An afternoon of scorching heat and sisterhood, Bid Day brought an end to recruitment week and a beginning to a new year with new women joining one of Iowa State’s 15 National Panhellenic Conference chapters.

Around 800 women began the recruitment process, and those who continued with it ended the process with a bid from, hopefully, their preferred chapter. 

Starting at 12:30 p.m., potential sorority women filled central campus, bid cards in hands. Bid cards held invitations from one of the 15 chapters, and each woman hoped that the card reads the name of her top choice chapter. 

Surrounding their Rho Gamma, a woman who serves as a counselor of sorts during recruitment, they waited to open their envelopes. Upon opening the cards, many women would be elated. Others would be visibly upset.

When the campanile struck 1 p.m., the women opened their cards and, upon seeing their new chapter, ran through the campanile to meet their chapters on the other side.  

After the initial bid buzz, the new chapter members ran to their chapter’s respective houses, spending the afternoon proudly wearing their new letters.