Congratulations to the many new Panhellenic sisters (and especially my ADPi New Member!)!!!!

Now, would UGA please provide a list of totals?!

Ok this list is just what I know as of now...
 

This list is what I have gathered from my UGA friends and reading the posts on other threads so...I know some of these might be slightly off. If some are wrong, oops. Just POLITELY correct me, please :) These numbers are before snap bids. So, the houses that did not make quota probably had some to add to these...

QUOTA: 55

Alpha Gamma Delta: 65
Alpha Omicron Pi:59
Gamma Phi Beta: 48 + 8 snap bids = 56
Delta Delta Delta: 51
Sigma Delta Tau: did not make quota (I was told they got between 30-40)
Delta Gamma: 24
Delta Phi Epsilon: 2
Sigma Kappa: 59
Delta Zeta: 61
Zeta Tau Alpha: made quota
Alpha Chi Omega: made quota
Alpha Delta Pi: made quota
Phi Mu: made quota
Kappa Kappa Gamma: made quota
Kappa Alpha Theta: made quota
Pi Beta Phi: made quota
Chi Omega: made quota
Kappa Delta: made quota

If I get updates...I'll try my best to post so the final numbers are up.

And congratulations to your President, who I held in my arms when she was as a baby, and have had the honor of watching her grow!!!:D Her mother sent me an email yesterday saying she was exhausted, but that they had a very emotional but awesome rush! So glad to hear those numbers!

Gamma Phi has 56. I'm an advisor to that chapter and received an email yesterday with all the new girls names and contact info. :)

Quick update: DZ got 61 girls, so quota plus 6. :)

There seems to be not only large variations in success, but also many chapters not at quota. What I mean is that usually there are one or two chapters that do not make quota and may be way off, but here there seems to be lots of chapters not making quota and a few way above quota.

Does UGA do things differently or did some anomaly happen this year? Just curious.

I'm also curious, the large variance in the numbers suggests that something may not be working quite right...

Three of the girls I know dropped out of rush. One only was invited back to 4 houses 2nd round. She is Master 4-H'er, leader in her church, & school. Honor student with great grades. Beautiful inside and out. She is a tall girl , slim,not petite like alot of the rushees I saw. I think the sororities are to biased on looks in the first round. Also, alot of Sophmores are doing the conversations. More older sisters need to be involved in round 1. They have more experience, and can pick up on qualities that younger girls can't. I am off my soap box now. I would love to know what other people think?

Delta Gamma snapped up to 31. My girlfriend is an alum and talked to a current member.

Thank y'all for the updates!

FWIW, the few recs I've sent for UGA were for totally awesome women! Each of them had the whole package: GPA, talents, activities, looks, everything! It would have to actually pain sisters to release some of these women!

Rush drop outs
 

I too wrote recs for girls who dropped out. The impression I've gotten when I inquired about those who dropped was that the girls quickly formed impressions of which groups they wanted, and if/once they were cut by those groups, they figured it "wasn't worth it" to be greek. One girl even expressed her conclusion in financial terms: if it wasn't a group she was crazy about, then it wouldn't be worth the money in membership fees.

With some of the girls who dropped, I think it's a matter of feeling that they were the beautiful and popular people in high school, the top group in others' eyes, so they won't lower themselves to join any group that other people won't see as a top group.

Other girls might not have been sold on being greek in general, so if they don't get the invitations they want, they see it as an indication from fate that they aren't cut out for sorority life.

Having gone through rush and dropped out, then later joined through COB, I can say that I don't think there are any benefits to being greek at UGA outside of what your own GLO provides.

If you aren't the panhellenic rep or a rho chi, the times that your will mingle with members of other GLOs are pretty much determined by what particular group you are in.

Perhaps if there were more events aimed at bringing more groups together, instead of essentially having a pretty brutally tiered greek system, then more girls would give joining a lower tiered group a try.

I'd say the sisterhood in all the groups is good, but sisterhood is only one element that the PNM are looking for. Most of them are also looking for status and chances to meet cute boys.

I think this is SO true about rush at UGA. The two girls I wrote recs for who dropped out still had options left at pref (even if they only had 1 or 2 options), but they seem to forget that EVERYONE who rushes at UGA is beautiful, smart, and well-liked, and they cannot all join the same houses.

I really do still believe that every group at UGA is a "top group" in its own way, for its own reasons. But then again, I didn't grow up in metro-Atlanta where certain chapter names seem to be the only ones girls hear about in high school.

