Letter from Recruitment Chair

Life after high school can be filled with uncertainty. You no longer have that daily, jam-packed schedule that is so full of classes, practices, and extracurriculars that you wonder how you ever managed it all. Instead, you’ve suddenly walked across the graduation stage to be met with a wide-open calendar and a question that seems to echo louder each day: "Okay, so what now?"

It’s hard to believe, even for me, but just last year I was asking myself that same looming question. Texas Tech ended up being the unexpected winner in my college decision journey. I knew virtually nothing about the school, from its traditions to the average student lifestyle, just that I wanted to be involved in it all. Coming from a 6A high school in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, I wasn’t a stranger to being a little fish in a big pond, but even so, starting over in uncharted waters was intimidating.

It was my dad who suggested to me that I go through sorority recruitment- he saw it as a chance to have a stable sanctuary while I got my life together. Being a military man, he’d drilled into me all sorts of important “guidelines” to live my life by, and as his only kid, it’s always been my mission to make him proud. That, however, meant finding something he had never prepared me for: a sisterhood. 

When recruitment came, I stood in front of the doors of every Panhellenic house, just as you will. The nerves are electric, and you’ll want to believe every conversation you have will be the one you’ll never forget. You will sweat, cry, love, and laugh with the women you get the opportunity to meet, for there is nothing less than extraordinary about the everlasting connections you make during recruitment. It can be hard to separate yourself from the excitement, but the surreal calm that Delta Gamma allowed to wash over me as I stepped through her doors allowed me crystal clear clarity when it came to my decision. 

The most beautiful connection you can make with a house could be, as it was for me, unexpected but anchoring. Every round I came back to Delta Gamma reminded me that there was a foundation of strength, integrity, beauty, and loyalty within its walls. The women who carry the Delta Gamma name are surreal in their poise and are going places I’d only ever dreamed of. It’s what you set out to find during recruitment that finds you in the end, so while it stands true to come into it all with an open mind, and open heart, hold a vision for your future self at the forefront of the tough decisions that lie ahead of you, because it is the women you choose to surround yourself with that will help you become who you dream to be. After all, if not for the faith and future my sisters saw in me, I would not have the pleasure of speaking on their behalf as I welcome you into the recruitment season.

Delta Gamma cannot wait to set sail with our New Member Class of Fall 2025! Please register for Fall Primary Recruitment on the Texas Tech Panhellenic website, and I hope you find your way home! 

With love and excitement for your journey ahead,
Vice President of Membership for Texas Tech Delta Gamma 2025 - Olivia Vaughan