Remembering Recruitment

Since the beginning of our Fraternity, welcoming new members has been one of our most time-honored traditions. It is an honor to engage individuals with unique backgrounds, as well as various talents and pursuits, and welcome them to Alpha Phi. From the early days when inviting new members came from one-on-one conversations, to songs and skits as introductions, to today’s multi-day themed festivities, recruitment has evolved as our campus communities and members evolved. Recruitment offers members the opportunity to remember the reasons why they joined Alpha Phi. Each new generation of members strengthen Alpha Phi, the connections her members have to one another and Greek life as a whole.

Alpha Phi has helped refine the recruitment process across National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities. Alumnae Laura Malley-Schmitt (Zeta Phi-MIT), past International President and longtime volunteer, and Tara Reimer (Zeta OmicronJohns Hopkins) also a longtime volunteer, developed

Release Figure Methodology (RFM), an analysis program that is used to determine the number of opportunities each sorority has to welcome members to their chapter. The program has transformed the way NPC organizations approach the recruitment process since it launched in 2002. Today, over 500 campuses use RFM.

The NPC Connection

Panhellenic connections have always been close to Alpha Phi’s heart. Past International President Margaret Mason Whitney (Theta-Michigan) saw challenges and thought working collectively across national sororities could offer solutions, so she invited leaders of seven prominent sororities to what became known as the first formal meeting of the Inter-Sorority Conference (known today as NPC) on May 24, 1902. While smaller gatherings preceded that 1902 meeting, it was following Margaret’s invitation that the groups began working together in earnest.