The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) hosted an Ice Cream Social on Wednesday, Aug. 31 for female students interested in participating in recruitment for the fall semester at Francis Marion University.

The event was held in the Heyward Community Center near the Forest Villas Apartments. Members from Alpha Delta Pi, Zeta Tau Alpha and Kappa Delta, the three sororities that compose NPC, attended along with around 40 potential new members.

“This gives the girls who are interested a chance to meet the sororities and learn about the steps of going through the recruitment process,” Lauren Balutis, President of NPC, said.

Along with ice cream and refreshments that were provided by NPC, potential new members were given two hours to socialize and officially register for fall recruitment, which begins Sept. 9.

Patricia Helzer, Vice President of NPC, was pleased with the participation by the sororities and the overall success of the event.

“I think it went really well,” Helzer said. “Most of the girls from the sororities are here, and if they aren’t, they had class or work.”

The Ice Cream Social, which marked the first official event for fall recruitment, is held every year and is the first chance many girls have at interacting with the NPC sororities while at FMU.

“I went to the Ice Cream Social when I was a freshman, and that’s when I made connections with some of the girls before recruitment started,” Helzer said.

There are rules that the sorority members had to follow during the event. Executive officers for NPC were not allowed to disclose their affiliation to the potential new members. Also, Rho Gammas, recruitment counselors who guide the potential new members through recruitment, were not allowed to talk about their specific sorority affiliation either.

Brittany White, Secretary and Treasurer for NPC, explained that the event’s purpose is to allow the potential new members to meet the girls of NPC but not for the sororities to begin recruiting.

“The rules are established to keep the recruiting as fair and balanced as possible,” White said.

White also said that if a potential new member missed the social but is still interested in going through recruitment, she can contact the Office of Student Affairs and Cheri Richardson, Associate Dean of Students and NPC Adviser.

“The potential new member could also find someone in a sorority and tell them that they want to go through recruitment,” White said. “Her best bet is to talk to Student Affairs.”

The Office of Student Affairs is located in UC 205 and can be reached via telephone at (843) 661-1182.