This month's guest blogger is Taylor Fonseca, Chapter Advisor for the Beta Epsilon Chapter, and Northshore Louisiana Area Alumnae Association President. Contributions were also provided by Britany Willard, Northshore Louisiana Area Alumnae Association Secretary.
Students are back on campus and recruitment songs are in the air. These are the signs that formal recruitment has commenced for the women of the Beta Epsilon Chapter. During this time of year, sisters bond together as they rehearse recruitment parties and talking points while preparing for the six days of recruitment at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana.
For many years, the Northshore Louisiana Area Alumnae Association (NLAAA) has been supportive of Beta Epsilon during their recruitment endeavors. There were times in the past where the alumnae would bring in food and treats for the chapter at different points during recruitment. This was a small way we could show our support, but we knew it wasn't quite enough. The alumnae on the chapter advisor board spoke with the collegians to find out what support they could really use to help them have their best recruitment season. We had plenty of alumnae willing to help, but we just needed to figure out how to make it work.
Within the past two years, we have implemented an annual recruitment event that NLAAA hosts for the collegian members a week before recruitment festivities begin. This event allows the chapter to run through their recruitment parties with alumnae members acting as potential new members. Using actual bodies to practice these events provided the collegian members with an overview of how the recruitment parties would work. Another aspect from this event that has been beneficial for the collegians, is hearing first-hand recruitment advice from alumnae members. Hearing advice from alums helped collegians understand different ways to recruit along with great conversational tips that can help in almost any situation.
This was our second year hosting this event and we decided to add an exciting twist. Similar to social and bid day themes, we wanted to bring something a little extra to this year’s recruitment event to help the collegians get rid of some of their nerves before recruitment and we called it Recruitment Round-Up. The theme was a great success and everyone had a great time dressing up in their best western wear and decorating the house to portray the Wild Wild West. We are already looking forward to what ideas we come up with for next year!
NLAAA hosted food and refreshments for both alumnae and collegian members to snack on and mingle before they showcased their recruitment parties. During the mingle session, Beta Epsilon had Theta Phi t-shirts and trinkets for sale for alumnae and collegian members. After everyone ate and things quieted down, it was finally time for the collegians to show us their hard work. The collegians ran through their recruitment parties and sang until everyone had recruitment songs stuck in their heads for the rest of the day. The day ended up being a great turn out with 18 alumnae members. The collegians always share their appreciation for the food, advice and friendly faces.
Recruitment is always an exciting time because it leads us to one of the happiest days of the year: BID DAY! Another way the NLAAA shows our support as alumnae members is by attending Bid Day. We want the chapter to know how proud we are of their hard work and dedication each year, so we like to help out on Bid Day any way we can. Bid day is always a huge celebration for us! There is food, music, dancing, pictures and catching up with sisters from over the years along with meeting our new ones who just joined. The collegians always take their Bid Day themes the extra mile with creativity and fun. This year’s theme was, “Color Run.” The collegians really went above and beyond decorating the house and dressing up to represent the theme. We had a great alumnae turnout of 30 people! As you can tell, we LOVE Bid Day!
We hope to continue our commitment and support to Theta Phi Alpha and the Beta Epsilon Chapter for many years to come. They say ‘it’s not four years, it’s for life,’ right?
YITBOS!