The beginning of the second semester usually means returning to campus to see Greek letters plastered on the windows of the freshman residence halls.

Formal sorority recruitment, which takes place a week before the spring semester begins, saw a drop in the number of potential new members. About 330 girls signed up for recruitment, but only 280 showed up for round one.

The reason for this decrease might be the new system for recruitment, which allows sophomore girls to join sororities in the fall without having to go through the formal process. Continuous open recruitment was brought about by a vote to raise the total membership for sororities. This vote, which took place last spring, left open slots in sororities that they chose to fill in the fall.

About 90 girls joined sororities in the fall, including transfer students and sophomores. Justine Italiano, recruitment chair for the Panhellenic Council, believes that continuous open recruitment is a good option for students.

“It’s a great opportunity for people who are intimidated by formal recruitment,” Italiano said.

Many students agree. Sophomore Melissa Schierl chose to join a sorority this fall after spending the previous spring in London.

“The benefit of COR is that it really gives you a chance to see how the girls interact more naturally,” Schierl said. “Formal recruitment is so rehearsed.”

Formal recruitment goes through four rounds. The first is a casual round, in which the potential new members visit all nine sororities over the course of two days. Round two is the philanthropy round, and each potential new member can visit up to six sororities. Round three is the theme round, and the recruits must narrow down their sorority choices to four. The final and most formal round is the preference round, and the potential new members can visit up to two sororities.

After each round, there is a mutual selection process, in which the potential new members pick their top sororities and rank their least favorite. The chapters invite back girls based on their preferences and the girls’ lists.

Freshman Kerry McManus felt that the formal recruitment process, although exhausting, allowed her to find her niche here at ‘Nova.

“It is a really long, stressful process, but it really paid off in the end,” McManus said. “You meet some amazing people in all different sororities.”

The freshmen who chose not to rush in the winter may not have the option of joining a sorority in the coming fall.

“A lot of freshmen believed that they could join in the fall, but that’s not necessarily true,” Italiano said.

Continuous open recruitment is contingent on a vote to increase total membership for sororities, so if that number is not increased, then there will be no recruitment in the fall.

Italiano believes that the formal recruitment affords the potential new members a better opportunity to choose the sorority in which they fit best.

“While the process can seem overwhelming and intimidating, it all works out in the end,” Italiano said. “You’ll find a place where you belong.”

While sorority recruitment is finished, fraternity recruitment is just beginning. Already, fraternities are seeing an increase in interest among potential new members

“We had close to 100 people signing up for info night,” said Connor Nicosia, president of the Interfraternity Council. “We had to bring out twice as many chairs.”

Many fraternities have interviewed more than 60 students. The growth in numbers may be due to the new recruitment process, which takes place over four weeks as opposed to two weeks, which had been the case in previous years.

The fraternity recruitment process takes place over two rounds, the first of which is a meet-and-greet with each fraternity. The second round is a little less formal, and potential new members get to know the fraternities in a casual setting, such as watching games and going out to dinner. The potential new members are then interviewed by their prospective fraternities.

After that, bids go out, and fraternities go around and welcome their new members. The new brothers can accept the bid on the spot, wait to accept or defer until next semester.

Despite the process of becoming a part of Greek Life, Italiano believes that it is all worth it in the end.

“Joining a Greek organization is an awesome opportunity,” Italiano said. “They are a way to get to know more people without pressure.”