I figured we must be talking about apples and oranges!

Very true :) Glad we cleared that up.

If a new group colonized AFTER formal recruitment, wouldn't that put them somewhat at a disadvantage starting out? It seems that the "prime" PNMs would have already pledged another group - leaving them with girls that didn't go through recruitment, dropped out for one reason or another, or were totally dropped by all the other groups. Group reputation is so strong at a school like Bama, and if you start out with the reputation of pledging anyone that didn't get a bid somewhere else, it's hard to shake that image, isn't it?

It may be hard in a SEC school, but it has worked at other places.

Sometimes those who did not rush were looking for something else or were not recruited as did not fit the so called mold.

Well there might be lots of upperclassmen that did not go through recruitment who would be a great asset to a new colony. Usually in a colony they have a large mix of freshmen and then upperclassmen. I know that's what AOII at Arkansas did. I think most NPC groups tend to have some upper classmen in their colony group to help distribute leadership and women who are already involved on campus. Also, there is always a handful of "prime" PNMs who might decide not to go through recruitment just to be a part of a new colony and to be considered a "founding member" of a chapter. Sometimes it’s just as cool to be a part of the newest sorority on campus as it is to be a part of the oldest sorority on campus.

UA is open for expansion. Let the speculation begin!

Yay for expansion. This is exciting. I do think UA is getting a bit more Panhellenic-spirited, so that should help the two new sororities.

Based on information from the UA Panhellenic, and reported back to the individual chapters, expansion has been approved. I guess we'll have to see how many expansion opportunities there will be (one or two).

how exciting!! you bama ladies must keep us informed, please.

bamamama, typically when a new group is colonizing on a campus, their national officers/colonization team will give a presentation during the first round of parties or during the pnm information session proor to recruitment, informing pnms of the opportunity of being a member of a colony. they would then hold events following formal recruitment.

a moratorium on cob events is usually honored for a few weeks, in order for the sorority to select its colonists and get them up and running. after that time period, those chapters who did not pledge quota or are not at total may hold cob events.

slightly off topic:

everybody is talking in terms of 3 orgs presenting. but when schools plan on having 2 groups colonize do they usually invite more than 3 groups to present? the idea of having 3 groups present for 2 spots sounds kind of silly to me, especially if one of the groups selected decides to drop out of presenting.

While it is possible for a group to decide to drop out of the running, for some reason I'm having a hard time imagining that it'll happen at such a desirable campus like 'Bama.

Not to be a debbie downer but it seems that if they do let 2 new orgs colonize they will do so with the assumption that one will not make it. It happened to Sigma Kappa in the '80s and GPhiB, which has been there for 20 years, is still not at total (although it seems that they are very close thanks to their great recruitment this year!) UA panhellenic is so big into tradition and I just don't see a large number of girls, or at least large enough to fill up two new orgs, intereted in a chapter that didn't have tradition on the UA campus. Just look at all the talk about the first circle, old row stuff in that UA recruitment thread. I'd just hate to be one of the two competing for those first few pledge classes. Talk about cut throat :eek:

I don't know - when Arkansas was open a couple of years ago 2 out of the 3 invited to present dropped out. I wish that wouldn't happen but I guess the timeline is so quick sometimes that groups submit for consideration before they have a chance to run the numbers and really analyze if it is the right time and place for them.

I wonder what it is about the campus culture at Auburn that's enabled their recolonizations to succeed where Bama's historically haven't for the most part. Obviously, tradition and what-not are big deals at both schools, and there are PNMs at both who'd sooner commit ritual suicide than accept a bid from a group they thought was beneath them, but at Auburn recolonizing apparently doesn't carry a stigma—at least three or four of their sororities have left campus, then come back and done really well.