What It's Like Being A Rho Gamma

The role of the Rho Gamma is to assist women going through the recruitment process. We are trained to help them make their decision when choosing which Sorority they want to join. We are their guides, but more importantly we are their friends.

With the global pandemic however, our roles changed slightly. Recruitment was moved to virtual instead of in person because of the virus. School was also moved to hybrid classes, and gave people the option to go completely virtual. Because of this, the school was nervous they would loose a lot of their students.

They put the pressure on us to retain as many students as possible who were also going through the recruitment process. So what did that mean?

Our training, which was usually done in person, was now virtual and throughout the summer. On top of that we were in charge of our own group of girls and were required to partake in at least four activities with them virtually(once again, retention).

Before recruitment started rho gammas were required to disassociate from their sorority. That meant we couldn’t have our sorority greek letters in our social media bios, any stickers that linked us to our sorority had to be covered, and we couldn’t wear any clothes that had the sorority the we belonged to names on it.

This year, recruitment was a week long process instead of the three day weekend we usually had. During this time, my phone was constantly buzzing. I was in a group chat with my fellow rho gammas and Panhellenic council that was constantly going off with reminders, updates, questions, motivational messages, and momentary freak outs.

If it wasn’t that group chat, then it was the group chat that contained all 15 of the potential new members who were going through recruitment that I was in charge of. I was constantly sending them reminders, links, gifs, pictures, and motivational songs. I reminded them all day that I was there for them if they needed me, and they could always reach out. As a result, they were reaching out with questions, concerns, or pure boredom between parties. My screen time went up 60% that weekend.

As a result, I didn’t get much sleep that weekend. Personally, I felt pressure to keep the girls in the process. I wanted them to run home just like I did, I wanted them to be just as happy as I was. This thought kept me up at night, and if it wasn’t that, then it was the constant buzzing of my phone (of course).

When it was all over though, I found myself crying. I loved every minute of being a rho gamma. I loved the training on Zoom with the other girls talking about random things but also learning. I loved virtually meeting my potential new members. I loved getting to know each and every one of them, and I especially loved being able to watch them get their bids and see them virtually run home to their chosen sorority.

I got so many thank you’s from the girls. They thanked me for being their friend during the scary and tough process. They thanked me for counseling them, virtually holding their hands while waiting for their schedules/bids. As the thank you’s flowed in I couldn’t help but pat myself on the back.

This was exactly what I wanted when I applied to be a Rho Gamma. I wanted to be there for my girls and help them, and to hear that was exactly what I did? I couldn’t help but feel really content, especially since this was my last year recruiting, and I had the honor of helping new girls find their new homes.