According to a 2018 Elon Sorority and Fraternity report, 53 percent of women on Elon's campus are involved in Greek life. ,

The feathers, streamers and glitter left on the ground in the Loy Center leave some with good memories. 

"It was definitely overwhelming at first. I didn't really know what to expect, but then you realize you are talking to a lot of awesome women. It was a lot of fun — I loved it, actually," said sophomore Elly Reed.  

Freshman Sarah Malone decided to participate in spring recruitment to meet more people on campus. She described herself as outgoing and always eager to make more friends. 

"I felt super good about the conversations I had with a lot of the houses, and I was really excited for the next day," Malone said. But after just two days, she said she did not receive a bid from any of the sororities and was consequently dropped from the recruitment process.

"It made me feel like I wasn't good enough and like I did something wrong," Malone said.

Reed felt very similar to Malone. "It just makes you question everything about yourself," Reed said. "Like when I was told I was dropped, in my head I was thinking, 'What if I didn't do my hair right? What if I didn't wear the right thing? What if I said something wrong?' Picking apart every single detail."

Malone said she recalled going through her clothes and looking to pick out "typical sorority girl clothes" in her closet before recruitment.

But today she is using social media to find a community and let others in her same position know they are not alone. 

"On a whim, I put on my Snapchat story like, 'Hey, if anyone else got dropped and wants to talk about it with someone else who got dropped, just text me' or whatever," Malone said.

This group, she said, can help each other get through the difficult feeling of exclusion in college. 

"I had a few girls reach out to me and be like, 'Hey, I got dropped too. Do you want to grab some lunch or get some coffee?" Malone said.

Assistant professor of psychology Bilal Ghandour said the recruitment process can be detrimental to students' mental health.

"Remember, you are an emerging adult when you are a first-year and you're not exactly sure how to be presenting yourself and you're evaluated," Ghandour said. 

While dealing with her hurt feelings, Malone said she is still happy for her friends who are now involved in Greek life. 

"I'm super happy for all of my friends who got into them, and I think they can be very, very positive, but I just think the process of getting into a sorority is so beyond broken at this point, and it really isn't talked about," Malone said. 

Elon News Network reached out to Elon Fraternity and Sorority Life and is awaiting FSL's response about the number of women who were dropped from the process this year.