You know...I think everyone kind of secretly believes their org is better than everyone else's. If we didn't, why would we care so much?

I forgot to mention earlier, that (bolded) was the theme for NPC Recruitment one year at my school.

Well, I would hope everyone would think their GLO is the best - or at least the best for them. But I guess it goes to my background in being brought up to believe that bragging or boasting was not necessry - your acomplishments would eventually out and stand on their own merit. Cute little sayings that imply other glos are inferior - well, they just rub me the wrong way. And it looks like another NPC/NPHC difference (Greekchat has educated me so much about NPHC, for which I am grateful). I think they also contribute to the "catty" sorority stereotype.

I kinda like the "Stand in our shoes or stand in our shadows" for recruitment for ALL glos . . . it works in that context, I think.

Then at the same time that could PMNs, girls that didn't get in, or non-greeks feel less too. (If they allow themselves to feel that way)

I don't see sororities doing it too much but its very commonplace among a few fraternities here- the same ones that feel a need to advertise during rush...

Ugh.
It's just not panhellenic or classy. The other sororities on campus all thought it lacked taste, and though this chapter thought very well of themselves, suffice to say few outside of them did.

We never had problems with chapters ripping on others in chants or T-shirts. Regular old gossip took care of that.

I like the "stand in our shoes . .. " for recruitment because I think that part of our pitch to pnm is that greeks ARE leaders - that one reason you want to join is for the opportunities you have to develop those leadership skills and qualities which will serve you well in college and beyond. When we state that greeks are more likely to graduate, more likely to contribute to their alma mater, have higher g.p.a.s, etc.,we are backing our assertions by cold hard facts. I think it is important to have a unified front when presenting the benefits of membership - that's one reason why I don't like divisive slogans.
I wouldn't trade my Gamma Phi experience for anything, but I do think that had I become a member of any of the other fine NPC groups on my campus I would have had an equally great experience.

The problem with that as a Panhellenic theme is that people don't read it as Greeks are the people who will be CEOs, etc - they read it as Greeks are the snobby people who look down on everyone else and think they run the college.

Making it seem like your life will be shit if you don't go Greek is NOT the way to appeal to "maybe joiners" and it certainly doesn't help those who were cut in rush feel any better.

My favorite slogans for recruitment are the ones like the directional sign with all of the glos written on them, and the tagline "Whichever way you go, you can't go wrong!". I thought that was positive while avoiding the pitfalls you mention .

I thought one such t-shirt I saw was pretty funny. One of the other fraternities on campus once put together a rush shirt that said: "I'm a [GLO-name], your not." You'd think if they're going to presume that kind of arrogance, they could at least get the grammar right.

I think I'd be tempted to let them find a sign in their yard one day saying, "[GLO Name]: Were to good four grammar."


I wonder if they'd get the joke?:p;)

I'm ashamed to admit this, but when my chapter won Greek House of the Year, the T-Shirt Chair designed a shirt that said, "Some People Say It's Lonely At the Top, As If They'll Ever Know." As the individual who wrote the application, I have to tell you I was pretty ticked off when I got my shirt.

My husband is in a business fraternity and they had shirts that said "join us now or work for us later" which I thought were cute- but they didn't slam the other business fraternities.

I remember bid day shirts my sophomore year that had all kinds of "we're the best" slogans on them. Everything from "first and still finest" to "looked at the rest, joined the best". They didn't bother me as long as they weren't a slam on any specific group.

However our Panhellenic Association came down pretty hard on them my junior year, and it was considered a rush infraction if you wore any tee shirts that implied that one group was "the best". It was considered to be dirty rushing.