Conversation Topics

Hi ladies!

My name is Lauren McGreevy and I am the Panhellenic President. First off, congratulations on making the two best decisions of your college career: choosing to come to Clemson and going through recruitment! I can assure you that these next few years will be the best of your lives!

During recruitment you'll be doing a lot of talking. You'll be talking to your Pi Chis, your Pi Chi groups, and especially current sorority women during rounds. Recruitment can definitely be a stressful and overwhelming process because you are constantly meeting new people, so it's always good to have some "go-to" conversation topics that really display your values and who you are. Before you start getting overwhelmed, remember that that the sorority women will be preparing to talk to you so don't feel like you have to lead the conversation! These tips and topics are just suggestions of what you can talk about.

1. Leadership Experiences (from high school, summer, etc.):
Greek life is a great platform to gain leadership experience. You could be the future President of your chapter or Recruitment chair or heck you can even be the future President of Panhellenic! Sorority women want to see that leadership potential in you so sharing past leadership activities is a great topic. For instance, if you were in Student Council, Junior Civitans, a charity organization, etc. these are great things to bring up. That being said, make sure you bring it up in the nature flow of conversation. No need to recite your resume!

2. Volunteer Experiences:
One of the core values of Panhellenic chapters is service. We pride ourselves on giving back. The second round of recruitment is service round and this would be a great time to bring up your experiences! Service can be through raising money through charity events or providing service through your time. Telling the women about your experiences can be a great segway into learning more about what that particular sorority is passionate about and for you to communicate your values.

3. Opportunities at Clemson:
Clemson is a fantastic place to get involved within and outside of Greek life. As a community, we encourage you to reach out to other organizations that peek your interest and get involved! There are so many opportunities such as inter-murals, charity organizations, and other social organizations as well. This is something you can bring up with sorority women during rounds. You can let them know about what you want to get involved in and also ask them what they are involved in outside of Greek life. This is a great way to find out what Clemson has to offer!

4. The most important tip we can give you is to be yourself. As cliché as it sounds, it is so important! There are twelce amazing and unique Panhellenic chapters. To find the one that fits you best, you have to be open and honest throughout the process.

We cannot wait to meet you all during recruitment!

Go Tigers!

Guest Blog: Order of Omega

My name is Ali and I am the Vice President of Public Relations for Order of Omega.  You’re probably wondering, what in the world is Order of Omega? You may have been in an honor society at your high school (i.e. National Honor Society, NEHS, NHHS, etc. etc.). If so, then you already know what Order of Omega is. Just as your high school society makes up a small percentage of greatness within it, so does Order of Omega make up a small percentage of the greatness within the Greek community.  We are a premier leadership honor society that represents the top 3% of Greeks.  We are typically juniors and seniors, but we are students who have exemplified scholarship, leadership, involvement, service and a passion for Greek life and our local community. If you decide to go Greek, you should also make the decision to strive for greatness in your time at Clemson and Order of Omega is one of the ways we can recognize that.  We hope to see you in our society in a couple years, but until then keep striving for greatness! 

Order of Omega gets to put on some awesome events throughout the year from awards banquets to competitions to charity events for the community.  We get the distinct honor of recognizing individuals in the Greek community who are changing the world (or our community) through a program called Greek of the Month each month.  Our mentoring program pairs struggling underclassmen with a great upperclassman role model to help with academics and whatever else they need. 

All in all, Order of Omega is so much more than an honor society.  It is an opportunity to not only honor the current excellence at Clemson, but to be a part of the continuing excellence at Clemson through leadership, scholarship, involvement, service, and above all, a passion for our university and the Greek community.

2014 Order of Omega Executive Board

What to Wear

All PNMs ask "What should I wear for recruitment?" Recruitment starts out casual and gets increasingly dressy as the week goes on. 
Clothing requirements vary from round to round, so we've created this post for ideas and inspiration (not as a specific shopping page.) Please use these fashions as a template for the kinds of looks both sorority women and potential new members will be wearing. The following are examples of appropriate apparel to wear for fall formal recruitment!

