In brightly colored sweaters emblazoned with greek letters, sorority members welcomed interested students to a recruitment drive Sunday at Coffman Union.

The event was the annual spring informal recruitment put on by the Panhellenic Council. It offers female students the opportunity to learn about sororities on campus in a relaxed environment.

The more well-known recruitment is during the first week of class each fall, but this event is for a different type of woman, said Panhellenic President Gina Rozinka.

The event is for women intimidated by the highly structured process, she said.

“It lets them check things out on their own,” she said.

At the event, prospective members visit with each of the nine chapters represented for 15 minutes and are invited to attend events with the chapters they are interested in. The chapters give event calendars to the women.

There are 12 sororities on campus, but only the nine that are nationally recognized hold annual recruitment events.

Women who are focused on joining a sorority typically do so in the fall while women who aren’t as certain typically look into joining in the spring, Rozinka said.

She said interested students must take the initiative to learn more about the chapters on their own.

“This is for the women who like to shop around and make the best decision,” she said.

Gaby Hemphill, vice president of public relations, was one of those who joined during spring recruitment.

After moving from California, Hemphill said, she was looking for friendship and found it in the greek community.

“I was surrounded by women with similar interests,” she said. “I really found my friends.”

Of the nearly 30 women who attended the event, each had a different reason for being there.

“I thought about (joining) last year,” said nursing sophomore Rebecca Agnitsch. “This is the first time I’ve gotten up the guts to do it.”

Agnitsch said she was attracted to the focus put on academics.

Public relations sophomore Stephanie Bjorklund decided against joining a sorority in the fall and said she regretted it ever since.

“It’s a good way to meet people,” she said. “It looks like fun.”

Other students weren’t completely sure of the greek community, and wanted to wait and experience other aspects of college before joining.

“I wanted to make some (nongreek) friends before I joined,” said first-year public relations student Rachel Desjarlais.

Hemphill said students are welcome to look into joining the greek community at any time during the year.

There are more than 600 women in the University’s sorority system, and generally about 150 join each fall, she said.

Rozinka said 180 women joined this fall. Each chapter is allowed to have 75 members.

Although not all students who consider joining actually do, Rozinka recommends everyone give it a shot.

“We encourage anyone just to show up and give it a try,” she said.