello. She said that her Kappa friend Kylie Smith told her to say hello to me. My new friend was a collegiate member of the Simpson College Pi Beta Phi chapter when Kylie was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter there.
I had the opportunity to sit and chat with one of my very favorite Pi Phis, the incomparable Sis Mullis. I can’t believe my luck in hearing about her latest travel adventures and her reminding me of a very funny event that happened about two decades ago. She had me laughing at the memory of it wishing that cell phone cameras had been around to document the unscripted moment when then Grand President Jo Ann Roderick began twirling a baton during Barbie Tootle’s presentation.
I also had the chance to share some time with my Pi Phi Leadership Institute co-facilitator. Having the opportunity to touch base with other long time friends as well as making new ones made the weekend one of the highlights of a very stressful summer.