True they came from a big fish in a little pond. Now they are guppy in the Atlantic Ocean. Alot of girls can't adjust to that. I came from a small high school of 25 graduates in my Senior Class, joined a sorority to broaden my horizions and make new friends. Because of 4-H, I had about thirty girlfriends going through rush with me. In the 80's, more of the girls in the houses socialized with each other. Are the houses more "elite" now? I feel sorry for the girls that feel if they don't get what they think is the "top" house they don't want to be apart of another house. If they would be more open minded they would realize that the house that wants them, may be better than the one that they thought was "tops".

Oh, I'm old
 

I graduated in the early 90's so I'm old, and pretty out of touch. (I pledged late too, so I didn't live in the dorm or house with other greeks.)

I suspect that things are pretty much as they were because of stuff I hear from the kids I taught and because I know some of the girls who dropped out.

I'm filtering things through my own experience. I know why I dropped out back then, and they've told me why they dropped out this year. Things don't seem to have changed that much.

If your old :eek: I'm a senior citizen. ;) You're as old as you feel.

When did humility and graciousness quit being a high qualities? Did no one ever bother to instill these qualities? It all sounds like conceit and haughtiness that a girl would consider herself stepping down to accept a bid from a sorority that wasn't her very top favorite. And, it's offensive to that house as the sorority women have dedicated their time and money to bringing the new girls into the sisterhood.

that may be too strong
 

Oh, I don't know. Really all they've done is opt out of joining a primarily social group. They can do service and philantropic projects without being members; they can enjoy campus life and student activities in other groups. They can develop leadership skills in other programs.

It disappoints me because I think, in general, they are good young women, and I think they'd enjoy the groups if they joined. I also think that they could have contributed to the groups, and I regret that everybody misses out when they drop out. And sure, it hurts my feelings on some level that some of them thought they were too good for my old chapter (who apparently did just fine without them).

But, I don't think a girl should feel compelled to join a group that she doesn't want to simply because the group put effort into recruitment.

It may be unfortunate, but many college-age people only want to belong to groups that they feel will improve their own circumstances. They don't look to join because of what they can do for the group.

I'd like to see UGA try to build a stronger sense of what being greek in general does for people by having more all greek events or maybe even randomly matched social events (maybe some that wouldn't "count" as socials, so no one would feel that they cost them a social with a better group).

This might do more towards general retention in the rush process because girls would know that even if they didn't get one of their top choices, they were ensured a certainly level of social involvement.

I agree with you here. Don't take someone that doesn't want to be part of your org. My point is that is shouldn't even be like that in the first place.

A sad, sad state of affairs.

That sounds like a great goal for UGA (well...any university for that matter!) and for Greek Life in general.

Just got my update, Pi Phi pledged 63 new angels.

I agree that no one should join a group where they don't feel comfortable or do not connect in any way. It is rather expensive to join a sorority, and not just dues, but all of the extras.

But I really wish that a lot of these girls that drop out when the so-called "top tier" groups cut them would have the confidence in themselves to realize they don't need to be in the largest group on campus to validate themselves. Think about it..if 60 of these girls who are so great that they can't lower themselves to join a smaller chapter, did go in together and join that smaller chapter it would turn around in a couple of years. And once word got around to the guys that ABC has a great new pledge class their social options would be wide open.

Maybe that is just wishful thinking but it hurts me to see girls who would get a lot out of and contribute a lot to the Greek experience missing out. I have seen comments on facebook this week like "we didn't need to be in a stinking sorority anyway" or "we'll have much more fun being independent." That is so sad to me when they probably had high hopes earlier in the week. It turns them off to Greek LIfe and that is never good.

We see comments on here like "I went to XYZ today and had a good time. I really liked the 3 girls I met and there were a lot of girls in my major, their house is beautiful and they seem to have a really fun, close sisterhood. BUt I can't see myself joining this group." Well WHY NOT? Because they are smaller? Because there were a couple of larger girls? Because they didn't mix with your boyfriend's fraternity last year?

Okay, off the soapbox :)

The "ME" generation
 

Girls today aren't taught how to be polite, gracious or simple etiquette. I hate the attitude of the ones who dropped out because they weren't chosen by their "top" choice. As I went through rush, what I thought was my top choice, became one of my lower choices. My house was in a re-building mode at the time, I know MY pledge class worked it's tail off to start the return to greatness. I wouldn't change a thing. My whole class takes pride in what hard work produces.

The girls now want everything handed to them on a silver platter. They don't realize it is more precious if it is earned.

Well said, as is the post by LoveMyKeyKKG. I heard of one chapter who, when they got painfully low in numbers, talked to their HQ and Greek Advisor, in one session. It turned out that there was a group of women (mostly on a team or friends of one of the women) who wanted to start a new sorority. By everyone putting their cards on the table, and everyone doing their best to get along and make the best of the situation, they quadrupled their size in one fell swoop!

As SigKap DAWG and LoveMyKeyKKG pointed out, it takes some work, good attitudes, and the desire to accomplish. Would that more chapters with small chapters used the ingenuity (and good fortune) of this one chapter!

