With the new semester comes a new Greek life recruitment season! At the beginning of every semester, the fraternities and sororities on Iona’s campus host recruitment, where potential members can learn about the organizations in order to ultimately have the opportunity to join a fraternity or sorority.

“I rushed to make more friends and get involved,” sophomore Madeline Roberti of Gamma Lambda Rho, a sorority on campus, said. “My favorite part of Greek life is being friends with everyone in my organization and people in other organizations, too. Being part of Greek life means being a part of a great community on Iona’s campus, and we do a lot of different philanthropic events and other different ways to help make the community a better place.”

At Iona College, there are six sororities and three fraternities. The sororities include Delta Theta Beta, Gamma Lambda Rho, Phi Gamma Chi, Lambda Theta Alpha, Phi Sigma Sigma and Psi Kappa Theta. Phi Sigma Sigma and Lambda Theta Alpha are the only national sororities on campus. The three fraternities on campus are Delta Upsilon, Pi Kappa Phi and Zeta Kappa Chi. Delta Upsilon and Pi Kappa Phi are both national fraternities.

“Recruitment is a fun process of putting yourself out there and making new friends regardless,” junior Martin Verendia of Pi Kappa Phi said. “I really like the unity when it comes to philanthropy events, as in different organizations attending events that matter to most other organizations. It [Greek life] is joining something larger than yourself and has a team aspect like a sports team may have.”

Recruitment, also referred to as “Rush Week,” will take place during the week of Feb. 4, finishing with bid night Feb. 8. Rush Week is usually hosted in the Murphy Center and is used for the recruits to determine which Greek organization at Iona may be the best fit for them. At the same time, sorority and fraternity members talk to these potential members to help decide who they will extend bids to. A “bid” is an invitation to join a Greek organization and are given out on the final night of Rush Week.

“Recruitment is the way you join Greek Life at Iona and potentially receive a bid from your organization of preference,” senior Jill Baldassarre of Phi Sigma Sigma said. “Monday night of Rush Week is e-board [executive board] night, Tuesday night most organizations show their recruitment video, Wednesday night is theme night for some organizations, and Thursday is Preference Night. By Preference Night, potential new members have crossed off certain organizations of their choosing and are left with three.”

Rushing Greek life provides opportunities to meet new people, get involved on campus and impact your community. If you are considering rushing, don’t be afraid to reach out to the Iona community to ask about their experiences with Greek life and Rush Week.