Rush Season at Hope College: What if you didn’t get a bid?

If you have been around Hope College, you will know that rush season is underway. The last two and half weeks have consisted of a variety of sororities, fraternities and students taking part in events, and lots of getting to know one another. Hope College’s campus has seven sororities consisting of: Alpha Gamma Phi ΑΓΦ, Alpha Phi Zeta AΦZ, Delta Phi ΔΦ, Kappa Beta Phi ΚΒΦ, Kappa Delta Chi ΚΔX, Sigma Iota Beta ΣΙΒ and Sigma Sigma ΣΣ. Sororities vary in their number of members with some having twenty members to others having eighty. In addition to this, there are five fraternities including: Chi Phi Sigma XΦΣ, Omicron Kappa Epsilon ΟΚΕ, Phi Kappa Alpha ΦKA, Phi Sigma Kappa ΦΣK and Phi Tau Nu ΦΤΝ.

During the spring of each year, a process called Rush occurs where students of Hope College (predominantly freshmen and sophomores) spend two and half weeks going to different sororities/fraternities events to see which organization they would like to join. Sororities held different events such as ice skating, bounce houses, zumba dances, and brunches. Fraternities held events as well, such as sports in the Dow, bowling, and events with alumni. At each event the students rush to join in the event while talking and getting to know other rushees as well as the members of the sorority or fraternity. As rush continues, students rushing tend to narrow down their choices to a couple of sororities/fraternities as they come to more of a conclusion of which organizations they would like to be involved in. Through being in community with many different people, rushees start to develop relationships across campus.

The rush process is an overall busy and time consuming process as students spend a couple nights a week involved in rushing or holding the rush event. It is fair to say that it is an extremely busy time for many students and hours upon hours are put into it. The Rush season has just recently finished, with bids going out on Jan. 31, 2023. Many students are filled with excitement as they receive acceptance bids from their desired sororities/fraternities. However, others are filled with disappointment from not receiving a bid.

The concept of receiving a bid can be an intensely animating time filled with a new fun adventure for many as they join sororities/fraternities through which they find community and fellowship. However, for those individuals who have not received a bid, it can be a time of disappointment and sadness. When talking to some students who didn’t get a bid, there were a variety of responses. Many individuals felt insecure, second guessed their personality, and felt “confused as to why they are left out,” as one student stated. However, many students have some very profound responses:

“I feel confident that this is not the plan that God had for me during my four years at Hope. And though it is hard to experience, I’m okay with that because I trust that God has the best thing for me.” (Freshman, female)

“I feel okay that I didn’t get a bid because I met so many people through the process that I want to be friends with. I know that I can still hang out with those people even if we are not in a fraternity together.” (Sophomore, male)

“I want to stay strong in my identity. It’s definitely a blow. But I love who I am, I think I am a super fun person, I love my friends, and they love me. So I didn’t lose anything.” (Sophomore, female)

These are some encouragements that students wanted other students to hear and take on in their lives. If you didn’t receive a bid in a sorority/fraternity, that’s okay! There are many students at Hope and over twenty student groups to join. There is always someone new to meet and a community to call home.