A common winter rush moment: a small group of girls enjoy desserts and hot cocoa in front of the image of a fireplace on a television, taking a break from their evening of board games.
A common fall rush moment: hundreds of students walk up Hilgard Avenue in dresses and heels, stopping at every sorority house on the row until many have lost their voices.
The difference: about 100 participants in winter, as opposed to about 700 in fall, according to Greek adviser Troy Bartels.
Winter recruitment, which began on Jan. 11 and has no official end date, is an opportunity for sororities to interact with a small pool of potential members in an informal atmosphere.
“It’s an event that helps showcase our sisterhood and how we like to do things together,” said Amy Kalnoki, the Alpha Chi Omega chapter consultant, referring to the evening of desserts and games.
Although commonly referred to as “rush” by students, the Panhellenic Council, which is made up of students, enforces the formal title of “recruitment” to dispel the negative implication of drinking and especially hazing associated with the term “rush.”
“We try to stay away from anything related to hazing,” said Alyx Darensbourg, the Panhellenic vice president of membership.
Many sororities use winter to target and appeal to students who have already shown interest in their organization.
UCLA’s Panhellenic Council creates a list of students who have attended past events or expressed interest in joining a sorority and gives this list to sorority members, who then contact students they are interested in to come to informal events, Darensbourg, a third-year women’s studies student, said.
“They’ll have an ice cream social at the house, or go for a movie with the girls ““ things like that,” Darensbourg said.
This atmosphere differs from fall and spring recruitment in that sororities plan their own events for winter recruitment and invite certain students to attend, said Aminta Aparicio, a member of Delta Delta Delta and a third-year communications studies student.
In the fall, meanwhile, there are hundreds of students participating in formal events organized by the Panhellenic Council, and they all visit each house at least once, Darensbourg said.
Aparicio said winter recruitment is less overwhelming for students who are thinking of joining a sorority, but fall recruitment can be more beneficial because the house they want to join may not have room in winter or spring.
Each sorority decides whether or not they want to add members in the winter, and many have continuous open bidding without a start or end date. This is a period in which the sorority may give bids and accept new members until they have reached the limit set by the national council.
One purpose of winter recruitment is to ensure each chapter has enough members to financially sustain itself, Darensbourg said.
Winter recruitment costs much less than fall or spring recruitment, and this serves as an incentive for sororities to participate.
Darensbourg said most sororities partake in winter recruitment to provide a chance for people interested in joining, rather than for the monetary benefits alone.
Large chapters sometimes use winter to fill their limit, while small chapters use winter recruitment to reach the minimum.
“We’re looking for those women who represent our attitude,” Kalnoki said. “We want to find the right women.”