From Auburn Panhellenic website:


Woah. Just now seeing this. Why in the world would they write that about recs? That is absolutely cruel and flies in the face of what many (most? all?) chapters believe and follow about recs.

Our alumnae panhellenic sends scores of girls to Auburn each year and we do everything in our might to help them be as prepared as possible. Many girls are first generation. Going up against college panhellenic website crap like this doesn't help our cause in trying to educate our local girls on the necessity of recommendations.

It's one thing when CPC's write the standard "it's up to the chapter to secure a rec if they are interested in you." This one is over the top "recs aren't a big deal," which is the absolute opposite of what our APH is hearing from the college chapters. Technically the CPC doesn't require recs to *participate* in recruitment, but to mislead the PNMs that individual groups don't require them is utterly wrong.

I do agree on that part.

I believe they are trying to reduce the worry of PNMs and encourage first generation PNMs while reducing the perceived competitiveness, especially given the current sheer volume (over 1300) of PNMs. However, I agree - a well prepared PNM should try to have 1 rec per chapter, but if that is not possible, it is still likely they can have a successful recruitment at Auburn - especially if they have good grades and overall package.

I think the question is in the age of internet - how can we encourage participation while not the perceived hurdles to finding a Panhellenic home? Make it easier for PNMs, chapters, and Alumnae groups?

The first statement is true-recommendations are NOT required to register for recruitment, however, it is also misleading. But isn't it a statement promoted by the NPC? The extra credit remark is over the line and encroaches on some sororities membership requirements and is from Auburn Panhellenic. Very misleading! I venture to say there are going to be some disappointed PNMs who took the easy way out and did not secure recommendations, who wanted to believe this misinformation because it relieved them of the burden of finding recs.

(emphasis mine)

Here's my question, just for philosophical purposes: are the hurdles actually "perceived"? We know that PNMs who read this information on the Auburn website are literally being misinformed as to the reality of the situation -- which is that it's a competitive campus where the sheer number of registered PNMs means that recs are all but required for a student who wants to make it through the first RFM-mandated round of no-brainer releases (GPA, etc).

If that hurdle is real, why should NPC take the position that the best option is to hide the truth? It can't be because they are afraid to discourage registration; registration is hitting record highs at the competitive campuses.

Is it because there is the need to maintain an elaborate facade the sorority recruitment is not in fact a process that still is heavily informed by network, family relationships, and hometown?

If NPC wants to make the experience better for first-generation Greeks, then the place to effect that outcome is not by encouraging the CPCs to dissemble. It's by strengthening the community education resources available to APHs, so that we can more effectively catch those 1st-gen girls during their senior year, and provide that fraternal education and preparation which makes all the difference between a great recruitment experience and a miserable one.

To tell a PNM in July that rush is this super-easy, "just show up and be yourself! the paperwork is extra credit!" situation, in an attempt to make the NPC community more inclusive when you know it's not true, is like locking the barn door after the horse has already been stolen. Because the "old girls network" of PNMs who already know all the secrets were finished on May 15 and are sitting pretty; meanwhile anyone who stumbles across the AU site right now is reading "you don't need recs to go through recruitment!!!!" as "you don't need recs to have a successful recruitment"... and I think us alumnae can wearily admit that it's simply not true, even if NPC will not.

Ignore my ranting if it's out of line. I've just spent so many weeks this summer talking to 1st-gen area girls and giving them the "real" story about their chosen SEC/Texas/Big 12 process -- and that their first experience with their College Panhellenic Council is a wishy-washy soft-pedaling of mistruth, doesn't feel very Panhellenic to me at all.

It's fun when you and I agree.

http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/...aaaaayae5a.jpg

That whole website is so chock full of bad info I had to make sure it wasn't an Onion production. The snack part!!

Let's come up with more foods that will stick in your teeth and give you hideous breath. I don't know why they didn't just tell them to bring a bag of spaghetti with anchovies.