I worked in a profession that was geared towards artistic beautiful girls( read into this anything that you wish) The kids in todays world think that they (according to their parents) are entiled to anything that they want. "Suzy Q doesn't want to follow the directions of the teacher?" Then the teacher is WRONG!!!!!! I dealt with this for years before I finally got out of the business. The girls that are going through recruitment are part of this "preferred" group (at least according to their parents). They [or I should say, "their parents"] can not stand the idea that their daughters are not the best of the best. The sad thing is that many of them are wonderful young ladies. They could really make a difference in today's world if they would consider thinking beyond themselves and consider where every one is coming from!!!

OK, enough from the soapbox, but please , teach your kids to have empathy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the comments like 'I couldn't see myself fitting here" are at times disguising what some PNMs really think because they'll post that but then pm me or someone else and say, "Of course I couldn't post this on the boards but the ABCs were awful! They all had B.O., etc..." Some who are posting like this are just trying to be nice and others are afraid that a sorority member at their school will figure out who they are and which sororities they're talking about and they'll get released.

My daughter never said a partcular house was bad. She thought they were all honestly very good, she just liked a few more than others by the slimmest of threads. I did hear the word "clicking" used, but just as a matter of degree. She purposely ignored what you ladies call tent talk about one particular sorority - she has included that house each day through Six Party Day today. So I guess I'm sorry to hear the negatives such as "awful" muttered by pnms. Perhaps the fact that my daughter had very little knowledge of individual sororities before rush gave her an open mind. I can't help but believe that all the sororities at Bama are wonderful. Just a thought by an insomniac approaching midnight.

True at the University of Alabama, too.

I don't think anyone was picking on your daughter as an example, BamaDad. But I will say we've all run across PNMs and sisters who live their lives in a cloud. They have a false sense of entitlement and an over-inflated sense of self. I think it is important to have healthy self-esteem, but at what point do you see what's really in the mirror staring back at you?

We live in a society that no longer rewards the top performers-- some schools have done away with valedictorians, instead choosing to honor the top 10% (please don't launch into a tirade about how your kid was 10th's of a point away from the next one...). Or giving every athlete a blue ribbon in lieu of honoring the real star of the season. Everyone's a winner! As Ricky Bobby would say, "If you're not first, you're last!"

Part of it is parenting. The teacher is wrong, the tests are wrong, the coach is wrong, my kid likes candy so why not let him have it, etc... Kids grow up being told how great and wonderful and perfect they are: Is it any wonder that they come to recruitment and are crushed to be cut from the sororities after the first day? They've never been told before that they're anything but perfectly wonderful. And no, being cut doesn't make anyone less wonderful or beautiful, but as we've discussed ad nauseum in the AI Forum: if you don't bring anything to the sorority, your bubbly personality alone won't get you far without the grades and activities to carry you forward.

Long story short: recruitment can be the first time a young woman experiences any kind of rejection-- they've gotten the blue ribbon in the horse show (so did everyone else), they received a gold star on their English test (so did everyone else) and so on. They come into recruitment expecting gold stars and blue ribbons. Then again, many more people go through 4 years of college and expect to start in the workforce as a vice president in the corner office. Same situation: false sense of entitlement as a result of being raised to think you're the Second Coming.

/This doesn't apply to everyone. But I think we've seen it enough in real life to acknowledge that by "yes"-ing our kids to death, that we're not doing them any favors.

I love it! Can you imagine a PNM saying (hopefully, once Recruitment was over) that Apples = XYZ (hated them and their BO!), Bananas = ABC (hated their tacky house!), etc, etc? It's just too tacky to even imagine!

I am sure that is true! At least they are being tactful on a public message board!

Well I guess, if nothing else, we've taught the rushees/PNMs how to be discreet on a message board. I have been following these boards for awhile now and have noticed that we beg the girls initiating the recruitment threads to keep somewhat anonymous.

I am a mom of a freshman who may or may not undergo deferred recruitment. I wholeheartedly endorse the fact that she is waiting to decide to rush until she can assess the situation once she is on campus for more than a couple of days. We have lined up her recs to all the Panhel organizations on campus. I may or may not do a recruitment thread, because it seems too easy to figure out the school and then the chapters under consideration.

None of my comments about pnms were directed to you either BamaDad! Your daughter sounds like she has the perfect mindset for rushing. I know I am not the only one who is wishing her the best in finding her "home!"

Not to add too much to the mini-hijack (:)) but I was talking to a coworker whose child has a learning disability that they are seeking help for. She was telling me about a friend of hers who would not admit to her own child's LD, so the child suffered unnecessarily when he could have been in some sort of therapy/training to overcome the disability. FINALLY, the parent realized that the child was really struggling and was not the perfect (in her own mind) child she had built him up to be. So, now the child is getting the attention he needs and is finally not completely frustrated by school.

