By Alyssa Lukpat, copy editor
Saiesha Hardasani, a first-year communication studies major, was the only person in the basement of Dodge Hall on Sunday afternoon. She paced the floor in her pink sweater as she waited to start âKernels and Cozy Sweaters,â Sigma Kappaâs second and final recruitment event.
âYesterday we ate hot chocolate and doughnuts and talked to people one-on-one,â she said as she walked through the basement. âI had a 10- to 15-minute conversation with a bunch of girls. Iâm not really nervous for todayâs event because yesterday I was scared everyone was not going to be friendly but now I know thatâs not the case.â
A sister opened a classroom door at precisely noon and offered Hardasani some popcorn before her conversations with the sisters of Sigma Kappa.
Rushing in the spring is an option for students who choose not to or are unable to rush in the fall. Sigma Kappa is the only sorority on campus holding spring recruitment, but most of Northeasternâs professional fraternities, Multicultural Greek Council organizations and fraternities in the Interfraternity Council are holding spring recruitment.
Hardasani, who is from Hong Kong, waited to rush in spring instead of fall because she wanted time to settle in.
âHome is super far, so rushing a sorority gives me a platform to make a family, and I like the idea of sisterhood,â she said. âTo me, sisterhood is a bond between girls, and you donât always have to be related to people to build that bond.â
After attending two recruitment events, Hardasani sees herself as a sister of Sigma Kappa.
âI want to join this sorority because their values are the same as mine and their mindsets match mine as well,â she said.
Students interested in fraternities had many rush events to choose from. Sigma Phi Epsilon played football with interested members Saturday on a snowy field in Mission Hill. Beta Theta Pi hosted Hill Crawl on Saturday, in which interested members went to a few of the brothersâ Mission Hill apartments.
âApartment tours show a nice cohesion in our chapter and that our brothers actually do like to live together outside of freshman year housing. We just hung out and played board games,â said William Cisneros, president of Beta and a fourth-year bioengineering major.
Adam Kramer, a third-year business administration major, is a brother of Kappa Sigma. He says fall recruitment is more popular than spring recruitment, but they still expect a pledge class of about 25 brothers this semester.
First-year computer science major Shaun Khundker is rushing Pi Delta Psi, Beta Theta Pi and Beta Chi Theta, even though his parents are disappointed he is going through recruitment.
âMy parents didnât let me rush first semester, but I told them I wouldnât do anything bad and it wouldnât affect my school,â Khundker said. âThey let me rush but theyâre not too happy with me.â
Leo Jonas, a first-year history major rushing Kappa Sigma, also waited until his second semester on campus to rush.
âI didnât rush in the fall because I wanted to better understand the school first,â he said. âIt would have been too much first semester.â
Spring recruitment was an attractive option for Sam Goldberg, a second-year economics and business administration major, who transferred from Bates College this year. He is rushing Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Pi Kappa Alpha, an off-campus fraternity.
âThere was no Greek life at Bates, which is part of the reason I transferred,â he said. âI am rushing because I have friends in Greek life who had fun.â
Second-year computer science and business administration combined major Andy Lok is rushing Pi Delta Psi, an Asian-interest fraternity.
âIâm a second-year, so Iâm meeting a lot of freshmen I wouldnât meet otherwise,â he said. âI rushed Pi last semester but didnât get a bid. Iâm rushing again because Iâm on co-op and I have more time.â
Matthew Honig, a first-year economics major, decided to rush Kappa Sigma after learning about the fraternity from his friends.
âI asked around and people recommended Kappa Sigma because theyâre very involved with Greek Week and philanthropy,â he said. âIâm excited because frats are a good way to meet people, especially for my first semester on campus.â
Honig is going through spring recruitment to ease his transition into college.
âI did N.U.in, so Iâm rushing to get to know guys and do community service,â he said. âKappa Sigma reminds me of my all-guys high school, so Iâm joining a frat to keep a piece of high school with me.â