Greek Life Welcomes New Members on Bid Day

Trinity Greek Life celebrates Bid Day on Friday
Photos by Samantha Luzader

By Samantha Luzader

Despite the dreary weather, hundreds of Trinity Greek Life students gathered around the Miller Fountain on Friday to celebrate the annual Bid Day.

The students came dressed in every outfit imaginable, from tutus to body paint to roller skates, in bright color and interesting materials. The campus around the fountain was abuzz with excitement and fun, as each organization got ready to welcome their new members.

Older members meet the new members on Murchison lawn, and then run them up the fountain, where their new club waits to welcome them.

"Bid Day’s just really exciting," said Monty McKeon, a sophomore and member of Omega Phi, because the recruitment "is months long and we’ve spent a lot time getting to know these guys, and it’s exciting to finally welcome them into the club.” 

Bid Day marks the ending of yearly Greek recruitment and the start of new cohorts of each organization. Unlike some schools where recruitment might last around a week, Trinity’s recruitment process spans from mid-October to February. During the four-month period, potential new members (PNMs) get to know each organization and its members before deciding to join one of the six fraternities or seven sororities at Trinity.

Assistant Director for Student Involvement Jeremy Allen said that the reason for such a long recruitment process is so that first year students can “get into the swing of things academically,” before committing to Greek Life, which could be time consuming. The long process also provides plenty of time to allow freshmen to get to know the organizations, Allen added.

Each PNM can rank up to three organizations that he or she is interested in joining and then the organizations vote on who they want to take. In the days leading up to Bid Day, the Greek Council matches PNMs with organizations and on Bid Day extends the bids, or invitations to join an organization, to each new member.

Nearly 200 bids were extended on Friday, but members did not know whether or not their bid were accepted until the new members showed up at the fountain.

After the frenzy of photo taking, hugs and excitement, the new members start the month long orientation where they will learn about their organization’s traditions and rules.

“It was an overwhelming experience," said first-year student Caroline Wall, who became a new member of Sigma Theta Tau on Friday. "Girls I didn’t even know were hugging me and I knew they were going to be my family forever. I knew then I would always have sisters to lean on and to love. I was excited to be a part of something so big and so precious.”