The start of the new semester brought new opportunities for students interested in participating in Greek life on campus. During the week of Jan. 25, WSU sororities and fraternities are holding their annual spring semester recruitment week.

Those interested in participating can look up the fraternities and sororities on WSU’s website and contact the groups.

This year’s recruitment week is different from those in the past because of COVID-19. Only one fraternity, Phi Gamma Lambda, and three sororities, Tau Psi Beta, Kappa Omega Eta and Pi Phi Alpha, participated in recruitment week.

Phi Gamma Lambda President Mitchell Keahey said Heather Cimino, clubs and organizations and Greek life coordinator, was the middle-woman between the university and Greek life on campus to make sure all COVID regulations were being followed.

“She really made sure that recruitment week was able to happen, and without her, I don’t think this would have been possible,” Keahey said.

Keahey has been president of Phi Gamma Lambda since last summer when elections for the position were held.

“Being a president during the time of a pandemic requires a lot of adaptability and being quick on your feet,” Keahey said.

Keahey described Phi Gamma Lambda as a brotherhood that tries to be a family away from family for guys.

“We try to keep our organization smaller, so we can create close-knit relationships,” Keahey said.

Phi Gamma Lambda decided to only do two Greek rush events during recruitment week, instead of their usual five.

“We know it’s a little bit challenging with people not being on campus. We didn’t want to swamp potential new members with a ton of events,” Keahey said. “We picked targeted events, like football in the park and playing video games in Tracy Hall where we can spread out and wear masks.”

Flyers for Tau Psi Beta recruitment week events have been seen around campus. The sorority decided to host four virtual events — Bond with the Betas, Pajama Night, Let Us Entertain You (via Instagram) and a game night — and one in-person event, the Formal Night, which was held in the fireplace lounge on campus with masks required.

Pi Phi Alpha President Kennedy Dykster described the sorority as having an organic charm.

“We just like to see what happens when we vibe with people and how we connect with them,” Dykster said.

Pi Phi Alpha decided to host five virtual events: Introduction Day, Paint Night, Philanthropy Night, Formal Night and Invite-only Night.

Despite all of the events being virtual, Dykster said the connection within Pi Phi Alpha is really strong. They have a messaging app and a group Snapchat and make TikTok videos together.

“We’ve been able to reach a broader audience,” Dykster said. “One potential new member that reached out to us lives in Mexico — that was really exciting. She wouldn’t be able to come to our events otherwise, if doing virtual events wasn’t possible.”

Dykster said she is also really looking forward to future philanthropy events.

“It’ll be interesting to see all the different ways we can do that virtually, and never actually meet up, while being able to benefit the community,” Dykster said.