Sorority Bid Day to take place day earlier
By Brent Yarina
Staff Reporter

To prevent students from missing the first day of classes, next year’s Bid Day for sororities will be a day earlier than in the past, Stephanie Williams, Panhellenic adviser, said.

“We want students to know they are here for class,” Williams said. “By moving Bid Day, students won’t have any conflicts preventing them from attending the first day of class.”

Next year, Williams said, Bid Day will be Aug. 26.

Kim Carpenter, vice president of membership for Kappa Alpha Theta, said she understands the university’s decision to change Bid Day but it was not necessary.

“The process of rush, especially Bid Day, wasn’t broken so why fix it,” Carpenter said.
She said sorority members and new members were never forced to miss the first day of class as a result of Bid Day. Instead, Carpenter said the only classes students missed were Wednesday night classes and that an individual could make special arrangements with their sorority, allowing them to skip Bid Day and attend class.

But Williams said the decision to move Bid Day to Tuesday will also prevent incoming students from missing university events that are designed for freshmen.

“The university schedule in August is very tight and we don’t want to monopolize the university,” she said. “We’re trying to make an effort to not make anything of higher importance. We want all the students to see everything the university has to offer in addition to recruitment.”

To accommodate for the change next year, Williams said round one of recruitment will no longer consist of two days. She said sororities will combine the first round of recruitment and its 11 events into one day.

Williams said combining the first two days’ events into one day serves as the only logical solution because it allows every following sorority event to be moved up. Consequently, the university is still able to “cater” to the needs of students who are interested in joining a sorority through Howdy Week and orientation, she said.

Amanda Buschman, president of Zeta Tau Alpha, said she does not expect any negative effects from the university’s decision. She said the first round will be no different than the second or third round and that it is “fair game,” because every other sorority has to deal with the changes.

“I agree and fully support the decision so we don’t miss any school,” Buschman said. “Skipping classes isn’t a good way to show new students that we care about academics.”

b.j.yarina@tcu.edu