Sigma Kappa Sorority members in pink and white dresses lined Sorority Row on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for the first students to celebrate in their new house for Bid Day Fall 2016.
More than 1,300 women received “bids” from UF’s sororities this year, said Jack Causseaux, the director of sorority and fraternity affairs with Student Activities and Involvement.
The students who received a bid from a sorority will spend the upcoming weeks hoping to eventually become a member.
Every year, out of all of the women who participate in rush week, about 85 percent will be matched with a sorority and receive a bid, he said.
All 17 chapters under the UF Panhellenic Council held individual gatherings to welcome the women. For Sigma Kappa, whose 25,000-square-foot house recently opened, the moment was even more special, because it was the first bid day in the new house.
“I think the excitement was more amplified this year,” said Kylie Werk, the 21-year-old Sigma Kappa president. “I think it’s the highest morale that we’ve ever experienced.”
On Wednesday night, current sorority members wore matching outfits, dancing to music outside their respective houses, in front of signs reading “Welcome Home.”
Students who received their bids at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts rode buses to Sorority Row to meet their potential new “sisters.”
Danielle Jackson, a UF mechanical engineering freshman, said the feeling of running off the bus to Delta Zeta Sorority’s house was amazing.
“After an overwhelming week, I’m just so happy to be here right now,” said the 18-year-old.
Jacquelyn Siegel (right), an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, embraces Caitlyn Hall, a 19-year-old UF event management sophomore (left), while she joins Zeta Tau Alpha on Wednesday afternoon during Bid Day Fall 2016.
