I know there have been debates about deferred recruitment here and I hope this doesn't turn into one. I also know that you know I agree with you.

Deferred recruitment, while it has many cons, has many pros. One of which is that you have college grades to go on, rather than high school. It doesn't guarantee that every new member will make grades, but the majority will. Just like you can't guarantee that every active will make grades on a given semester.

I still believe that the only reason why I was able to maintain my grades during my new member period (lovin' these PC terms) was because I'd been through a couple semesters before (I didn't join until the fall of my sophomore year). I may not have had my best grades ever (I was sick most of the semester, was still joining, and a full courseload - honestly I don't know how I lived through that semester), but at least I was able to maintain my dean's list status.

Hence my :p .

I just think of people like my high school's yearbook editor and NHS president (among other things) who got to Penn State, partied too much, and promptly flunked out. She looked fabulous on paper and had a great personality - any chapter would have been falling over themselves to bid her. But the fact is, she just couldn't handle college life - at least at that college - and knowing her, I don't think study hours or (in the case of Chi O) the threat of not initiating would have changed that.

Danielle, this is an odd question, but do you think there are people from a wider geographic area going to Pitt & going Greek there now?

Pre-shortened NM periods, we pledged more than one woman who never did make the grades, so that's not the only reason I'm against the shortened NM periods. We also had women who were so grade-oriented, they only attended sorority functions which were mandatory. I will always say that one of the biggest advantages of being in a sorority is learning how to balance grades (job) and social obligations responsibly!

ThetaGirl, when I was a pledge, we had a 15-18 week pledge period, and had to have one term's GPA prior to initiation. During Recruitment, many sororities wouldn't cut PNMs until the last moment, keeping the quota really high, and having the PNMs hold out to see if they were going to get a invitation to Pref from the "highly regarded" sororities.

Sounds like I like the previous system better! When I was an active I would have loved to have had a longer NM period for are girls....

The rationale behind changing the programs to 6-8 weeks from 1 semester was to fight hazing in chapters. If you only had 6-8 weeks as a new member, then you would have a much shorter time to be considered "less than." The reaction to the change is very different depending on who you speak to about this. Some women who pledged an entire semester think that it needs to be re-instituted, but some women (like my bio sister) see no difference and are happy with the change.

I'm curious why you would have loved a longer NM period? What did you feel was missing?

I was in the first year my chapter shifted to the 6 week NM period (it was called Bridges at the time). So maybe becuase it was the first year, but lots of things seemed really rushed. For example, our bid day buddy was our big. So if you didn't click with them, you were SOL. We also busted our butts trying to learn everything- national history, chapter history, etc. We were lucky that our chapter was fairly new, I can't imagine trying to fit everthing in for a 100 yr old chapter! A couple of more weeks would have given a little more time to digest everything. Plus thrown into that 6week process was Homecoming- so that week was a loss in terms of pledge activities, plus mid-terms were another week. I remember one new member meeting lasting 3 hours just so that we could cover everything in the pledge manual. We had 5 manditory new member meetings plus one overnight retreat. Add pledge pinning and then initiation into that.

One other reason a longer pledge period might be good- it might lessen the post initiation let-down. If you can spread out some of the fun activities, then it might not be such a downer when they come to an end after initiation.

That's how I remember it too, especially at Auburn, where blanket invitations were issued through 3-party day (I think). A member of one of the biggest groups actually told me they didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, so they kept inviting them back - with no intention of pledging these girls!
The new method has strengthened the weaker chapters, and isn't that good, in the long run, for everybody? The big groups who choose their NM classes before the first party still do that (which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't).

I, too, hate the shortened NM period. Even a couple of weeks longer would help, I think. Members don't know histories, policies or procedures as well. I've seen members clueless about our Founders, and we only have 3!

