Bid Day

David R.

October 13, 2009 - 9:51 PM

"Bid Day" is the culmination of all of the hard work that the sororities and fraternities put into the recruitment period at the beginning of the fall term. Fraternities and sororities recruit new members in two very different ways.

When all of the guys arrive at the U of O for the fall term, many of them are encouraged to attend recruitment events that are put on by all of the different fraternities. This is the time when the current members of the fraternities are looking for new men who might potentially be good additions to their houses. Recruitment events commonly consist of things like barbecues at the house, football on the turf fields, bowling, movies, or basketball. As a freshman, I remember the overwhelming feeling of going through the recruitment process. I was pretty sure when I arrived that I wanted to join a fraternity, so the struggle for me was trying to see every house so that I could make a decision. The stress set in for a few reasons. First, I got calls from many different fraternities requesting that I come to their next event. I had to figure out some way to make it to these events, while still having enough time to do my homework. Secondly, I found a few houses that I liked from the very get go. When I received phone calls from the houses that I was relatively unfamiliar with, I was torn because I had to decide whether to go check out a new house, or whether I should go to another event being held by one of the houses that I already liked, in hopes of increasing my chances to receive a bid. For those who are unfamiliar, if a fraternity likes a certain guy, they will give him a bid which he can accept or decline. If he accepts, that means that he is going to begin his pledge process. As a pledge, one must learn important facts about the fraternity, and complete certain tasks, such as achieving a good GPA, in order to be eligible to become a full member during initiation week. There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a house, which can also be very stressful for some. I was stuck on two fraternities, both of which had given me a bid, for over a week, because I liked them both so much.

Sororities on the other hand are much different. While the fraternal recruitment period lasts about a month, the sorority recruitment period lasts about five consecutive days. Any sorority member will tell you that the recruitment period is one of the most stressful times of the year. From Thursday to Tuesday, sorority members spend hours on end talking to all of the girls who are going through rush. This year, there were nearly 650 girls who went through the sorority rush process. On Saturday, from ten in the morning to nearly five at night, the sororities are talking to those rushing, trying to determine which girls would be good for the house, and which ones might not fit in. As the fraternal recruitment process is rather relaxed, due to the extended period of time, the sorority recruitment is very tense and stressful, as the members only have a few days to decide who should be in their house.

"Bid Day" is the day when all of the stress finally turns in to joy, as each fraternity and sorority finally knows who their new pledges will be for the new year. All of the fraternities meet on the lawn outside of the PLC building. The new pledges from each fraternity go inside to have a quick meeting while all of the members wait outside. At the end of the meeting, the pledges run outside and join the others from their house. At this point each fraternity partakes in a ritualistic chant relative to their house. After which, the pledges are told to sprint to their houses. Similarly, the new sorority pledges meet by the recreation center. This is where they discover what house they are in. Once they know, they are also instructed to sprint to their houses. After all of the girls are back to their sororities many of the fraternities will pile into cars and trucks, and drive around to all of the sororities, whose members are outside, yelling and chanting in support of the new pledge classes. After which most houses have some activity planned to congratulate their new pledges. "Bid Day" is only a glimpse at some of the fun that greeks have at the University of Oregon.