actually, you mean alpha phi. alpha phi is going to be in the sdt house while their actual chapter house is being built. i think everyone hopes that sdt can return to their house soon, but it's not alpha phi's or delta gamma's fault.

I understood her statement as she hopes SDT can return once Alpha Phi leaves. If that's the case, it would make sense to say "no offense" to DG as DG would then have to find another place to house the women they recruit.

ETA: but yes, I agree neither Alpha Phi nor DG has fault here.

maybe she'll explain what she meant. usually when someone starts a comment like she did,"no offense blah, blah blah", they know they are being offensive.

This is what she meant
 

I think it's the assumption that in 2 years SDT will still not be able to fill their house that is sticking in her craw. Can't say as I blame her on that one. I would wager, however, that SDT has worked all this out with the university and Panhellenic and that if they do all of a sudden have a huge membership increase they won't be out in the cold.

ETA: I googled and I couldn't find the post that said this, but I know I didn't dream it. Please, if you are the one who posted this (and then edited it because you were wrong or found out you shouldn't have said anything), PM me so I know I'm not going insane.

Great news! A friend from high school was a Sig Ep at Georgia Tech and his Greek life stories were always entertaining.

SDT hasn't participated in Bama's formal Recruitment for probably over a decade now. They haven't been in their house for quite a while either, though I can't recall exactly when that occurred. They simply do not have the numbers to financially or physically support either.

We all wish this would change, but honestly it would require several years of substantial growth to get them to the point of doing either. According to UA's Greek Life Sorority Growth Report that isn't happening. :(

Smart move by Alpha Phi to already have the Beta Mu chapter website up and running.

Alpha Phi Alabama

"The Beta Mu chapter of Alpha Phi was established in 1932. Following the chapter’s closing in 1963, Alpha Phi actively sought an opportunity to return to the Alabama campus. Alpha Phi’s return to Alabama in Fall 2008 will mark an exciting new chapter in Beta Mu’s long history with the University of Alabama."

"There was a post in another thread where someone from Bama said A Phi will be in the SDT house till 2010, by that time their new house will be built and then DG will go into the SDT house."

Yes, this is the information to which I was referring.


"maybe she'll explain what she meant. usually when someone starts a comment like she did,"no offense blah, blah blah", they know they are being offensive."

I had no idea that what I typed would be so controversial. Of course, I want the new colonies to be successful. And, I would like SDT to have the membership numbers to 'reclaim' its home.

I've noticed a lot of groups are doing this now. Pi Beta Phi has websites up for all three of its new colonies for this year. It's a great idea!

Do you even know if it's a goal of the SDT chapter to grow its numbers and claim its home? I don't mean this in a bad way. SDT at Alabama is by all accounts doing a cool thing and filling a niche on campus as a smaller group, with the approval of their nationals. Maybe that's the way they like it....? Certainly we all wish them success in whatever their goals are. I don't think anyone had said otherwise. I think that's why some found your post controversial. Because it seemed liked you were implying that because people were celebrating A Phi and DG, they were somehow wishing failure on SDT...

One of my daughter's friends at Alabama is interested in the Alpha Phi colony (she's a sophomore), so I'll find out how things go for her. I know that she missed one of the recruitment events they had last spring due to a prior commitment, but she does not plan to go through formal rush again.

As for Georgia Tech, my daughter said that they were so impressed with Alpha Phi and their presentation was so good that it almost made her want to be an Alpha Phi! (she was on Panhellenic during the expansion process). I think if they can go on to two places as different as Alabama and Georgia Tech and really "get it" at both, their expansion team is to be commended.

Alpha Phi has a two year lease on the SDT house. Alpha Phi is doing some light remodeling/heavy redecorating over the summer because the fraternity men didn't necessarily take the best care of the house, and it was very outdated. Previously, the SDT house was occupied by Lambda Chi Alpha in 07-08 and by Beta Theta Pi in 05-06 and 06-07. SDT will have the option to lease out the house again in 2009 or retain the house for SDT membership. That is totally up to their house corporation depending on the current enrollment of their chapter.

Alpha Phi will participate in the first two days (round 1) of recruitment. After the first round, Alpha Phi will serve as a break station during the parties. Each PNM could have something like 5 breaks during philanthropy days, 3 or so during skit day, and one during pref. This doesn't count girls who have breaks because they do not have a full schedule. This way Alpha Phi will have tons of time to visit with PNMs and the PNMs will be able to learn a lot about Alpha Phi during recruitment. On Bid Day, there will be opportunity for snap bidding to occur for chapters that have participated in recruitment. After Bid Day, no chapter except Alpha Phi can offer a bid for three weeks. During this three weeks, Alpha Phi will be able to do their colonization recruitment and give out bids to the women who they have selected.

There are currently right at 1450 women registered, so I think there are plenty of women (maybe too many) to go around.

Bama did a great job with this. I hope a lot of girls keep very open minded to try the "new thing". Having Alpha Phi serve as a break station is a wonderful idea.

Bamagirl09, thanks very much for your post. We appreciate the first-hand info. Here's hoping Sigma Delta Tau will be able to reclaim their house for themselves soon, too!

Roll Tide!

Very cute Bama Alpha Phi website! I hope recruitment goes great for them. And I agree with the above posters, holding recruitment breaks at the Phi house was a good decision for Panhellenic to make.

