Katelyn Thrall welcomed her younger sister, Molly, to her Chi Omega sorority house during the annual sorority Bid Day, wrapping up the 2001 formal recruitment.

Tears, hugs and exclamations of sisterhood filled central campus as 371 women found out which sorority house they will call home. Throughout the week, the hopefuls were given a firsthand account of life in the greek system under the tagline “Try it, Live it, Love it.”

For Thrall, junior in pre-journalism and mass communication, the day was even more special.

“This year my little sister was going through it too, so that was cool to see,” she said. “I was really excited that she’s coming to Iowa State in the first place, so this is an extra bonus.”

The Bid Day festivities were spearheaded by New Member Coordinator Jane Legg, who said the day was a success.

“Everything went really well,” said Legg, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production. “It’s really exciting for the new girls, because today’s the day where they find out who their future sisters are. It brings back a lot of memories.”

After finding out their bid chapters, the new recruits were led through the Campanile and were greeted by cheers from groups of members representing each of the ISU sororities.

Members from each sorority introduced themselves with their own spirit cheer, and recruits were told to go meet their new sisters, setting off a celebratory scene. Panhellenic Council Vice President of Recruitment Erin Schneider summed up the scene, stating “there were happy women everywhere.”

Schneider, senior in political science, and Thrall were in charge of the recruitment week activities. Recruits took tours of the sorority chapters, took part in skits, watched videos and multimedia presentations and talked with recruitment coordinators.

“It was a long week for everybody but it went really well,” Thrall said. “It’s great to see freshmen women starting off on the same foot, and I know they have great things ahead of them.”

Informal recruitment, a yearlong effort among sororities, is another option for women wanting to join the greek community.

“This week goes kind of fast, so some of the girls might feel rushed to make a decision,” Legg said. “Informal recruiting is more laid back, and the girls have a longer time to try and decide which chapter is right for them.”

During the week, a philanthropy project was put on to collect items for the ACCESS women’s shelter in Ames. Piper Anderson, director of special projects for the Panhellenic Council, was in charge of the philanthropy.

“It was an all-sorority philanthropy to show our unity and how we work together to help organizations,” said Anderson, senior in journalism and mass communication.