OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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A Potential New Member (PNM) is a student who participating in recruitment.
Gamma Chis, also known as Recruitment Counselors, are Panhellenic members who have disaffiliated from their chapters for the week of Formal Recruitment in order to serve as an unbiased resource for PNMs. They also help the Panhellenic Executive Board facilitate the recruitment process.
Updated chapter-specific membership dues information will be provided in the Recruitment Booklet that is distributed to Potential New Members at the beginning of primary recruitment. Additionally, more in-depth breakdowns of what is included in membership dues for each chapter will be shared during the first round of recruitment. Some chapters offer payment plans, but not all so we recommend you discuss this with chapter members during recruitment rounds.
You can find updated cost ranges and averages for all our councils in our Go Beavs! Go Greek! Publication. Panhellenic's membership fee ranges can be found below:
Chapter Membership Fee Range per year:
Each chapter has its own requirements for the number of years members are required to live-in the chapter facility. It typically ranges from 1-2 years and most members live in their sophomore and/or junior year. For many chapters, living in the chapter house is a requirement for all members and interested students should consider this requirement when deciding if a Panhellenic experience is the right fit for them.
Oregon State does have unhoused sororities in the Collective Greek Council, Multicultural Greek Council, and National Pan-Hellenic Council. You can learn more about these councils and their chapters here.
The academic requirement to join a Panhellenic sorority varies by each chapter. Please refer to the individual chapter profiles for GPA requirements for each chapter.
Just like any other organization, membership in a sorority does have commitments. However, it is very common for sorority members to work, participate in athletics, activities, and volunteer for the community throughout the academic year. It is expected that sorority members will participate in certain chapter activities, meet financial obligations, and in some cases, assist with minimal duties within the chapter.
Each organization, at minimum, has one weekly chapter meeting lasting on average an hour a week. Other commitments each term include participating in chapter-hosted philanthropy events, educational programs, attending chapter events and activities, and community service hours.The time commitment varies based on what you put in and what you choose to partake in. However, on average you can expect to commit about 3-5 hours per week. If you choose to become involved in other activities within your chapter, such as intramurals or a leadership position, you can expect to commit more time per week and per month.
Yes! You can join as many academic and professional clubs or organizations as you would like and can fit into your schedule. Many women in Panhellenic sororities are student organization members, hold internships, have jobs, or participate in research on campus. You can find Panhellenic women in leadership positions across campus from ASOSU, Orange Media Network, START Leaders, campus tour guides, and more! All sororities appreciate having very involved members.
A legacy is a PNM whose mother, sister, grandmother, or sometimes other female relative is a member of a particular sorority. Each sorority has their own policy regarding who is considered a legacy and how that affects recruitment.
If you are a legacy to a chapter or think you might be, we encourage you to share that information on your PNM Profile when you register for primary recruitment.
Yes, however, you cannot join another Panhellenic sorority for a full calendar year. You would become eligible to join another chapter during the next Primary Recruitment.
Additionally, you must withdraw from the sorority before your initiation. Once you are initiated, you cannot join another Panhellenic organization.
There are NO bad chapters, and the OSU Panhellenic community does not condone a “tier system”. Each chapter has their own strengths, values, and passions that make them unique. No chapters are better than other chapters, and we recommend that you do not base your recruitment experience off the opinions of others. We firmly believe that we have 11 amazing chapters for students to join!
Sorority "Big Sisters" are women (traditionally in the member class directly above the new member class) that mentor and support their new member or "little". You will likely have a process of meeting several upper class women before being paired with your "Big". Big/Little reveal occurs when the new members find out who their mentor (Big) is.
Oregon State University and each sorority national organization, has strict policies which address hazing. Each sorority, nationally and internationally, complies with anti-hazing laws. If you do feel uncomfortable at any time, there are plenty of resources you can reach out to and contact including the Panhellenic Council, the Center for Fraternity & Sorority Life Staff, and the Student Conduct and Community Standards office. If hazing is reported, it is very taken seriously by our council, Oregon State University, and the sorority’s national organization. All new members and initiated members also receive hazing prevention programming each year.
Primary Recruitment is a mutual selection process in which Potential New Members (PNMs) will have the opportunity to meet sorority women over the course of multiple rounds. This recruitment process takes place at the start of Fall Term. You can learn more about the dates for the next primary recruitment process here.
