Ole Miss
 

nolefan, you are too kind! I am so glad that JB found her perfect home away from home.

I have visited Ole Miss 5 out of the past 6 years as a national officer. I have also been at Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and LSU during that time frame and have found Ole Miss to be extremely welcoming to all PNMs. I think the tent talk happens on all campuses, not matter how competitive.

All of these campuses have made great progress at pledging quota for most if not all groups for the past 5 years, and "mass exits of PNMs" is greatly over-exaggerated. The loudest of tent talkers are ones who have their minds made up that only one or two of the 10-18 groups are worthy to pledge.

Indiana and Penn State have 25+% of PNMs either drop out or not be pledged. To me, that is a bigger issue than 100 of 1700 at Ole Miss being released or dropping out for whatever reason.

Thanks so much; after seeing all the other chapter numbers, that's even more than I expected them to end up having (meant in a good way!)! Thanks again for now completing the data set!!

Any word on how Alpha Phi's colonization is going?

I think Penn State has a good amount of women sign up at the last minute and then they drop out when they realize it's just not their bag. This isn't a culture of women who have been working on getting recs and connections since their junior year of high school. If it was, then yes, that number of dropouts would be cause for alarm.

Exactly.

I agree with this too. I knew very few girls who dropped out completely after the first two rounds because they were cut from a particular group. I can think of two girls that left school though. One was cut completely and the other didn't get the one she wanted--though I think it was really not the one her mother wanted...she was happy on bid day, but her mother stayed in her ear. She left Ole Miss before she was initiated. I heard later that she transferred to another school and the same thing happened. I think she finally landed in one that was acceptable to her mother at her 3rd school. It was sad really. I can't imagine going through recruitment 3 times.

I had a very positive experience going through Ole Miss recruitment. Even though it was many years ago, the tent talk was probably just as bad then, if not worse. I wasn't sure two new colonizations would work at Ole Miss. I am glad to see that ADPi is doing well and I hope that Alpha Phi does well too. When I was there, it always seemed to me that much of the tent talk was from girls who were either from Mississippi, or from surrounding states that have a large number of enrolled students at Ole Miss. With out of state enrollment increasing, I think that has helped with the tent talk.

Lovely!

Not just going through recruitment 3 times, but giving up a spot in a sorority that you were happy with because your mother wasn't satisfied. Twice. That's terrible. (My mother was over-bearing, but she didn't have the slightest clue about Greek Life. Thank the Lord.)

Rush wrap up from a newbie
 

My sweet daughter recently went through Ole Miss rush. 4.0 and 32 ACT with a couple of national awards for service. We do not live in Mississippi and knew no one from Ole Miss so we were warned that it would be tough. She was accepted into the house she wanted. Theta. She has several cousins that are Theta alums from Duke and Vanderbilt and they were very happy. My sorority of which she is a legacy cut her, but it really just helped her make her choice. She received her bid and everything was great. Until....let the mean spirit behavior commence. Horrible comments (from other girls who got bids from other houses as well as a couple of actives from other sororities) that she is in the "lowest" house on campus and Theta doesn't cut anyone are almost hateful. I'm assuming that these attitudes are not wide spread and that Ole Miss Panhellenic does its best to discourage this behavior? She's kinda feeling like she is in a bigger version of high school where she is the new kid from out of town. Thankfully she is undeterred, and knows how great Theta is and will be for her in the future. We were warned that Ole Miss rush is brutal and were pleasantly surprised that it was not at all. Ole Miss AFTER rush though is a different story.
Wishing all well and blessings on all of our babies!

That's a shame, and it's hard to understand what people think they get out of bashing other sororities, especially weeks after recruitment.

It sounds like your daughter knows she has joined an excellent sisterhood, and I hope she has a lifetime of great experiences on her way.

It's all so silly. All groups have weak chapters and strong chapters. It's a shame that your daughter has been confronted with this, but encourage her to stay strong. Although it can be hurtful to hear these things, she has a lifetime of amazing opportunities ahead of her - and that is nothing to be embarrassed of.

Now would be a good time for your daughter to learn that you can't fix stupid. She's happy, Theta is happy and screw the rest of em.

Hope you daughter knows my rec girl!
 

One of my rec girls pledge Theta, too! She is a super sweet and very smart young lady with a super family. I hope they know one another.
At the end of the day, I hope that your daughter can ignore the chatter and negative comments to focus on the her group. There are girls from our south Mississippi high school in at least 7 of the sororities at Ole Miss. Some of them were legacies but most were just really interested in Greek Life at Ole Miss and the excitement that surrounds that. I think all of them are perfectly happy. The ones that completely drop out of rush because they only wanted a certain chapter are the ones that end up being unhappy. Having said that, I know exactly the kind of attitude of which you speak.

I just want to reach out and give all of you a BIG HUG!!! I am sick to my stomach on a frequent basis to see the things written by cowards about the Ole Miss chapter. I really am shocked that some of these sorority women are that nasty in person, as well.

There is very little REAL Panhellenic spirit and support at Ole Miss among the chapters. There is some lip service of support, especially when a chapter colonizes, but it doesn't last long.

I hope that you ladies tell your Thetas to hold their heads high and wear those letters proudly. Every girl deserves a sisterhood to call their own, even if you are not thin, gorgeous, a beauty queen or popular. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.