I'm the mother of a Dartmouth student who went through Rush last week to disappointing results. After exploring what happened, I believe the issue as this: So long as only 2-4 sororities on campus are perceived as "desirable", then most of the 200 or so women who don't pledge these chapters will feel slighted. (And don't start claiming ALL the sororities are good. It's a fact this is the perception on campus.)

That's why it's a problem with the system. It's not the PNMs' fault it's been ingrained in their heads over and over that certain sororities are not good. (For instance, Ivy Gate Blog described one sorority's members as "Deferred KDE's", another's as "weird and slutty" and said about another, "If you end up a sister here, you'd have been better off not rushing in the first place.") Can you blame someone for not wanting to be part of a sorority which, even for invalid and obviously provocative reasons, has that reputation?

Dartmouth desperately needs a public relations campaign to raise the desirability of the less-selective sororities. (Some other changes, such as rushing before fall term so athletes can participate more fully and more "informal" rush opportunities during freshmen spring would also be helpful, i.e. a structured system for sisters to meet PNM's for lunch at Collis, have a picnic on the Green etc.)

DartmouthPanHel- I can tell you're doing all you can to give a good rush experience to as many girls as possible. No wonder you're feeling frustrated by The D editorial! Is there any discussion among Panhellenic members about raising awareness of some of the less-selective sororities? This may be a sensitive subject to bring up in a group setting, but surely would help the overall situation.

Dartmouth has such a strong, cohesive student body and alumni network. Surely the school can work that same magic to improve the perception of certain sororities on campus.

Someone please tell me that I misread the article about IFC rush. There is a Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity at Dartmouth? KKK? I'm sure it's older than God and dates before the second group, but still.....

First, let me say my daughter, after an initially disappointing round of rush, did get a bid and pledged a sorority she's excited and happy to be a part of, so this is not a "sour grapes" post on my part. (Now that I reread my message above, I see it was misleading.)

I agree that it's not the responsibility of Dartmouth to make PNM's interested in a chapter that they choose not to be interested in. That situation happens on every campus.

My point is that Dartmouth has an institutional problem where only 2-4 sororities are considered "desirable" There's a huge discrepancy between the two tiers, leading many girls to withdraw from Rush rather than pledge one of the others. And I'm making this observation as someone who participated in a sorority on two different campuses and is active in my alumnae group. I really believe the situation is different at Dartmouth than at most other campuses.

You're right that Dartmouth really has no formal responsibility to improve sorority reputations (and, who knows, maybe they've already tried to do this), but with so much time and effort spent on other fronts, including a new computer program, I hope they consider this one, as well.

Until the school -or more accurately Panhel- addresses this underlying issue of perception, a large portion of rushees will continue to be dissatisfied. Dartmouth does community-building so well (DartmouthPanHel will attest to that!), some help from them might be all that's needed to improve the situation.

This was a general discussion about an editorial in the Dartmouth newspaper regarding sorority rush. I was trying to give a perspective about WHY the editorial was written and constructive criticism about what could be done. My daughter did exactly what Panhel recommended she do and isn't complaining about the situation. In fact, she's excited and happy about her choice, as am I.

To debase this discussion to a personal attack is disappointing, to say the least.

I'm outta here.

You didn't misread.

Kappa Kappa Kappa Fraternity, also known as Tri-Kap, was founded in 1842. The Wiki claims that it is the second-oldest local in the country.

Please don't that post throw you. It's by a poster who has been banned so many times we've all lost count, but he keeps coming back under new usernames, thinking we won't recognize him. Ignore him.

Not the PNM's fault????

Is this not an Ivy League college?

All of a sudden, the day they get their acceptance letters, they have no more discernment?

Fwap.
Fwap.
Fwap.

Thanks, Mystic and Theta! I'm new on this board and thought maybe chopper's post was typical!

Minus the smilies.

For a student body made of the best and the brightest you think they'd have the ability to think for themselves and make an educated decision about a group instead of listening to gossip.

What's interesting about the Dartmouth situation is the block rushing, that a bunch of PNMs decided that they would like to put their stamp on the new Kappa Delta chapter, so a bunch of them went for it. It's just the kind of situation people here have wished would happen to small chapters with low pledge classes, but at Dartmouth, women had the gumption to do it. It'd be great if the idea caught on and there were similar blocks in the future or on other campuses (campi?).

No problem.
And random capitolizations.

For the first time, this caught me as really funny: "DGTess has not made any friends yet "

No problem.

Apparently the mods deleted that post, though...