Walking on sunshine

Despite the overcast weather, there was nothing but excitement in the Coker Arboretum air Thursday night as UNC’s 10 Panhellenic sororities welcomed their newest members as a part of their annual bid day ceremony.

Bid day, the official end of the Panhellenic Council’s formal rush process, is when potential new members are informed of which sorority house has offered them a spot.

Of the nearly 650 women who signed up for rush this year, about 500 finished the process and received a bid Thursday. In about six weeks, the new members will be inducted into their sororities as full members.

At about 5:45 p.m., current sorority members began to arrive to the tune “LoveGame” by Lady Gaga before performing their houses’ respective chants.

Jumping, smiling ear-to-ear and repeatedly chanting in unison, the sorority members brimmed with excitement in anticipation of seeing who would join their houses.

“I’m really excited to meet my new girls,” said Taylor Johnson, a sophomore member of Phi Mu. “We already know who our girls are, but I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they open their envelopes.”

As the older girls began to sing “Sorority Girl” by Luke Bryan, the potential new members arrived in the arboretum. The looks on their faces ranged from excited and happy to nervous and scared.

As Panhellenic Council Vice President of Recruitment Casey Cowan approached the microphone, the chants and cheers rose.

Cowan and the recruitment counselors, who were responsible for guiding potential members through rush, proceeded to sing each house’s cheer, revealing their affiliations as they went along. They were required to hide which group they belonged to during rush to keep the process unbiased.

The recruitment counselors handed out the bid cards to all the potential new members, but the girls waited to open them until each card had been distributed.

Then Cowan’s voice came over the microphone.

“Alright, get ready to open your bid cards,” she said before counting down.

“One … two … three.”

Then a loud cheer rang out as the women opened their envelopes. The recruits ran in the direction of their new sisters, who stood in a ring around them.

“I’m really excited!” said Alexii Lardis, a freshman journalism major who was offered a bid to Kappa Kappa Gamma. “I really connected with Kappa Kappa Gamma girls.”

The women then rushed to their new houses to participate in activities ranging from bowling to roller skating.

“I’m going to go back and hang out with my friends and meet all of our new girls and play on our Slip ‘n Slide,” said Cowan, who revealed that she was in Pi Beta Phi.


Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.