Story by Morgan Harlan | Staff Writer, Video by Julia Lawrenz | Broadcast Reporter
Baylor’s newest sorority, Alpha Phi, made its first official step onto campus last week during Baylor’s formal Panhellenic sorority recruitment. Formal recruitment at Baylor consists of four days in total: open house day, philanthropy day, preference day and bid day. Each potential new member is assigned a schedule and invited to visit each chapter throughout the week. This year, Alpha Phi participated in open house day to educate potential new members about joining Baylor’s Alpha Phi chapter.
Members of Alpha Phi from various universities such as University of Mississippi, University of Texas, University of North Texas and Texas Tech University came to run the activities in the Alpha Phi room. The women in attendance shared general information about their organization, membership and philanthropy.
Lizzie Riordan, an active member of the Omega chapter of Alpha Phi located at University of Texas, was one of the Alpha Phi members helping out.
“Open house was really just getting the word out about Alpha Phi,” Riordan said.
She said the Alpha Phi representatives knew many of the women going through recruitment would end up in other sororities, but they were hoping to potentially reach their friends and roommates who didn’t attend formal recruitment.
Every woman going through recruitment visited the Alpha Phi room on the first day. Denison freshman Aubyn Thompson participated in formal recruitment and visited Alpha Phi the first day.
“It was really cool to see national Alpha Phi representatives there making sure everything went as planned,” Thompson said. “They put in a lot of time and effort into their open house such as staying up super late to learn and come up with songs.”
Baylor Panhellenic Council has spent many hours completing the final touches to welcome the new Greek organization, according to Maddie Brooks, Baylor’s Panhellenic Council President. Brooks has been a part of Alpha Phi’s admission process since the early stages of development.
“Alpha Phi fraternity provides students with an exciting opportunity to help establish a new organization and become a founding member of a new chapter,” Brooks said.
Brooks also met with the Alpha Phi consultants and advisers and introduced them to other chapters on campus to give them insight into Baylor’s rush process.
On Jan. 29, Baylor’s Alpha Phi will start its own recruitment and undergo its first bid day at Baylor on Feb. 6. The recruitment process will consist of two open events, a personal interview and then two invitational events. To supplement the chapter’s team and advisers, Alpha Phi will be sending two full-time Educational Leadership Consultants for the first two years of the chapter. The chapter’s new member fees are still to be determined.
According to the official Alpha Phi website, there are over 170 chapters and 200,000 members across the nation. Interested potential new members for the Baylor Alpha Phi chapter can visit, https://www.bayloralphaphi.com to learn more information.
