The New Member Education Process

Once recruitment is over, new sorority members are eager to find their places in their chapters and begin forging bonds that will last a lifetime. But what happens after Bid Day?

After potential new members accept their bid, they begin meeting and growing relationships with the other sorority women and learning more about their new sorority and expectations of membership all before they are initiated as full members of the sorority.

Most chapters have a system in place to help these women transition into sisterhood and cultivate a real sense of belonging. For many chapters, it starts with being partnered with an initiated sorority woman on Bid Day who welcomes a new member home and introduces her to others in the chapter. They may also pair up a new member with a different initiated sister each week to help her get to know as many sisters as possible. This allows new members to begin growing relationships and have trusted women in the chapter who she can go to with any questions or concerns.

The New Member Process

Throughout the new member process, new members have the opportunity to connect with other sisters, learn the organization’s history, be paired with their big and prepare for initiation.

New Member Education

One important person in the chapter for new members is the new member educator. This sister may have a different role name depending on the organization, but her role as a chapter officer is essentially the same across all sororities. This is the sister who helps new members make connections with other chapter members and prepares new members for initiation by teaching chapter history, tradition and responsibilities. This is often called the new member education process. The new member educator is a key resource for questions, concerns and advice. Early on, she may help coordinate a new member retreat, allowing new members to bond together.

Going through the new member education process with other new members can create some of the deepest and most enduring friendships between sorority women. The new member class is made up of other women who you enter the sisterhood with and through this new shared experience, many strong relationships can grow. This new member class will soon be the sisters welcoming future new members and sharing the sorority experience with them.  

Big and Little

For both new and current members, one of the most anticipated and exciting relationships is the big sister and little sister pairing. Social media images show happy duos celebrating at big and little reveals, working at philanthropy events and hanging out at socials events. While the big and little relationship can be a great friendship, it is first and foremost a mentorship.

A big sister is there to help her little sister acclimate to both sorority and college life. This relationship can take time to grow into a deep and close bond as both the big and little learn more about one another. Both the big and little sisters should find ways to spend more time together in an effort to learn more about the other person. This is a great way to learn how both the big and little can support each other.

Initiation

All this relationship building is in place to prepare new members for full membership through initiation. During the new member education process, a chapter’s newest sisters learn all the public information about their sorority. During the initiation ceremony, they finally learn all the secret rituals, mottos, missions and symbol meanings unique to their sorority. Initiated sisters protect this knowledge as sacred and that creates a bond that connects sisters for a lifetime – not only within their own chapters but with those at different campuses and across generations.