Yep. Until the partnership with RIF (which began 10 years ago!), each chapter was allowed to choose its own philanthropic focus, allowing the women to support needs in their community or give to a cause close that had affected members. I believe chapters can still support causes of their own choosing, but must support RIF in some way throughout the year.

Ours was the local Youth & Shelter Services and we had a baseball tournament. The only reason I remember was because I was Philanthropy Chair! It seems now many chapters on my campus have gone away from activity/athletics-related philanthropies and do more food focused ones. Kappa now does Kappa Kakes (pancake breakfast) in the spring and Kappa Fiesta (all you can eat nachos) in the fall. Tri-Delta does Delta Wings, Kappa Delta used to do a spaghetti feed, etc...

/tangent

ACK!!! Do you mean that the mid to late 90s WASN'T 10 years ago?!?! :eek:

Crazy, I know! ;) I'm in denial. There's no way I'm in my mid-30s (yes, I know some of you are laughing at my age, you blue-haired old geezers :p ). I'm going to be 27 forever.

I may be older than you, but I'm not THAT much older...so watch casting the blue haired and geezer aspersions around. LOL. Although blue hair would complement our keys nicely.

Ahem...I'm pushing 50 and my (admittedly dyed) hair is a very nice shade of brown, thankyouverymuch.

AZTheta, I must have had a blonde flashback!

Little piece of wisdom: the people who wanted to start Ronald McDonald Houses did extensive surveys on what cartoon character was related most to children. They had everything set up to start "Micky Mouse House" until the results came back. The kids recognized Ronald McDonald more, and the houses became Ronald McDonald Houses.

^^^ Wait, so McDonald's didn't start Ronald McDonald houses themselves?

Also, I want to hear the rest of the story, please!

Well, after the derailment of my thread (LOL), I guess I’ll just finish up my story…

I spent all night praying I would get an invite from Kacey Musgraves and only [COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]Kacey Musgraves[/COLOR] to avoid having to deal with Kenny Chesney, their awkwardness, and the possibility of getting bid from them all together. I appreciated their love for one another, but I knew I could never see myself in their sisterhood. So off I went to get my invites, this time alone, slightly more hopeful, but overall scared. With reason to be. There was only one name on my list and it was….



Kenny Chesney.

Yep. I only got an invite to pref for the one house, a I had never liked and had ranked last every round. So what did I do?
My rho gamma happened to be at the invite table and came up to ask me what I was thinking. I said the only thing that could come to mind: “I am going to drop.”
I filled out my drop form and walked back to my dorm more confident than I had ever felt in my life. Was I walking away from Greek life, something I had dreamed about for years? Yes. But the house I was walking away from wasn't my home. It wasn’t until I called my mother that I completely lost it.

I cried. I cried for hours. I ordered myself an extra-large pizza and my mom sent me a chocolate covered fruit tray and I let myself induldge and watch chick flicks for the rest of the night. I considered petitioning Panhellenic for a new chapter to be created. I considered transferring schools. But I never considered going back to Kenny Chesney. I was uncomfortable at every party. I know people always say go to pref and give the chapter another chance, but after everything, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The way I was treated at the party did not make me feel like I belonged. I also didn't want to take the chance of accepting a bid a dropping, making it impossible for me to go through spring recruitment.

The next day, I woke up to a phone call from the director of recruitment at Kenny Chesney asking if I would take a snap bid. I respectfully declined. I still do not regret it. Later that day, I stared at Facebook and watched it explode when bids were passed out. My two closest friends that didn’t know each other became sisters in Luke Bryan. Actually, I had close friends end up going to different houses and I now know someone in every house but Kenny Chesney.

So, now what? Ultimately, I’d like to re-rush in the spring. Only two chapters hit quota (Jason Aldean and Keith Urban). Most of the older girls in the Greek system considered this to be a “weak” recruitment because over 25% of the PNMs dropped. But I’m not sure, with my school being so small, if being a “drop out” will play to my disadvantage. Or will my knowing someone in every house help me out in the end?

I guess I thought I would share my story for other PNMs who are in a similar position in the future. Any advice on what I should do would be welcomed! If you have any other questions about my recruitment, let me know! Thanks for reading!

I am sorry we went on a tangent, but I'm also sorry that this didn't work out the way you hoped. Best of luck to you!

I'm sorry that you didn't have the recruitment that you wanted, but I appreciate you sharing your story. You were so respectful in the way you spoke about your experience and about your time spent with each sorority, including Kenny Chesney.

Just do your best to meet lots of people on campus, get involved, keep up your grades and don't do anything embarrassing and if Recruitment seems like the right thing to do next year, then go for it!

Thanks for sharing your story. I think we were all pulling for you to have a positive outcome. Based on your story, I do think that you made the right decision in the end. Best of luck to you!

I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason and this may be a blessing in disguise. I wish you the best when you re-rush in the spring.

I understand now why it took you a little longer to post your story.

Will share this for you to think about: some years back a fabulous PNM was released by Theta, and she went to pref at two other chapters (both excellent); but was so disappointed at being released by the one chapter she felt strongest about that she did not sign an MRABA, she withdrew. She waited a year for formal to come around again, and this time she did get a bid from Theta. What was different? Who knows. I share this because she followed her heart, and made the decision to not become a member of another chapter (the two invites she had were awesome, by the way - very strong desirable chapters).

Focus on your academics, enjoy your freshman year, and I wish you the very best.

Absolutely not trying to out the OP but does anyone know if her campus just began using RFM? That might have been a factor in so many drops until they get the kinks worked out.

I think that you made a sensible decision given the way that chapter treated you. Good luck next time around, and get those recs!