NPC can't say "recs are required" because they aren't required to participate in rush, which is a Panhellenic production. They also can't say they are required to get a bid, because they do not have certified knowledge of what each group requires. (They might know by word of mouth, but that treads on MS territory to assert it as a fact.) There is a way to put across the importance of recs correctly without crossing the Panhellenic line - Alabama usually does it VERY well on their website. This website is doing it very wrong and either written by someone who really is trying to keep the unknowing out, or else by someone who lives in Happy Unicorn Rainbow Village.

I would guess that it is a collegian who is on Panhellenic council and that she is living in Happy Unicorn Rainbow Village.

Depends on what your CPC goals are - if the goals are to be inclusive and everybody gets A bid and the pledge classes get larger/closer to Bama's size - then no you do not need a rec for every chapter either because not every chapter requires them or - unbeknownst to the PNM an alum might prepare one for you. (Although we cant tell you which is which because of MS rules.)

If the goal is for the informed PNM to have the mist options possible - then it is her responsibility to find letter writers.

This probably came about because somewhere Out there hundreds of PNMs are making Greek life staff and APH nuts trying to get recs instead of focusing on women they know for references. To this I would ask a PNM - if you don't know anyone at all in a group enough to sign a form saying your resume is factual, wouldn't you be better off and have more fun in a group that you already know someone?

Because of the internet, grade inflation, etc - if 1400 women are all adorable with 4.0 GPAs , work in soup kitchens, are cheerleaders beauty queens and athletes - how do you tell them apart? Without being just random ir arbitrary?

Agree... but I feel like this is not what Auburn is saying in their 2014 guide. I feel like they are almost saying, "Heck, no need to go find letter writers at all! It's optional. You're a special snowflake and your sparkling personality is all you need!"

lol.

It probably deserves a parody. Like replacing recs and recruitment with resumes and job interviews. Or maybe even shoes and job interviews.

And Cheetos.

But the someone is very enthusiastic! Very! And all about proclaiming this good news!

hmm, how to overcome adamant exclamation with accurate information?

But think of how many OOS PNMs participate in recruitment (Auburn's freshman class is around 40% OOS, I think, and the % of OOS PNMs may be even higher -- anyone know?).

Although many of Auburn's OOS students are probably from Georgia, they still may not know any actives (well) in most groups.

Auburn has 40% out-of-state students - with last year roughly 49% of PNM's being from out-of-state. (And incidentally 35% of Alabama
Freshmen not meeting the standard for the Auburn freshman class.)

The internet is your friend - https://cws.auburn.edu/panhellenic/beforereg/parents

Recruitment information notwithstanding, the AU Panhellenic blog does have some cute president/officer profiles and philanthropy events blogged (keep scrolling):

http://aupanhellenic.blogspot.com/

Looking at the home states of sorority presidents and Panhellenic officers profiled on the blog, I thought the OOS representation was remarkable -- more OOS than in-state. Anyone know the % of OOS participation in AU recruitment?:

Chapter Presidents:
Alpha Chi: Alabama
ADPi: Alabama
Alpha Gam: Alabama
AOPi: Tennessee
Alpha Xi: Alabama
Chi O: Tennessee
Tri Delta: Georgia
DG: Georgia
DZ: Georgia
Gamma Phi Beta: Georgia
Kappa: Alabama
KD: Alabama
Phi Mu: Florida
Pi Phi: Mississippi
Sigma Kappa: Texas
Theta: Alabama
Zeta: Texas
Panhellenic Officers:
President: Georgia
Administrative VP: Colorado
Executive VP: Texas
VP Finance: Florida
VP Recruitment: Maryland

Thanks for the info. :)

And thanks for the tip. I had no idea you could find stuff like that on the internet.

Could you link me to this part? Just curious, considering the scholarships offered at Bama (in-state and OOS).

My simple non-scientific independent study based on recommendations I wrote(or didn't) would confirm HQWest's statistic that 35% of Alabama freshmen would not meet the standard for Auburn. Numerous Bama bound girls from OOS with below 3.0.