Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

on social activities, while others focus on academics, philanthropies/community service,
sisterhood and ritual. While some chapters find balance in these areas, others do not.
Another difference that occurs within different chapters is the educational level of new
members. Most campuses that have a traditional sorority structure primarily have incoming
freshmen joining sororities during a period called formal recruitment. Some campuses have
second semester freshmen and upper-class women participating in a deferred recruitment period,
which limits participation to those women who have an established grade point average and have
completed at least one semester of college credit. The dynamics of a campus and the chapter, and
even the type of women belonging to a sorority affects the experience of the members.
Although sororities are different both on national/international and local levels, certain
aspects are the same. Each sorority within the National Panhellenic Conference structure is
governed by a body of elected or appointed officers who are volunteers that ultimately make the
decisions for the sororities. They have a national staff of paid employees that manage the daily
operations and services of the sororities. The undergraduate chapters basically are structured in a
similar manner in that they have officers, manage their individual operations, have a new
member educator program, participate in ritual activities, have sisterhood events, and participate
in campus activities. They recruit new members through a formal and/or informal recruitment
process and go through similar day to day challenges as well as the moments of success and
sisterhood. Whether different or similar in structure, the purpose of sororities is to provide an
environment where young women grow and develop.
History of the Sorority Movement
Greek letter organizations have existed on college campuses in this country for more than
200 years (Malaney, 1990). As Hunt and Rentz (1994) write, "Greek letter organizations were
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