The greek community expanded a couple of weeks ago when A&M’s newest sorority turned a tent into a formal recruiting area.
While Alpha Omicron Pi holds a large presence in the United States with more than 180 chapters nationally, Aggie AOII came to campus only a year ago. After spending the past academic year establishing their sisterhood, AOII participated in this fall’s formal panhellenic recruitment for the first time alongside twelve other chapters.
Taylor Clark, agricultural communication and journalism senior, was a colony member who had the opportunity of being a part of the chapter’s very first pledge class. Clark is the current vice president of membership recruitment for AOII, and witnessed the non-traditional idea of holding recruitment in a tent develop into a successful event.
“Planning a recruitment with no background was difficult, but also very rewarding. I learned so much about myself and who I am as a leader,” Clark said. “More than anything, being in AOII has gotten me ready for the real world. It’s crazy to think of where I was at a year ago and how much I’ve grown since then.”
Megan Eschenfelder, special education junior, serves both on the philanthropy and recruitment committees. She went through recruitment her freshman year, but decided greek life wasn’t what she was looking for at the time. After involving herself in other organizations, she was interested when she heard of a new sorority coming to A&M.
“We did have some days during recruitment that were harder than others,” Eschenfelder said. “But the majority of the time, it was amazing. It was getting everyone to come together, even when things weren’t perfect [and] constantly looking around and seeing everyone smiling despite all the craziness. Just watching the potential new members come through made it all worth it.”
Hannah Hernandez, agricultural leadership and development senior, is the current chaplain for AOII. Hernandez has had the opportunity to get to know other members on a deeply personal level in her position, and is happy to have created a safe place for her sisters. Hernandez said the most challenging aspect of the formal recruiting process was the pressure to host it correctly for the first time.
“It was kind of like a guessing game every day, wondering if we were doing it right,” Hernandez said. “It was more of a ‘just be yourself’ thing with AOII. We didn’t really know what it looks like from the viewpoint of the potential new members. We just decided we were going to be who we are, and even if that’s not what everyone else does, we’re still going to be us.”
Madeline Cooke, education sophomore, is a new member in AOII in their fall 2017 pledge class. After a long week of formal recruitment, she is excited to get involved in AOII’s philanthropies and grow her relationships with her new sisters.
“The week was a little nerve-wracking,” Cooke said. “But as we got closer to the end, I started to find my home here. All the girls in AOII that I talked to during recruitment were super friendly, and I felt very comfortable.”
Emily Weesner, public health junior, is involved in AOII through both the philanthropy and the recruitment committees. When she transferred into A&M last spring, she joined AOII after a close friend encouraged her. Weesner went through AOII’s first new member period after the chapter finished colonization in January of 2017.
“This is our first year, so we’ve had to get things going and pave the way for the future of how we want this chapter to look,” Weesner said. “We get to watch it be built from the ground up. Recruitment was a lot different than what I thought it would be, because I never went through formal recruitment.There were very late nights, and very early mornings. But that’s where I met my closest friends now. I loved every second of it.”
Eschenfelder has found a community in AOII that upholds her values and pushes her to achieve her highest potential. She encourages others to view the greek community as the individuals who compose it.
“I think what I learned most on both sides of recruitment is that we’re all just people,” Eschenfelder said. “People join a sorority to find people. Every sorority is great, but it’s only a small part of each member. Recruitment is so much fun, but at the end of the day we’re all just trying to make friends.”