Greek Life is present on Trinity’s campus. According to College Board – my nearly “end all be all” when I was looking for quick facts about schools in high school – 20% of men join fraternities and 16% of women join sororities. Some schools allow first year students to enter “recruitment” or “rush” during their first semester. At Trinity, students cannot do so until their second year. I think this is beneficial, as it allows students time to get to know other details of the school before committing to this process.

While I do think that Greek Life is a big aspect of Trinity’s social culture, I do not think that it is the only option. During my freshman year I was indifferent to the idea of joining Greek Life. This past fall I made my decision to register to recruit. Recruitment — a scheduled, monitored and dry process — began with a meeting on a Sunday afternoon with all potential new members, Rho Gammas, and Rush Chairs from each of the fraternities and sororities. There were two nights of “formal recruitment” that followed. On these nights, potential new members were toured around all of the houses in small groups. Women at Trinity have the option between five societies: Kappa Kappa Gamma, Ivy Society, Cleo of AX, St. Anthony’s Hall, and Zeta Omega Eta. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Ivy Society are all women. Cleo and St. Anthony’s Hall are made up of both men and women. Zeta Omega Eta is a non-traditional feminist sorority. Because it is non-traditional it was not included on formal recruitment night tours. On the fourth evening, all potential new members have informal recruitment. At our group’s discretion, we revisited the sororities that we felt most interested in or connected to. The fifth evening is “preference night.” On preference night, the sororities and fraternities host events at different times for potential new members to return where they are ultimately hoping to get a “bid.” The sixth day, Friday, is bid day.

I received my bid from Kappa Kappa Gamma. Since then I have completed the ten-day initiation process for new members that Trinity has required for the past two years. At other schools, this process can be spread out over six to ten weeks. During initiation we carried out the same rituals and traditions that have been occurring since Kappa’s founding in 1870. I am so happy with my decision to join a sorority at Trinity. I think that this opportunity will allow me to continue to meet other students and get in involved in more service options in the Hartford area.

Let’s be social: @trincollgreeks

Want to know more about Greek life and social houses at TrinColl? Check out our recent story about Kathryn Wojcik, Trinity’s director of campus life initiatives and social houses.

Paying It Forward