Annie Dalby wiped away tears as she hugged her sister, Lyndsay Dalby, after Lyndsay handed her a bid card, or invitation, to join Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority Monday afternoon.
The Dalby sisters, who are now also sorority sisters, are among the women who participated this past week in the greek system's Recruitment Week - the process of becoming an active sorority member - that culminated in invitations to join different houses Monday.
"We're sisters and now we're in the same house, so it means a lot," Annie Dalby said. "Our whole family has gone greek."
Men's recruitment has already ended.
"It's an awesome feeling that she's getting involved in the greek community," Lyndsay Dalby said. "I'm excited because she's chosen something important to her that's also important to me."
The process to pledge a fraternity or sorority is an intricate one and includes a number of events and ceremonies, said Lauren Filo, president of MSU's Panhellenic Council.
The recruitment process kicked off Sept. 14 with the Go Greek Barbecue, where members of sororities and fraternities mingled with potential new members, said Lyndsay Dalby, who is also the vice president for administration in the Panhellenic Council.
Spirit Day, held Sept. 18 at IM Sports-West, was an event where potential new members spent the day meeting active members from all the chapters. Potential members chose nine chapters to visit and learned about the specific fundraising efforts each sorority is involved with during Philanthropy Day, an annual Recruitement Week event which was held last Thursday and Friday, Lyndsay Dalby said.
Video Day, which was Saturday, had the potential new members select five sororities, tour the chapter houses and watch a slideshow about the chapter in order to become further acquainted with the sororities. Sunday's preference parties require the potential new members to choose three houses and participate in ceremonies unique to each house.
"At that point, everyone basically knows each other," Lyndsay Dalby said. "You'll usually see seniors cry because it's their last one."
The whole process ended Monday, when the potential new members received bid cards for one of the sororities they were interested in joining. The white cards, which are marked with a seal of a specific sorority, are given to the new members by rho gamma - current sorority members assigned to work with new recruits from each residence hall.
"We're from all different houses," said Heidi Zimmer, a rho gamma for Holden Hall. "Our purpose is to disaffiliate between the houses and help the pledges choose between houses and answer any questions they might have. I feel like I'm doing my job if they get into a house that they like."
After the potential new members receive their bid cards, they call the respective house they've received a bid card from and schedule a time for later that evening when their new sorority sisters will pick them up and take them to a sisterhood event. These events can be anything from bowling to putt-putt golf to ice skating, Filo said.
"My favorite part about this week has been meeting so many new people," Annie Dalby said.
"As an incoming freshman, it was really nice to be able to walk around campus and say hi to people."
