The greek community has a long-standing tradition at Iowa State, with the first sororities and fraternities coming to campus more than 140 years ago. The men and women in Iowa State’s greek community are involved in many things besides their chapters, such as philanthropy, on-campus activities and Ames-area organizations.

Incoming students join chapters for many different reasons, and if you feel a greek chapter is for you, recruitment is a way to learn about each chapter and find your place within the greek community. 

Fraternities at Iowa State recruit on an informal, or year-round basis, which allows men to join organizations at any point throughout their collegiate experience. High school seniors may join a fraternity after Greek Visit Day, and throughout the summer prior to the beginning of their first semester. During orientation, the vice presidents of recruitment and the Office of Greek Affairs schedule informational sessions. Orientation is also a great time to tour fraternity houses and meet current members. If a student would like to wait until the fall, many chapters will hold informal recruitment events throughout the semester. 

Formal recruitment is the most common way to join a sorority that is part of the Panhellenic Council. Held each fall the week before classes begin, potential members will have the opportunity to view all Panhellenic organizations. Women have the opportunity to move into their assigned residence halls early and attend chapters each day. There are multiple rounds to formal recruitment, with each round having a different theme, such as “welcome weekend,” “sisterhood” and “philanthropy.” Many chapters will reach capacity during the formal recruitment process and greek members recommend women participate in formal recruitment before looking at informal recruitment. 

Panhellenic organizations also host informal recruitment, typically during the spring semester. When a sorority holds an informal recruitment event, it simply contacts a potential new member on its own or a student may contact the chapter currently recruiting, and the chapter will hold a series of informal events to get to know all of the potential members. Events include ice cream socials and dinner at the chapter house. 

Joining the greek community is just one of the many ways to get involved at Iowa State. For more information on the greek community at Iowa State and to learn how to sign up for fraternity and sorority recruitment, check out Iowa State’s greek community website, http://www.greek.iastate.edu/.