Back in my day, we had formal recruitment twice each year. The fall semester pledge class got their bids in early to mid October and had to wait until January for Initiation so that they had college grades. The Spring pledge class got their bids in early February and were Initiated at the end of March. That makes it seem like one class had a lot longer to learn the material and stuff, but it didn't really work out that way. If you think about the timing, our pledge periods were really about the same in actual time spent on pledging. The fall class had meetings from early-mid October until early-mid December.. about 8 weeks. Then we had dead week (week before finals) and finals week, then two weeks away from school completely. They were initiated the first weekend back at school. The spring pledge class had meetings from early Feb to early April and were initiated right around the 8 week mark. The additional time for the fall class was not spent doing anything except finals and being home for Christmas, in reality. Both classes truly had 8 weeks of pledging either way. The "shortened" pledge period of 8 weeks doesn't seem shortened to me at all. Ours was that long 25 years ago when I pledged.

Personally, my NM period was slightly longer, about 10 weeks because I was a founder of my chapter. However, I noticed in later NM classes that they felt they were rushed through the NM period, and didn't learn as much as the founding class did. Also I think we would have had less problems with newly initiated members if they had more time as a NM. Of course this is just IMO.

ForeverRoses,

We pledged the same year, but my experience was far from chaotic as you described. We had plenty of time to get everything done and didn't get Big Sisters until week 3. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) Homecoming was not a huge event at my school...I made our Homecoming "card" with three initiated sisters one afternoon in the dorm. My sister who had been intiated in the last full semester class in my chapter couldn't detect any real differences between my new member training and her pledge training except for a longer waiting period. We had a few people from the earlier classes complain that we hadn't "earned" our letters, but they were quickly drowned out by the sisters who were determined to make it a successful and meaningful experience for the NMs. As for Thetagirl218, I can imagine that the NM time seems short to you, but also remember that your colonizing class had many more responsibilities for setting up your chapter as well as learning the history of Theta. You could never have done all of that in just 6 weeks!

I think that since interviews and things like that have been eradicated (worst idea ever but that isn't the point of this post) 6 weeks should be ample to complete a nationally mandated, cookie cutter pledge program. The only thing that I think would suck is getting to know enough people well enough to choose your big.

That isn't because they don't have time to learn it. That's because your national program isn't making it a priority. Which seems to be a trend, sadly.

But seriously, folks - do you REALLY need to learn EVERYTHING in the new member period? Can't some of this be spread out and learned later on? What is really the most important for an 18 year old to learn as she joins an organization? In my mind, it is to learn that the women she is with are fabulous people, and these are the people she will WANT to be with for the next few years [and beyond] - she wants to bond with these women and make connections. Interviewing folks doesn't make connections... doing things with them does. New member periods should be about beginnings.... not about everything. Cramming in information that is book work or just like school is boring. Have education, yes, but make it interesting and fun. The new member period should still be a recruitment period... a 6-8 week "wooing" that "teaches" the new member "yep, I chose wisely... and I want others to experience this, too." It should be "the basics" - how do I function within this particular chapter?

There's plenty of time for education about the sorority if you look at the opportunities for education about the organization over the course of 3-4 years vs. 6-8 weeks. I know that is how our organization is moving, and from what I can tell a number of others are doing the same. Learning about the founders, our history, and our values is STILL a priority - but only the groundwork has to be accomplished during the new member period.

My $.02. That and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. :rolleyes:

Ditto!

I disagree that interviews don't make connections but whatever, that's your opinion and I'm sorry if you didn't get the positive full effect of them. Part of the problem isn't just that interviews have been eliminated, but in some cases ALL one on one contact has. Not everyone shines in a group or is bold enough to start to make connections on their own. We see that over and over in posts on here.

As far as the history - no you won't learn everything, but for God's sake, a college educated woman can't learn the names of THREE women for a membership test? That's shameful.

And in some smaller chapters, you go from being a pledge right into offices that are important. You NEED to know what you're doing.

ETA: Can we please split this into another topic? Shortened NM periods have nothing to do with release figures during rush.