The UA Panhellenic Association expects about 1,100 potential sorority recruits to attend Saturday’s Panhellenic preview, said Christina Southerford, assistant director of recruitment.

The goal of Panhellenic Preview Weekend is to give high school senior girls and their parents an idea of what greek life is like at the University while simultaneously providing the opportunity to mingle with current sorority members.

“While visiting with the 17 Panhellenic sorority chapters on campus, potential new members will be able to ask any specific questions they have and also get to interact with girls who are currently in the sorority and therefore their potential sorority sisters,” said Megan Brantley, director of public relations for the Panhellenic Association. “However, this is not formal recruitment, so sorority women in houses will not be evaluating the participants, nor will anyone be discriminated against [in the fall] because they can’t attend [this weekend].”

As the potential recruits tour sorority houses, their parents will attend an informational meeting.

“[The parents] will receive information about the costs, meal plans, living situation and a detailed explanation of the [formal] recruitment process,” Brantley said. “A panel of administrators, faculty and advisors will also speak to offer more insight. Parents can learn more about each individual sorority during this session as well, as representatives from each chapter will be present to answer questions.”

The Panhellenic Association utilized direct mail and e-mails to advertise the weekend to high school seniors, and the association has also partnered with admissions to attend recruiting events around the state and in nearby states, Brantley said.

“We designed and published a brochure that was mailed to every woman who had been accepted to Alabama in the fall,” she said. “This ended up being around 12,000 women.”

Saturday’s high school attendees will be put into groups led by recruitment counselors (also known as Sigma Rho Chis), and they will stay with their group throughout the day. Brantley said the same process is used in formal recruitment.

“Sigma Rho Chis … have been through extensive training and are disaffiliated from their own sorority,” she said. “These counselors stay with the same group all week and answer any questions the potential new members may have, whether it be a logistic question about a party time or [something] as simple as what dress they should wear.

“Because [the Sigma Rho Chis] are disaffiliated, they do not reveal which sorority they are members of, so they do not influence any decisions.”

Brantley said potential recruits who attend Saturday’s events will not hold any advantage over non-attendees during formal recruitment. Instead, Preview Weekend is about learning what to expect in the fall.

“We just want to give everyone the option to be prepared so they feel comfortable the week of recruitment,” she said.