Registration confirmation:
Formal Membership Recruitment
Parents and family information
Your student is about to begin a week that will be full of activities and important decisions. The advantages of sorority life are numerous—leadership opportunities, scholastic achievement, community involvement, and friendship.
The Recruitment process will begin for your student at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 17. At the same time, we invite you to an optional parent and family session where we'll go over some helpful information and answer any last minute questions you may have. Please say your goodbyes prior to the 4:30 p.m. meetings.
Housing and phone service
Phone service will not be available in the residence hall rooms. Your student may want to bring a cellular phone if necessary. If you need to contact your daughter, the front desk phone number for Ford Hall, where your student will be residing, is 785-395-3136. The front desk will be staffed 24 hours a day.
Please note that during the day, your daughter will be unable to take calls and text messages as she will be engaged in recruitment events. We will encourage your student to leave her cell phone in the residence hall if she brings one.
In the case of emergency, please call our 24-hour recruitment hotline at 785-532-2807. This number will not be active until recruitment week. (Prior to recruitment week, questions may be directed the Greek Affairs staff at 785-532-5546.)
The residence halls will supply sheets, pillowcases, towels, a pillow, and a blanket. Make sure your student brings all her own toiletries and medications.
The halls will be locked at 11 p.m. each night. This is a very busy week and the women will not have much time for outside activities or contact with others.
Supporting your student during the recruitment process
Please encourage your student to come to recruitment with an open mind. She may have heard stories about each of the chapters, may be a legacy to one or more sororities, or have made the decision with a best friend that they are going to pledge the same sorority no matter what. These situations have the potential for creating disappointment, so please let your student know the importance of making decisions based on facts and on the women she meets in each sorority chapter. She’ll be the one living with the members for the next few years, so she should look for women she likes and a place where she feels comfortable and fits in.
In the event that your student chooses not to pledge or does not receive the optimum number of invitations, please be supportive. Help her to realize that there are many other options for involvement at K-State. No matter what the outcome of recruitment, she will have met many new people.
Recruitment is an emotional time for everyone. For many, it is their first experience away from home. It may be perceived as tense because so many decisions are required. It certainly is hectic, but it really is FUN!
Invitations to pledge are distributed on the evening of Thursday, August 21. New members will walk directly to the sorority house and spend Thursday night there. Those who have residence hall contracts can move into their permanent rooms on Friday, August 22, after noon. If your daughter moves in on Friday, there will be a $50 charge, regardless of whether or not she actually stays there that night. Regular move-in is Saturday, August 23.
Sending mail, gifts, and flowers
Many parents and family members send flowers and gifts during the week of recruitment. If you choose to do so, please send them to the following address clearly marked with your student's name. Do not send anything to the residence hall desk as staff members are unable to accept packages there.
Housing and Dining Services
Pittman Building
Attn: Sorority Recruitment
Manhattan, KS 66506
Do not send materials that will arrive after Wednesday—these will not make it to your student. Materials arriving on Thursday or Friday should be sent directly to the student's new chapter home. (See chapter addresses on the Greek Affairs website.)
In an effort to help parent and family members wishing to send flowers to their student at the end of the week, Greek Affairs provides a list to area florists of where students were invited to membership. Beginning Friday morning, all Manhattan area florists will have the complete bid list.
Financial responsibilities
Sororities require a financial commitment. The average cost of living in a sorority house is $2,813 per year. This includes room and board, local and national dues, social activities, and chapter operating expenses. When compared to the total residence hall package, sorority costs are quite comparable. Parents, families, and potential members will receive handouts about financial obligations at the August 17 orientation sessions.
If your student is a freshman or an upperclassman who will be living out of the chapter house this year, she will need to budget for a semester payment to the chapter of $697 on average. This payment will cover her dues and participation in all chapter activities. Usually members can pay these fees in smaller increments through the course of the semester. There may be additional expenses, which are optional, such as T-shirts for a philanthropy or party favors for a date at a social function.
In addition, whether your student lives in or out of the chapter facility, there are one-time only membership costs. These include a new member fee, initiation fee, badge fee, building fund, etc. These fees, paid during the first year of membership, average $571.