legacies in the south
 

Just how big are legacies in the south? I live in Virginia which for the most part is not SEC (even though its below the mason dixon line). My family however, comes from the great state of Mississippi and every woman seems to be a Phi Mu (apparently this is the only "way" to be to them!) Anyways, it is very important to them to maintain activity with their organization and continuously donate money to the foundation- more importantly, they believe their daughters and granddaughters should continue the legacy. They were dissappointed when I joined another GLO, but are fine now. Its just such a different world down there!

https://fp.auburn.edu/greek/update.htm
Check out the pics from Recruitment 2005 so far at Auburn!

Thanks for the link, that was really neat. The picture with the 4 girls under umbrellas, is that what is really worn to the first round of rush? They are pref dresses at my school!

Like bekibug said, those are definitely first round dresses at Auburn! :)

how cute!! thanks for the link, ole miss glitter. hooray for bekibug. you survived ice water teas!! thanks for keeping us up tp date.

Guess that's why West Ga isn't in the SEC...we can't give water!;)

Those pictures make me miss being there so much :(

All I can say about the pictures is...wow...so not like recruiment at my school.:) It's probably tiring for everyone involved.

On the Auburn Panhellenic site it says that recommendations are not required...how true is that really? If I had shown up in the south and gone to Auburn without recommendations, would it have been possible to join a chapter there?...and if you can't give me the truth and not the politically correct response...just PM me. I'm honestly curious.

Sure is, yet you run on this artificial high all week. I remember painting backdrops and practicing dances at 2 in the morning and not being tired for most of the week. When it tended to kick in was during the final membership selection. By then we'd been living on a couple of hours of sleep a night and gone through the roller coasters of getting invite lists back--"Is she coming back? Oh boy, she is and so are her suitemates! Oh no, guess who's not?"

So people would be in tears of total physical and emotional exhaustion by the end of the week...I think this is why we loved Bid Day at Auburn, Arkansas, and Mississippi State. The end of all the drama!

Agree with Carnation. I know even as the Chapter Adviser I've been on a roller coaster of emotions with the members making sure everything runs smoothly. However, it is totally worth it because on Bid Day when you have your new members running down the hill to your house it is wonderful (not all run down a hill at Ole Miss but to the AOII house you do). I take off from work so I can get some good sleep and be alert and focused during recruitment :)

I am also a recruitment advisor, and I do admit its rediculously tiring! It is often hard to separate myself from the girls sometimes, and realize I have to let them do the work and that I'm just there to guide and teach. Ever feel this way? Our rush is not as cut throat, but competitive to say the least. Girls are girls, and a lot of petty stuff goes on at every chapter. That in itself is just exhausting!

Becky Darling, you make me miss Auburn more this week that I have since I graduated. I hope you're still having fun. Drink lots of that hot tea that the moms make and a few frozen grapes for me.

Xi love,
Tina

I agree too, while physically exhausting and emotionally draining, Recruitment is a blast even for me, an Advisor who didn't go to Bama. This is one of the few times on the year that I have time to just hang out with the actives and get to know them. The worst part though is having to break an actives heart by telling them that their favorite PNM will not be invited back for reasons I/she/we can't control. I hate that.

Every year for the past 10 I've been doing this I end up getting sick as a dog the week afterwards from lack of sleep and stress. Typically I'm at the house until after midnight, then head home. I need to be up at 5:30am to start getting my kids ready for school. Once they're off I try to grab a quick nap if possible, but usually I head to the house to make sure everything is set up for the next round. I leave in time to get the kids home from school and have them all ready for Hubby to take over once he gets off work or the sitter if I was able to get one. (Fortunately this year I have.) Then it's back to the house again.

This year is the 2nd year for my semi-new Recruitment Advisor. In my experience it takes at least 3 years to really have a grasp of everything and overcome the learning curve of Panhellenic rules, ADPi policies/procedures and everything else involved in Recruitment. She's been able to take on alot of stuff this year which has been great, but next year should be fabulous (for me). Even then though, I'll still probably still be there the same amount of time. I just can't stay away.

* Update on Bama - 1069 PNMs registered and Recruitment starts in 6 days. Not sure if we'll hit 1200 like I had predicted, but we're already almost 100 more than last year. *

Are sororities founded in the south (i.e ADPi and Phi Mu) considered more prestigious at SEC schools, or does it not really matter?

I think it depends on the university. I know that not all 9 NPC groups at Ole Miss (Chi Omega, AOII, Tri Delta, Phi Mu, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Pi Beta Phi, & Delta Gamma) are "southern" sororities (meaning they were founded in the South. I think there is a thread on here somewhere about that.

I think Phi Mu and ADPi might have more chapters at some of the more southern universities and colleges. However, ADPi left Ole Miss in like 1995. Tri Delta is HUGE in Mississippi at all of the schools and they were started at Boston University in 1888. AOII has chapters at ALL SEC schools except Miss State, LSU, Arkansas (Coming 2006!), & South Carolina---So I think it depends on the chapter itself and the school!

Edited to add Kappa :)

Wow! I am in awe at the Auburn recruitment page/photos. I never would have survived recruitment at a Southern school. And the theme (if the shoe fits) is super cute!