/hijack

I had this exact same thought last night. I wish that a group that didn't make quota could invite all of these girls to a COR event; get all of these "beautiful, well-placed" girls to see that if they all got together, they could turn one groups rep around and make it a "top-tiered" group.

I know, wishful thinking. I can't help it. I'm a Libra - I like to see things balanced. :)

Unfortunately, that is so hard to do in a big and/or old greek system. And even harder if you've grown up, using UGA as an example, in metro Atlanta where everybody knows the "pecking order"--whether you want to admit it exists or not, it does. You know everybody's mom knows what is a "good house" and what's not. Everybody knows what you pledged, tsk tsk. Probably not politically correct to say here, but as the mother of teenagers, I know that's what happens. Helicopter parents on steroids, it's just one more thing to make you feel that your kid is better than everybody else's.

In a smaller greek system, things can turn around very fast with a couple of good pledge classes, somewhat like what has occurred at our North Avenue Trade School. Twelve girls from our HS went through at UGA, two pledged. We are talking about legacies and lovely girls who would be an asset to any house, and these girls dropped out. I know these girls and can't think of one who thought she was "entitled" to be in the "best house"....a lot of them just felt that they couldn't see themselves in the options they had left.

Wouldn't it be great if they could gather up those girls who were awesome and let them get to know each other for half a year and see if they want to fill a house that needs members? Yes, but would it happen at UGA? I don't think so. Those prejudices die hard, whether they are fair or not.

BamaDad, your daughter does have somewhat of an advantage that she hasn't been brought up with the "pecking order" since the day she was born. And like I always told my girls...."you know what we call out of state girls in Nebraska, don't you? CELEBRITIES!" While you might look at it as a disadvantage, in some cases it's an advantage in a place where everybody is from Alabama...or Nebraska, or wherever.

Do I win for posting the most politically incorrect statement of the day? Sorry if I offend anybody, I'm not very good at sugarcoating (must be because I'm not really from the South, just a plain spoken Midwesterner!);)

What she SAID!

Oh, I don't think it's that bad!
 

The girls I know who dropped aren't at the extreme that you've described; they've experienced some disappointments in high school; they know they aren't always the best at everything.

But I'm pretty sure that every chapter that invited them back didn't have BO. I know that some of the groups that likely invited them back consists of girls just like themselves, except that they were more realistic about rush.

Even the girls who stuck it out during rush, who I thought would almost have their pick of houses, got cut by groups I actually expected to pledge them.

When you went through rush did you expect to have to lift the group you pledged up? Didn't you expect that by joining the group, your social life and status would improve, instead of demanding your attention to turn the chapter around?

While I'm frustrated that the girls dropped out when they didn't get picked by the clearly identified groups of beautiful people (instead of looking for groups in which they could have some fun with other great girls), I'm not sure it's simply the PNMs' character flaws or the actual flaws of the girls at smaller houses that caused it.

I'm not sure that a truely panhellenic spirit exists at UGA. Being greek at a smaller house may not really improve your social life. And that, my friends, is what I think the girls who rush are looking to do. Sure the real joys of sisterhood may go beyond the number of socials with really great guys, but in the eyes of rushees, they've already got plenty of really nice friends.

I think it's an easier problem to address than reversing the parenting trends of the last generation. But it requires a spirit of selflessness on the part of larger and more popular groups, and most 18-22 years olds don't care that much about the strength of the system in general. I'm afraid a lot of people define their worth in relative terms, and part of what makes XYZ great may be that it's so much better that QRS.

NU blue and blue
 

NU blue and blue, I think you are dead on right.
I didn't see your post before I posted mine because it took me forever to write mine.

I'm not sure what happens at UGA where so many great girls drop out is fixable, but I'm pretty sure it can't be fixed by the actions of only one chapter.

North Avenue Trade School, tee hee hee.

NUBlue&Blue- Good post.

Like I said, my thoughts were the thoughts of a Libra. We like to see things balanced out. I know the real world is a completely different animal.

And, for what it's worth, I went to a "small school". Arkansas State was just hitting 8,000-9,000 when I entered. Unfortunately, AB and GDE were both struggling with bad reps. Even with 6 sororities, girls would drop out if these were their options. Both chapters had great girls and stellar national reps. So, it happens at smaller schools, too.


Now, back to our regularly scheduled post: UGA's great recruitment this year. Congratulations to all of the new Panhellenic members!

Congrats to her and Gamma Phi Beta

Hooray for a new Gamma Phi Beta!

Please pass along our congratulations!

.....Kelly :)