Recruitment starts in 2 days! Any updated numbers on registration?

LOVE the yearbook pictures. I may be up all night looking at this link

Oh no! I loovvve your username!:D

The girls begin their adventure tonight with Orientation, followed by Philanthropy Day on Friday and Saturday with House Tours on Sunday. Good luck to everyone.
In an earlier post, it stated 800 were rushing. Any truth to that? Last year, the school newspaper reported that 661 participated (rushed/pledged?).

I heard the number of girls signed up is very close to last year.

I have one daughter going thru recruitment and another one on the "other side". Both are very excited and ready to get the show on the road:D

The biggest complaint I have heard so far regarding delayed recruitment is that the first round of tests occur over the next two weeks, not easy trying to balance school and recruitment, but that's life, isn't it? Nine million things to do and not enough time to do it!!

My daughter told me the numbers were close to the same as last year, too. She is ready to get the recruitment process going, also.
Recruitment is just another learning tool. They will have to juggle many things in their lives-school, work, sorority, friends, special events. This is just the beginning of time management.

When did Arkansas go to delayed rush? It used to be before school not so long ago.

The Dean told me it is because they had too many girls dropping out of school (without much penalty since school hadn't started) if they didn't get the sorority they wanted. The school is very supportive of Greek life, but he said that was the last straw - he wouldn't let Greek life scare away students.

Sounds like what was happening at Ole Miss. I think that was the reason for delaying rush there.

My friend's daughter said that there were a few packing up and heading home from Alabama after the philanthropy round cuts....she didn't think people really did that! :eek:

Like Ole Miss, Arkansas does not have enough sororities to accommodate the number of PNMs. There were only 7 until AOII colonized last year. (And yes, it is for the same basic reason as Ole Miss - many have tried, many have failed.)

Wow. I guess I just didn't understand it was that bad.

Housing is a huge issue there as well. All of the sororities are on the same street (well 2 are around the corner but basically in the backyard of the Maple Street sororities). The University now owns the remaining property on Maple and they aren't exactly giving it away to build new sorority houses. It is now one of these situations where the sorority builds and owns the house but leases the land. It gets very sticky.

Kappa Alpha Theta built in another area of campus, where the fraternities are, and they ended up closing. I am sure that wasn't the only issue, but being on Maple is extremely important.

Add to that the cost of building in NW Arkansas (AOII is looking at 6-7 million), and without assurances of a successful chapter, it narrows the pool of potential NPCs.

Arkansas is just one of those places that the lack of history is very important. The last sorority to colonize (before AOII) came on in 1989 and took quota for the first time last year. It is a tough campus.

Irishpipes,
In another forum you correctly stated that UARK now provides PNMs with 3 recruitment T-shirts-one for each round. From a Mom perspective, I think this is great (many thanks, UARK Panhellenic). It keeps all the girls on an equal basis, clothing wise. What I saved in not having to purchase for the 3 rounds, my daughter and I put into a classic cocktail/after 5 dress she can actually wear more than once.

I wish they would do that at Ole Miss to cut down on stress! But on the positive side, you can figure out what's in style by checking out all the PNMs!