Primary Recruitment is the only time that interested women can meet all 11 Panhellenic sororities as many chapters will be full following formal recruitment and cannot accept more new members.
Here is the link to register for Primary Recruitment 2023!
Primary Recruitment is a long, but rewarding process where you will meet and get to know the 11 Panhellenic sororities at OSU and a variety of members in each chapter. It is a mutual selection process, meaning that this is the time when you narrow down your options of what sorority you will join at the end of the week, and chapters simultaneously invite back women they would like to see each round. As the week goes on, you will get to know more about the aspects of each sorority you are visiting. You can learn more about what to expect during each round here.
Yes! Everyone has an equal opportunity to go through recruitment. We have a large number of upperclass students who go through primary recruitment each year and become involved members of their chapters and our community.
Recommendation Letters are letters or forms submitted by an sorority alumna to recommend and/or introduce a Potential New Member to the chapter. They are NOT required to participate in primary recruitment. There are many women each year who do not have recommendation letters and it does not affect their recruitment experience.
If you are an alumna and would like to send a Letter of Recommendation for Panhellenic Fall Primary Recruitment, please submit your letter directly to individual chapter presidents or recruitment chairs. Addresses can be found on the chapter profiles. Women submitting letters of recommendation may also submit them through their inter/national websites.
Panhellenic by-laws only require students to be an admitted degree-seeking student at Oregon State University or participating in an Oregon State University duel-degree program with all schools recognized by the University. However, each Panhellenic chapter differs on the amount of credit hours that must be taken on the Corvallis campus in order to be eligible for new membership in their chapter.
Primary Recruitment is the only opportunity to visit every single chapter within the Panhellenic Community. It is a more structured process and provides a safe, supportive environment where you have a Gamma Chi to guide you, a group of women to support you, and opportunities to learn about many different aspects of our community.
Continuous Recruitment is not a guaranteed or structured process, and we do not know how many or which chapters will participate following Primary Recruitment.
Although Primary Recruitment is not a guaranteed process, our campus typically has a high placement rate.
No, a Potential New Member that goes through the recruitment process is not obligated to join a sorority. The recruitment process is for potential new members to explore fraternity and sorority life to see if it is the right fit.
Going through the recruitment process does not obligate you to join a sorority. If at any point during recruitment you decide that sorority membership is not what you are looking for, then you may withdraw from the process. To do so, you must notify the Panhellenic Executive Board officer or your Recruitment Counselor (Gamma Chi) and fill out a simple withdrawal form. Once you withdraw from recruitment, you will be eligible to join through the Continuous Recruitment if you would like to during the year.
No, you don’t have to accept your bid. By going to the chapter's Bid Day celebration, you accept your bid to the chapter. If you choose not to accept your bid on Bid Day, you will need to notify Panhellenic and/or your Gamma Chi. If you do not accept your bid, you will be ineligible to join another Panhellenic chapter for a full calendar year.
Continuous Recruitment is also referred to as Continuous Open Bidding (COB). It is a recruitment process that some chapters can participate in after Primary Recruitment. Only chapters that have open membership spots can participate and usually very few chapters are eligible. This is why we encourage students who are interested in joining a Panhellenic chapter to participate in Primary Recruitment if possible. However, COB is a great opportunity for students who were unable to participate in the primary process to join the Panhellenic community!
Continuous Recruitment/COB is a much less structured process for women to join a Panhellenic sorority during the academic year after primary recruitment. Sororities that have open membership spots can participate. Not all sororities participate in COB.
In most cases, once contacted by a chapter, a small group of women will meet with you or take you out to coffee. They then may invite you over to the house for a meal, a house tour, or to participate in a sisterhood event with the chapter a few times before offering you a bid to membership if they believe that you are a good fit for their organization. Typically you will get 24 hours to decide if you would like to accept your bid, or if you are unable to accept on the spot.
There is no registration process for Continuous Recruitment/COB. If you are interested in joining a chapter through continuous recruitment, following Primary Recruitment, that is done on a individual chapter basis. You will need to either email [email protected] to express your interest in contacting chapters about COB, or you may contact individual chapters via social media and email.