By: Nora Carroll

After a summer away, the fall semester doesn’t just bring back classes, but it kicks off one of the most anticipated traditions in Greek Life: Bid day! 

A bid is more than just an invitation to join a fraternity or sorority. For many students, it represents the moment they find their home away from home. Receiving a bid is about so much more than just joining a chapter; it is about discovering a community where students can lead, serve, and grow together.

For many in Greek life, recruitment is about building lifelong connections, but it takes time to find the perfect fit!

The membership teams in each chapter work very hard year–round to prepare for both formal and informal recruitment. Madison Looker, Alpha Xi Delta’s Recruitment Data Director, shared what informal recruitment looks like for her chapter: “To start our preparation for recruitment and bid day, we look into reaching out to as many girls as possible to make sure that they’re informed of our open suite events, as well as things like the organization fair where they can come, and not only interact with us, but interact with other Greek life organizations.”

On the other hand, fraternities approach things a little differently. Robert Bailey, Chi Phi’s Chapter President, explained what their recruitment preparation looks like: “As far as prep as President, I do the most prep with writing the bid cards for the PNMs, and our recruitment officer makes a presentation of all the PNMs.”

That preparation pays off in moments like bid day, when new members finally get to celebrate finding their home. Across campus, the energy is unmistakable. With everything from t-shirts, painted banners, to loud cheers and music blasting, there truly is nothing quite like bid day.

“The morning of bid day I was so excited,” Savannah Hose, a member of Alpha Delta Pi’s Alpha Class this fall, explains, “I couldn’t wait to open my bid card and run home to my new sisters. The anticipation killed me all day. Seeing all of the girls celebrating us warmed my heart. The smiles on their faces truly made me feel like it was my home.”

This season is about more than increasing numbers, it’s about finding a place you belong. 

“Bringing a new pledge class means everything for the growth of our chapter,” Bailey expresses, “not only does it hopefully mean growth with the amount of new members you get it also means the chapter will live on and hopefully continue to grow.”

So as the seasons change, and the cheers slowly stop echoing across campus, Greek Life chapters will continue to look forward to building the future, building their organizations, one new member at a time.

Photo by: Nora Carroll