IMO, SDT is showing an uncommon amount of smarts in letting this chapter fill a niche and be what it is, rather than giving them constant pressure and threats if their numbers don't measure up to that of the other groups. Numbers have zero to do with "success" - happy and fulfilled members do.

I know that many of us admire SDT on several campuses because they do fill a niche - their HQ's support of these chapters is wonderful.

My hope is that the SDTs in a few years end up with a redecorated house that is financially stable, DG and Alpha Phi are able to recruit and build their own houses, and the NPC sorority system is strengthened overall.

Update: As of this morning Bama has exactly 1500 PNMs registered with less than 2 weeks to go before Recruitment starts. At this level and for chapter planning purposes, last week Panhellenic projected quota to be in the 77-90 range (including upperclassmen). That may still increase depending on how many more sign up.

is that(projected quota figure) set with consideration for the women who might drop out of formal to go alpha phi?

This would be why I've written an unreal number of recs for Bama then. Wow.

What is the Alabama Action Social listed at 7:30 on Monday evening? Is it important for PNMs to attend, and if so, what is the recommended dress for this?

Also, my daughter isn't living in the dorm; is she still expected to attend the mandatory dorm meeting?

Golly! Hmmm, with 14 chapters* participating in formal (that leaves out SDT and Alpha Phi),

if quota is 77, total new members could be around 1,078 (say 1,050 -1,100 +/-0

if quota is 90, total new members could be around 1,260 (again, +/- a few)

So in theory there would be ~ 250 - 400, or more, who did not receive bids for various reasons. (Dropped out because they didn't like their invitation lists; cut by all chapters - fairly rare but possible; illness / family emergency; other factors.) Does that kind of percentage seem more or less in line with Bama's recent experience?

*AXO, ADPi, AGD, AOII, ChiO, Tri Delt, DZ, GPhiB, Theta, KD, Kappa, PhiMu, Pi Phi, Zeta

In this post, bamagirl09 mentioned that approximately 315 girls went bidless last year, and this number includes those who dropped out.

Thanks OTW! After posting my question, I actually checked Bama's Panhellenic site and they say that "over" 75% become members (i.e., new members). I think that's roughly in line with the 315 figure, and if applied to 1500 +/-, the 75% rate would be 1,125 (again, +/-). We'll see pretty soon; it does look like big new member classes are in the cards as usual.

Best to all at Bama -- all chapters, all PNMs, and "newbie" Alpha Phi.

I'm so excite that Bama will have the Triad!

Dropout rates historically run between 5 and 10%...that's no-shows, drop-outs, those who come up with no invitations etc.
I would think that Panhellenic might downgrade quota just a little bit to leave a bigger pool for Alpha Phi. Just a thought...:cool:

If your daughter isn't enrolled in Alabama Action then it doesn't pertain to her. It's a service/learning project for freshmen honors students and always coincides with 1st round of Recruitment. Panhellenic offers a social for these PNMs who miss 1st round parties. The chapters send representatives to meet the women so they can make more informed decisions rather than automatic invites/cuts.

Can they do this? Per NPC?

Even if they could, I'm not sure it would be wise - wouldn't it lead to a lot of girls going all the way through to pref night and then not being placed? It seems they might be so heartbroken/burned by the experience they'd not be interested in Alpha Phi...

I really think more women will drop out this year in the hopes of pursuing Alpha Phi anyway. Not to mention the upperclasswomen that will be interested.

yes, and i don't remember anyone saying how many of the 1500 pnms are upperclasswomen.

No, they could not do this. They will set quota using RFM as usual. By the time they get to pref, there will be a good number of women who have dropped out already. They, along with other women who for whatever reason elect to wait for the colonization, will form the prospective pool of PNMs for Alpha Phi.

Remember, Alpha Phi is not looking for 300 freshmen. The pool of women who drop out of recruitment/get released is only a starting point. They will no doubt recruit in different ways to reach more women.

Amen!!!!!!!!

and Amen again!

does anybody know how many pnms are registered now?

1590 according to ICS as of 8/6/08 at 11:00am CDT

My daughter called this morning and said that her chapter had been told that Alabama has the largest recruitment in the country. Wow! I cannot imagine how large each of the parties must be to accomodate that many PNMs.

They'll add more parties. After all...there's a limit to how many humans can fit into those houses!:O
(What a great problem to have!!:))

The University of Alabama Fall 2008 Formal Recruitment is officially underway! Final total of PNMs signed up is 1604.*

*Strange, yesterday afternoon there were 1622. Seems 18 must have dropped out before the 1st round even started. Perhaps they are interested in Alpha Phi. FYI last year there were rumors of women signing up and paying the registration fee simply to be able to move into the dorms early.

My daughter said that her house has 23 parties today. I told her to eat when she can and sit when she can, but it will be a very long day for the members.

*sigh* That's the reason why I wish we could get them all (actives and PNMs) to stop wearing sky high heels for Recruitment. Everyone's feet are just killing them by the end of the day. Then they have to do it again tomorrow... Beauty is pain I guess.

They go to 23 parties over the course of 2 days. A lot of those 23 are breaks. I'm not sure how many are each day, but they are not all on the first day.