Kelly might have dropped out! Anyway, don't take it too hard. Recruitment is a tough time for everyone. Maybe she met amazing girls in the other chapters that clicked with her instantly. If she did succumb to tent talk, you are probably better off as a chapter without her! Take the 125 women coming back to your pref party and show them what it means to be a Venus! I'm sure you have a lot of GCers rooting for you!!!

Thank you so much for your support! I'm 99% sure she didn't drop out... but she probably did just really click with another chapter. Tonight's our 3rd round, not Pref (Pref is Wednesday), but we'll do our best!!

Maybe she didn't listen to the tent talk, but she really did just click with members in sororities she never thought she would join. If she did listen to the tent talk, well, there's not really anything you can do about it. When I was a recruitment counselor we dealt with a lot of PNMs whose perceptions changed so much about the chapters that they were completely confused as to whether or not they should go with their first impression of a chapter or what they're feeling right at the moment - it's a tough call to make.

I know you're hurt, but try not to hold it against her. Remember, recruitment isn't just about you guys getting new members, it's about women finding a chapter that they can call home.

You guys are working so hard, and it seems like it's paying off (minus a few snafus), good luck tonight and shine your brightest!

Honestly, maybe it wasn't the tent talk but something else. You mentioned in your first post that she didn't really know much about the other groups. Well, then maybe a) she found another chapter randomly that completely fit her personality or b) she released you guys because she wants to join a sorority where she doesn't know anybody to make new friends.

Case in point, one of my best friends at school was rushing my sophomore year, and I was ECSTATIC about this girl. I spread her name everywhere, the way she talked she was completely set on us, I counted her as a closer friend than nearly all of my pledge class, etc. I even had some Big/Lil clues picked out. She was at our pref and imagine my surprise when she ended up at our biggest rival!!!

I was secretly taking "bawling breaks" all through bid night (which was stupid because all of my other rush crushes were in our pledge class) and felt so betrayed. But when we talked, she said that she loved our chapter but in the end wanted to start her own thing with a new "big sister" she had never met, new friends she had never met (she had met most of my sisters already), etc. I know it wasn't a "status" related cut because she preffed our biggest competitor (sounds like a Minerva/Venus relationship) and our return rates were virtually identical during that recruitment.

Anyways, what I'm saying is have a little venting break, but a) assume she had the best of intentions, b) know that she genuinely likes you as people and c) focus on all those other hot little PNMs you are rushing! Good luck, I'm excited for you!

I agree with everyone above! It is so hard to not take these cuts personally on all sides. I even had it from a Rho Chi perspective when one of my PNMs confided in me that she wanted to rank my chapter second on her pref card. She liked them, but she loved the other chapter. She was just afraid that my chapter wanted her more than the other chapter. It was painful to council her to "go with her heart" since that meant that she wouldn't be my sister.

Good luck with recruitment, it seems like you guys have really turned things around and that's always nice to see.

Luckly, my campus isn't a jc so we don't have that problem but I can see how it could cause some major problems.

I'm excited to hear the rest of your story!

So sorry to hear that about Kelly. I know how hurtful that must be, but you kind of anticipated it when you described her lack of exposure to the other sororities on your campus. What about Lily? You said they were good friends and might go together to the same sorority....

Just curious - did you extend 200 invites or less than 200?

Last night was third round! It went really well - our decorations were great and our sisters were really on top of their game. We extended around 180 invites and got 122 back (out of 200 PNMs). We had a number of PNMs go through who were only invited back to Venus - a few dropped before the party, but most came. Some seemed kind of bummed coming in, but our advisors remarked that as they left everybody seemed happy and like they had a good time. A few girls even told sisters they were glad they were only invited back to Venus because it was the only one they wanted - that was a great surprise! A lot of them also told us our decorations were the best, so that was really nice to hear. We have some PNMs who are really excited and who we really want, so hopefully Pref will go well tomorrow.

In terms of the PNMs...

As I mentioned before, Kelly didn't come back to us. I'm not sure where she went last night because we didn't have that info. A lot of sisters were really upset, but we have a lot of other great girls to focus on!

Lily was back last night, but I don't think she'll be at Pref.

Danielle, Ashley, Jenny and Elizabeth were there and seemed to be having a great time! I didn't get to talk to them but they're all consistent favorites with the sisters.

Sasha & Tasha were back, which was great news! They're very desired by other chapters too, so we're hoping we can hold onto them. I got to talk to Sasha and we had a great time... she seemed really happy to be there. All the sisters love them!

Zoe was there and seemed like she had a good night! This was her first round of Recruitment because she was sick for the first two, but she made a very good impression.

Vicky dropped out of Recruitment last night before the parties began. I don't know what happened, but we all loved her so she may get a snap bid. She could also do informal COB with us next week after formal ends, so I'm not giving up hope! I think she was just really overwhelmed by Recruitment since she's a pretty quiet girl.

I met a few others who I really loved, so I'm really hoping they'l be back for Pref! We're planning for about 100ish at Pref with about 50 at each party. Right now we're really busy with Preprations, so I'm going to leave off here for now. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about Pref... then BID DAY on Thursday!!!

Good luck with Pref! :)

I'm loving reading this story and I'm rooting for you guys!

This is like Hoosiers, Rudy, "The Little Engine That Could" and all those other wonderful movies and stories that make you want to stand up and cheer for the underdog!

Best of luck at Pref! I'm so pulling for your chapter.

The weird thing about this story is that I'm sure there are lots of girls reading from "top chapters", never realizing that the chapter THEY bash and put down on JC could be this chapter.

We all need to remember that the struggling chapter on OUR campus could be just like this one.