Round 1: Open House
Your provided PNM t-shirt will serve as your top for this round. Casual shorts, pants, a skirt and comfortable shoes are most appropriate to wear for these events. 

This round will last two days. You will be visiting a whole new set of sororities on the second day, so it is completely fine to wear the same outfit two days in a row. 

 

Round 2: Philanthropy

This round is a bit dressier, but still pretty casual. Dress will include shorts or a skirt with a top, sundresses, and comfortable shoes.

 

Round 3: Sisterhood Round
This round is a more formal than the previous rounds. Sundresses and skirts with comfortable shoes are the most appropriate.

 

Round 4: Preference Round

This is the most formal round of recruitment. Dresses or skirts and dressy shoes are appropriate to wear.

      

Social Media Clean-up

It goes without saying that first impressions matter. Your social media represents who you are and you want to be sure that you're representing yourself in the best light possible.

Take a look at some tips to clean up social media to ensure you're recruitment ready:

1. Change your profile picture to a simple, cute one of only you. Just to be safe, stay away from any pictures of you holding a beverage of any kind.
2. Put your profiles on private. You can allow your profile picture to be seen, but people who are not your friends cannot view. On Twitter you can set your profile to private too. You have to approve all followers on this setting.
3. Put uploaded and tagged pictures on private. We all have those friends that tag us in those not so glamorous pictures.
4. Put only things that show the best you on your information pages. Think of it like your résumé.
5. It’s probably safe to say that we are Pinterest machines! Take a look at your Pinterest boards. Make sure that none of them are dedicated to something that isn’t appropriate.
6. Don't post about recruitment during recruitment. This may seem like common sense, but as they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

By rule of thumb, if you wouldn’t want your parents or grandparents to see it, don’t post it.

Google yourself. Would you be proud to see what shows up?  What things have you done to clean up your profile?

Guest Blog: Greek Programming Board

Hello! My name is Emily Elliott and I am the Director of Special Events for Greek Programming Board. 

Greek Programming Board, also known as GPB, is a board of 11 members from all three councils (CPC, IFC and NPHC). Our purpose is to promote unity among the three governing Greek councils. We achieve this goal through philanthropic, educational and social events for all of the Greek Community.

This past year we hosted philanthropy events open to all Greek students such as serving at the soup kitchen, packing Christmas gifts at Country Santa, and playing with puppies at the local animal shelter. Every year we host a Greek wide service trip to the Dominican Republic to build a house. This trip is an amazing opportunity to meet other Greeks, travel abroad and serve those in need.

The Greek community truly comes together at our social events. This year's events included a live concert by the John King Band and a senior mixer for all of the graduating Greek students. Our two main events serve both a social and philanthropic purpose. In the fall we host the Student Memorial 5K to raise money for the Student Memorial Chapel.  The Clemson University Student Memorial Chapel and Garden is a proposed on-campus building where students of all faiths can come to pray, meditate and remember students who have passed away before their expected graduation date. We host a 5K run and walk on campus and have a celebration of life in the quad afterwards with food, drinks and a live band. 

Every spring we host Greek Week. Did your high school have a spirit week? Greek Week is very similar. Greek Week is series of weeklong events including a kickball tournament, trivia night, karaoke night, field day and dance competition. Teams are made up of organizations from all three councils to promote Greek unity and allow members to get to know one another. This past year the week was Olympic themed, and our chosen charity was the Special Olympics. We raised awareness of mental and physical disabilities here on Clemson’s campus by partnering with the ClemsonLife program. We also raised over $4000 for the Special Olympics through a change war competition. Greek Week is the best week of the year because the entire Greek community comes together to battle it out for the gold!

Go Greek and Go Tigers!

2014 Greek Programming Board

While in the Dominican Republic on the Greek wide service trip members did more than just build a house, they also got to play with the children in the community. 

Greek Week team Swimming celebrate their win in kickball.