Jackson Area Alumnae Panhellenic Association
www.jacksonpanhellenic.com
Recruitment Information for Parents
What is a sorority?
Sororities are national and international Greek-letter organizations that have been in existence for more than 150 years on accredited college and university campuses. Chapters function as an extended family unit, providing a caring, safe environment that encourages individual development for a lifetime. Sorority programming develops leadership through involvement in chapter offices and committees, as well as involvement on campus. Other opportunities for Greeks include scholarships and philanthropic and social service involvement. Many sorority chapters offer campus housing, and those details vary from campus to campus.
How will my daughter benefit from sorority membership for a lifetime?
During college, an NPC sorority offers your daughter personal and professional support within a smaller group of friends in a larger university environment. With this support, your daughter’s individual personal and leadership development is fostered through attending seminars as well as holding officer and committee positions within the chapter.
Membership in an NPC sorority enhances your daughter’s academic achievement by providing several forms of support to assist her, from study resources to quiet study areas. She also is encouraged to participate in community service through philanthropic activities, setting a pattern of lifelong service to others.
After her undergraduate years, she will have lifelong friendships as well as continued personal and professional support through alumnae activities and networking programs
To be a member, my daughter has to go through recruitment?
Membership recruitment is a period of mutual selection. It is a process during which your daughter gets to know about the sororities and members on her campus, and the sorority membership gets to know your daughter. Recruitment activities might include open houses, informal events, and/or formal events. Often the final activities of recruitment are called "Preferential," and are formal events. NPC provides guidelines for college Panhellenic organizations to determine the exact dates and rules for recruitment on each campus.
What kind of expenses are involved?
Being in a sorority is like all other membership organization and does require a payment of dues. This money is used to fund the operations, social events and programming for the chapter. The costs of sorority membership vary form campus to campus. You and your daughter can learn more about sorority expenses at the fraternity and sorority life office on campus or at a sorority recruitment informational meeting. There are one-time fees, as well as regular dues. Each sorority chapter determines dues based on factors including programming for its members. When housing is available, those costs are often competitive or less than campus options.
How does housing work?
There are different types of sorority "housing" on different campuses across the country. Those that offer true housing might have line-in policies that require members to live in the chapter house for a certain period of time. However, at many campuses, there are suites or lodges and women live in campus housing
but have a designated space for sorority meetings and events. Other campuses might have designed campus housing for sorority chapters so that sorority members can live together even without a physical sorority house. It really depends on the campus, so you should check with the office of fraternity and sorority life to get more information about your school specifically.
