Flower crowns, women blowing glitter out of upturned palms, slow-motion dancing: I could be describing a Ke$ha video from 2011. Or I could be describing the modern recruitment video. (Pro tip: I’m discussing the latter.)

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen TFM tweet something like, “X Sorority at Blank University Just Made the Best Recruitment Video of All Time” only to click it and learn nothing about said organization. Usually, “The Best Recruitment Video of All Time” could double as a 6-minute ad for a Free People-styled and sponsored EDM festival. I get it. Your sisters are hot, but I learned nothing.

The recruitment video is a powerful tool. I always let out a sigh of relief before it plays because, for the next few minutes, I don’t have to worry about what I’m saying. I remember this same relief from when I was a PNM myself. A video gives the potential new members a chance to relax for a second and see what sisterhood is - and it’s not wistfully posing in the quad or splashing each other in a fountain while wearing full makeup.

When I went through recruitment in the fall of 2012, we were shown videos, yes, but they were vastly different than the ones I see now. Sure, a Phillip Phillips song played in the background, but that’s the full extent of the similarities. It was a simpler time. Instead of spinning in a Ring-Around-The-Rosie-style circle while someone held a GoPro, sisters sat down in front of the camera and shared information. Words were actually spoken. Sisters talked about their history, philanthropies, events, memories, and awards.

While I remember very few of my nervous conversations from that week, I clearly recall watching my sorority’s video and loving what I heard. I heard girls give funny details about their friendships with each other and wanted close bonds like theirs. I saw a glimpse of what sisterhood in my chapter is like outside of a recruitment party room. It made an impression.

What confuses me the most about this new trend in recruitment tactics is this: I see glitzy (dare I say shallow?) videos on my timeline as often as I see articles about the value of being Greek. I guess I just don’t get it. We say Greek life isn’t simply wearing letters, but when it comes time to recruit, we share images of just that: sisters holding up glittery signs in staged scenarios for 6 minutes, while a mix of Icona Pop’s “Girlfriend” plays. It’s inauthentic. Yeah, standing in a line and blowing kisses at the camera looks nice, but it’s also eerily similar to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and that’s not what PNMs signed up for.

The greater Panhellenic community wants to be seen as a legitimate space for women to become leaders within, because it is. However, Greek women can’t expect to be seen as scholars and leaders without branding themselves as such, even in recruitment videos. It’s fun to show off your gorgeous sisters, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen without substance. Maybe instead of looking smokin’ hot while letting balloons go in the wind, you look smokin’ hot and discuss your Greek experience. To step it up, perhaps we should tone it down.

Sorority has enriched my leadership abilities, my relationships, and - most importantly - given me a set of standards and values that I vowed to hold myself to. That’s what sorority is about. That’s what we should be selling.