For hundreds of underclassman girls at Syracuse University, two weeks of competition to be accepted into sorority life boiled down to a single white envelope yesterday.

‘I’m so excited to open my envelope,’ said Maddie Kirshenblatt, a freshman television, radio and film major, about discovering what sorority she would be invited to join.

Bid Day, the end of formal sorority recruitment and the beginning of the six-week new member education period, brought cheers from some and tears from others.

The atmosphere across the greek area of campus was raucous – girls wearing sunglasses and feather boas and holding balloons shouted sorority chants and sang along to pop songs while rallying outside Schine Student Center. From Comstock Avenue to Walnut Avenue, screams and cowbells could be heard.

Kirshenblatt said she would have been happy to receive a bid from her second- or third-choice sorority but was excited to join her first choice, Alpha Chi Omega.

‘It’s a great house because the girls are very diverse, but they all come together,’ Kirshenblatt said. ‘They’re genuine, down-to-earth girls.’

Back at Kirshenblatt’s dormitory, Butterfield House, her new sorority sisters were already welcoming her to Alpha Chi Omega.

Tara McFarland, a sophomore international relations major and Alpha Chi Omega member, was busy with other sisters taping decorations to Kirshenblatt’s door.

‘Rush is such a long, exhausting process, but this makes it all worth it,’ McFarland said.

For Shelby Fenster, a new member of Gamma Phi Beta and a freshman broadcast journalism major, greek life runs in the family.

‘The first thing I did was call my grandma. She’s in the same house as me now, so I just started crying and she cried,’ Fenster said. ‘My sister’s greek, my grandma’s greek and seeing ‘Legally Blonde’ when I was younger just made me want to go greek.’

SU’s Panhellenic Council, composed of the campus’s 12 National Panhellenic Conference-affiliated sororities, began the formal recruitment period two weeks ago with events where girls learned about greek life obligations and different houses.

Recruitment is a mutual selection process where girls pick their personal top sororities and are chosen in return. While some girls were happy with their results, others were disappointed.

‘It was really difficult to see girls get cut from houses they really wanted,’ said Helen Mahon, a senior photojournalism major. As a Rho Gamma, or recruitment guide, Mahon had to distance herself from her house Kappa Alpha Theta for the past two weeks in order to neutrally guide recruits.

Opportunities for friendship and community service are major deciding factors in joining a sorority.

‘Just wearing the letters and being a part of a sisterhood is great,’ said Marisa DeCandido, a new sister in Alpha Xi Delta and a sophomore in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. ‘It’s such a big campus and it’s nice to find a group of girls that are like you and you know you’re going to fit in with and be friends with.’

‘I found all my best friends in my house,’ said Liz Eney, a sophomore television, radio and film and history major and an Alpha Xi Delta member.

Eney encouraged girls who did not receive their desired bids to keep their options open. She said that preconceived notions might stop girls from finding the right house, but the right house can find the girl.

‘Syracuse is a really big school and it’s sometimes overwhelming, but having a family on campus makes the community smaller,’ Eney said.

After all the chaos, screaming and crying of Bid Day is said and done, the girls are glad to be part of a new family.

‘It was worth it,’ said Becca Liss, a new member of Alpha Chi Omega and a freshman inclusive elementary and special education major. ‘I would never do it again, but it was fun while it was happening.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

Staff writer Lorne Fultonberg contributed reporting to this story.

Published on February 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride