Off-Campus On-Campus Involvement: Greek Life Edition

Virtual sorority recruitment was all the rage just a few weekends ago. But now that bids have been offered and accepted, how are virtual sisters coping with a socially-distanced new member period?

The Edge caught up with Abby Goretsy, a first year student who is currently taking classes online from Virginia and participated in virtual rush. Goretsky recently joined Kappa Delta and gave us some insight into how she connects with her sorority and being a new member through Zoom.

“My experience going into a sorority while at home has been weird, but good,” Goretsky says. “There are definitely moments where it’s a little awkward because they’re doing pictures with small groups and I can’t make it, but everyone has been super understanding. Plus all of our activities have been online, so I have still been able to participate”. 

Goretsky shares that some of her other Kappa Delta sisters also are participating in sorority life while living at home, and how this has affected their new period of being a sorority member.

“I honestly went back and forth with my decision to rush,” she says. “Then the fact that everything was virtual really helped me make my choice. Plus being at home, it’s hard to make connections with people. I have friends at Elon, but it just didn’t feel the same as it would’ve if I was there. I wanted to make those connections, and I knew from my family that a sorority would be a perfect place to do that.” 

Because the recruitment process and new-member period have never been done virtually before, sororities are adapting to the new terms and creating more activities completely online. Gathering large groups right now during the pandemic is obviously not permitted and therefore most sororities have had to completely move new member activities online. This helped Goretsky because everyone else was completing the activities online with her. 

“To get us involved, the sorority has done some game nights with just our pledge class and another one with other pledge classes,” she says. “I went to both and they were super fun. We also had a new member retreat over Zoom where we really got to know our pledge class. Plus they always make sure to have plans in place for me and other girls who are at home. For example, they have a few choices for big/little reveals that bigs get to choose from.” 

Goretsky assures us that her sorority had been working really hard to get everyone involved, even if the girls were living off-campus and participating at home. Although she sometimes feels disconnected from her sorority since she isn’t on campus, she says that older girls have been making a big effort to get her involved and feel connected.

“I mean I am still just getting to know a lot of the girls, but I do feel connected to the sorority,” she shares. “There are some moments where I feel a little disconnected, but honestly my big has been helping a lot. This week was our big/little week and even though I’m at home, she has made it super special by sending stuff to me, making sure I still feel connected and special.” 

Goretsky left us with some final notes and pros and cons which she takes from the whole situation: “I don’t really have any concerns for being remote and just having joined a sorority. Everything is online right now, so I’m not too worried about missing anything. Some cons of being remote, though, are that you miss out on the big things. Like we did a big/little reveal and I was on Zoom. It was still so great, but I would have loved to have been there to take pictures and hug my amazing big.”  

Instead of “running home” to Greek houses, this year many new sorority members just had to click a Zoom link. Photo from pexels.com.

Still, Goretsky also discusses how because we are in a pandemic, she is missing a lot less than she would during regular rush. 

“The pros are that I’m really not missing much other than that. We have meetings online, we are learning about the sorority online, and initiation will be online. I may as well be at home. Plus it was nice having my entire closet available to choose what to wear during recruitment”. 

Overall, Gorestky’s recruitment process from home has been great and she feels just as connected as other members who are on campus due to most of the activities being on Zoom. This pandemic is completely new for everyone, and sororities are learning how to adjust and include all members wherever they reside.