Thanks for adding us OleMiss! :)

The reason i ask is because Alpha Phi (my glo) has not one chapter in the South but is big everywhere else (for example, 22 chapters in Cali!). I think internationals are just being careful about moving into an area where tradition is so important.

Oh yes, I understand. I know I have seen more legacies going through here at Ole Miss (Alpha Phi legacies that is), they are usually from Texas schools.

I would love to see Aphi venture into the South... one day! Everything takes time. Instead of expanding southward, we expanded westward. Its funny though, when I talk to family in MS and AL, a lot of them don't really know what Alpha Phi is, or have never heard of it, I have to explain that we are not local. I think as Cardiac awareness becomes apparently more needed, this will help our expansion efforts since our philanthropy is cardiac care for women. We just updated our foundations website, you should check it out. http://www.alphaphi.org/foundation/

I know that Alpha Phi was at Bama and LSU back in the day! WAY back in the day. I too would love for them to come back.

Was loving the Auburn pix...thanks for the link. Lot more dressier than Vancouver, I tell ya! :)

My little sister's mother was a member of Alpha Phi's first pledge class at LSU. That was in 1966 and unfortunately, the chapter only lasted 15 years. She enjoyed her time greatly and tried to continue with alumnae life but there were no ACs. About 10 years ago, she tried to start one up again but there just aren't that many Alpha Phis in our area. I have only met one other and she went to school in Indiana. There was an AC in Baton Rouge that developed not long ago which is a great start. They took the money from the sale of the house and invested it for a scholarship fund. Recipients are Alpha Phi children attending LSU. I don't know how all that turned out so I won't say anything more, but I thought that it was a good idea.

Oooooooo, those Auburn girls look so adorable! I wish I could see each and every one of those rush outfits; it looks as though there isn't a single PNM who doesn't look smashing. If I were greeting PNMs, I think the only thing I'd be able to say would be: "What a precious dress! Oh, look at your shoes! Where did you get that darling skirt?"

This Ivy League, non-NPC northerner could not be any more fascinated by NPC rush in the SEC. I could never have made it through the first round myself, but the more I learn, the more I want to know! I know they'd never let a non-member anthropologist in the door, so I'll just have to dream of being a fly on the wall and enjoy the pictures and stories on GC. :D Keep sharing, everyone, because I just can't get enough.

IvySpice, you could have made it....I would have helped you with it all :)

There are 3 NPC groups that are on all the SEC campuses listed. Tri Delta, Chi O and KD.

The pics are wonderful of Auburn. What a great idea to put them up on the Panhellenic Website.

Glad to hear Bama is up by 100 so far. You never know, those extra 140 PNM's just may sign up and you'll be at 1200! I'm glad they have rolling registration (up to almost the last minute--know it's a pain for advisors/collegians but spreading the greek word/life!), unlike some schools with deadlines like University of Missouri. In fact, University of Illinois currently has about 150 to 200 signed up. They wait til freshman get on campus and have registration. Last year 1,308 registered for Panhellenic recruitment (largest greek system in the country). Short by one for largest NPC groups--only 19.

Looking forward to hearing about Auburn's bid day. I've been told parents even come back for bid day, like at SMU. Any other SEC campuses do that?

At Ole Miss, moms, aunts, cousins, sisters, grandmothers, dads---the whole family come to meet their daugther at her new house! Last year there was a father whose wife was not able to come to Bid Day at the AOII House because she has MS and he was crying because he was so happy his daugther went AOII. However, other sorority members are NOT ALLOWED to go to a house to visit a girl who just went through recruitment. Like a group of AOIIs couldn't go next door to the Theta house to visit. Totally not allowed.

A situation like that could be uncomfortable for the New Member... especially if it was the other group she pref'd

Actually three NPC organizations have a chapter on all twelve SEC campuses.

DDD, KD, CW

Same thing at Bama. Not only do the new members' families come, but also alot of actives' families as well. Last year I think we ended up serving lunch to over 500 people.

Wow! That is totally amazing. What about women who come from out of state? Do they feel left-out with everyone else having family around?

Nahhh, sometimes their families come as well! Plus, they have their new sisters to be with :)

Spoonful of 1/2 honey and 1/2 lemon juice. Our housemother used to stand with one spoon (one only) and pour it for each one of us as we sang and clapped out the door for our sidewalk songs. Works well.

No. A lot of my sisters who were O-O-State like myself, had families that showered them with flowers and gifts the rest of the week after Bid Day. My family did this after I pledged.

WOW THIS THREAD IS HOPPING!!

Okay, now officially there are over 800 girls rushing at UK. They can still sign up until this Sunday.

:) good luck to everyone!!!

Well, well....didn't think I'd see my Recruitment Advisor on here! HI MOLS!!!

I go to Old Dominion University in Norfolk and it's a very diverse school with a huge commuter population. Ever since I went through in Fall '02 there have been quite a few married women go through recruitment.

Hi Shelby! xoxo

Re: Auburn rush...
 

I hope Gamma Phi is doing great! One of my good friends is an AU Gamma Phi alum!

I'm off to Auburn in a few hours to help with Skit and Pref Day! :D

Have fun at Auburn! :) I love SEC Recruitment :)

and kappa delta, right?