With a New Semester Comes Another Introduction Night for the Greek Community
Meet the Greeks was held on Tuesday, February 5 at 10:00 pm in the Multipurpose Activity Center.
“The purpose of Meet the Greeks is for the fraternity and sorority community to join together in order to showcase their chapters and reach out to potential new members interested in Greek life,” stated Vic Nazario, Greek Senate President. Meet the Greeks is the initial step within the process of joining both fraternities and sororities in Greek life at the University.
10 representatives from each chapter are chosen to attend Meet the Greeks with the duty of informing potential members about their specific organization. They are asked to decorate a table with their individual letters, pictures, banners and other symbols in order to represent their chapters and provide an idea of who they are as an organization. Students are asked to sign a list at each organization’s table which they are interested in and provide their name, student ID and GPA as the first step towards formal recruitment.
Assistant Director of Student Activities for Fraternity and Sorority Life, Jon Buchalski, further explained the event by stating, “Meet the Greeks is usually a preliminary contact for people to meet each chapter at the beginning of recruitment. You hope students meet as many members of organizations they are interested in as possible in order to find their match and begin their journey into Greek life.”
This was the second consecutive semester Meet the Greeks was held within the MAC. “Having this event in the MAC is just the start of positive changes to come. These changes come in steps, but each step shines a positive light on Greek life and all it has to offer,” Nazario continued, “I just want to be able to come back in the future and see how these small steps have improved down the road, such as encouraging more students within the Monmouth community to learn more about Greek life, having more overall potential new members, as well as increase the cooperation between each chapter and work closely together to achieve all of these goals.”
Nazario notes how special this last Meet the Greeks is to him, being a senior of the Greek life community. His passion for not only his fraternity, Theta Xi, but for the wellness of all chapters at the University shows how close-knit this community truly is. “We have the ability to control our destiny as the Greek life here at Monmouth, and I hope we all take steps towards making that destiny a place that more people desire to become a part of.”
Alessandra Buonincontri and Stephanie Friscia, potential new members and attendants of Meet The Greeks, both displayed their excitement for joining Greek life and how they can both hardly wait for the recruitment process to begin. “I’m so excited to meet some new girls and make even more friends by joining a sorority. Everyone is so welcoming,” Buonincontri stated. Friscia agreed by explaining, “Everyone seems so genuinely excited for us new girls coming out. All of the chapters are so friendly and inviting!”
Lambda Theta Alpha Sorority Incorporated put on their traditional performance of the night. It is custom for the sisters of this sorority to “stroll.” The rest of the Greek life community, as well as the potential new members, stood back in silence as they watched the sisters of LTA dance their hearts out. This performance exhibited sisterhood and pride of their sorority. The sisters of LTA have been featuring their traditions ever since their foundation in 1975.
Meet the Greeks leads to the process of Round Robin, which is the next mandatory step within the procedure of joining either a fraternity or sorority.
Casey McCabe, Chief Panhellenic Officer, is assisting in the formation of Round Robin this year. McCabe explains, “Round Robin is the overall process which matches potential new members with their best fit fraternity or sorority.”
The three-day process allows potentials to meet each separate chapter, while the chapters have the ability to explain who they are, what they stand for, and the benefits of joining their organization.
McCabe went on to say, “Throughout this process, potentials are able to narrow down the organization of which they feel is their perfect fit, while chapters also collaborate with these preferences in order to choose who they feel should receive a bid in return.”
“Joining Greek life enhances your college experience at Monmouth University,” McCabe added, “It is such an amazing community to be a part of and I could not be more excited for everyone who decided to come out and join this year.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Erin Bukowski
