The house identities of Sigma Rho Chis are shrouded in secrecy, but the purpose they serve during sorority recruitment is clear.
“Basically, they’re (the women going through recruitment’s) mothers,” said Shelby Williams, vice president of recruitment for the Panhellenic Council at the University of Idaho.
Once the 20 Rho Chis — or recruitment counselors — are selected, Panhellenic makes sure there is no way they can be identified in relation to their house. At the very least, this entails going into chapters and covering composite photos, but Williams said it can involve a lot more.
“One year there was a Rho Chi running for ASUI, so we had to cover her flyers too,” Williams said.
Recruitment counselors help the women through the stress of recruitment, which can lead to the recruits becoming very close with the counselors. Kelsey Cooper, PHC vice president of Public Relations and former Rho Chi, said the secrecy is to prevent swaying recruits to join their chapters. She said she had to be wary of some of the more mischievous women in her recruitment group.
“You have to watch out, because sometimes the girls try to trick you into telling them what chapter you are a part of,” Cooper said.
Williams said despite the precautions they take, it is almost inevitable that some recruits will find out which chapter their Rho Chi belongs to.
“You know sometimes the Rho Chi will have a sister or a friend who comes through recruitment,” Williams said. “It is very hard to keep it a complete secret, but we usually just tell the girls not to tell the other girls. They usually respect that.”
Cooper said Rho Chis get a chance to bond with each other and the members of PHC, during Vandal Friday. Cooper said it wasn’t as hard as she expected to keep her chapter a secret.
“I thought it would be really hard, but once I met the girls I realized it was really about them,” Cooper said. “It really wasn’t that hard to keep my chapter a secret.”
The week before recruitment is spent training the Rho Chis. Cooper said during training, they woke up early and did role-playing exercises to learn how to serve as counselors during recruitment.
Recruitment then begins with Conversation Day.
“We take each group of girls from house to house where they talk to a few members to see how they fit in,” Williams said.
Williams said the next day the girls get house tours to see what day to day life in each chapter is like. On the third day, the chapters show off their philanthropies.
“Philanthropy Day can get pretty emotional, because these philanthropies mean a lot to people,” Williams said.
As recruitment progresses the number of choices for each recruit diminishes. Williams said this pressure comes to a head on Preference Day, when the girls get down to their last two chapters. The girls indicate which chapters they would like to join using a computer program. Their choices are sent to the chapters, where they mark which girls they are interested in before sending them back, Williams said.
Cooper said this process took an emotional toll on her.
“I got really invested in what the girls in my recruitment group wanted,” Cooper said. “So it was really hard if they didn’t get what they wanted, but we just had to not let that show and continue to be there for them.”
Williams said although the week is stressful, it is all worth it come Bid Day.
“We take all the girls to the Ag Sci 103,” Williams said. “We build anticipation and pass out the bid cards. Once the girls get together with their pledge class, we tell them to go home. They all lock arms and run to their chapters.”
Cooper said serving as a Rho Chi was one of the best experiences she’s had at UI.
“You learn a lot about yourself,” Cooper said. “How you deal with people, and how you are going to feel under lots of stress and little sleep. You form a really great bond with the women of Panhellenic, your Rho Chi partner and all the other Rho Chis. I created some friendships that I know are going to last the rest of my life, so that was really special.”
Applications to serve as a Rho Chi can be found at uidaho.edu in the Greek Life section under the forms and policies. They are due at 5 p.m. Friday in the Dean of Students Office.
Andrew Deskins can be reached at [email protected]