Yes. The thread on here is called Advice Appreciated (if any).

Previously you stated "Many girls dropped out in favor of being GDI rather than pledge XYZ house."

It's a little bit late to backtrack.

Whatever right back at you. :rolleyes: I believe the expression is "bless your heart".

I was talking about the colony at Texas Tech. There was some drama I was made aware of on GR. Some bitter PNM was smack talking. That site's a nuthouse! LOL

Don't have any Ole Miss stats, but when Alpha Phi colonized at Bama, there was an unusual number of withdrawals during recruitment -- more than any since 2003 and even since that time with higher PNM numbers every year.

Probably many of those who withdrew did intend to pursue the colonization -- and many apparently did so. Around 75% of Alpha Phi's new members had participated in formal recruitment. Stats:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums...9&postcount=42

For one thing, I wouldn't be surprised if many upperclassmen withdrew during the process, especially since Ole Miss does not have an upperclassmen quota.

No doubt that tent talk can take a toll. It's difficult to feel bad for those girls who approached the process with an "XYZ or bust" attitude or let tent talk guide their decisions, but perhaps some will become wiser and reconsider their decision not to participate in Greek life at Ole Miss.

Thanks MU2Driver, appreciate it very much!

If she was from Clearwater - ? And it was many years ago, I may know who that was. :cool:

Seriously. Thank you. I am a better person now.

Sorry I misunderstood, Jolene!

Many years ago, yes, but not from Florida.

Jane9, I understood all your posts and agree 100%. My daughter just finished her first rush as an active. Some of the stories she's shared with me are so upsetting. She mentioned that some chapters increased their gpa requirements which caused greater cuts. From the outside, we can't relate to the pressure placed on these PNMs. There are huge numbers of girls going thru a very competitive rush, combined with the viciousness of social media and tent talk. It is brutal! But I do know of several schools where rush is even more brutal than Ole Miss (IU and Texas.) My daughter feels that A Phi is going to have a great colonization. So that is good to hear!

My rec girls this year at Ole Miss pledged.....
2 AOII and 3 KD!

The current sorority houses sleep anywhere from 41 women to 90 women.

I think everyone did great this year and I've heard nothing but wonderful things about Alpha Phi's colonization! I can't wait to see what their house is going to look like. ADPi's house is spectacular!

What exactly is "brutal" or "vicious" about Ole Miss or any other school's FR? It's a process by which (in this case) 1800 PNMs are rapidly sorted into 10 groups through mutual selection. I am not aware of anything the chapters do to make the process more stressful than it has to be; I certainly don't put raising high school GPA requirements into that category.
I agree that tent talk and rumors are a bad thing, but that comes from the PNM/moms side, not the chapters. To the contrary, with the advent of RFM, the "system" is doing everything it can to find everyone a home and nearly every girl who meets the minimum requirements, keeps an open mind (PNM tunnel vision is the real problem) and works within the system, i.e. maximizes options, does so.
I have seen many Bid Days at Ole Miss and the vast majority of NMs are experiencing pure joy. And, most of the few that aren't quickly learn to love the house they join.

Chi Omega's list is in the DM today...the link isn't live yet on the DM site but check this link later...
http://thedmonline.com/printedition/

LOL

That is the textbook definition of gossip and tent talk. You didn't talk to all (any?) of those PNMs personally. You don't know why they dropped or what their intent is. You are repeating stories that someone else told you about what those PNMs did and why.

It's straight up gossip. It adds to the culture that you are decrying. Don't do that.

This. It's brutal because the girls are facing the first rejection of their tender young lives. And try as we might, the process gets turned into a horse race where there is a winner and a loser chapter with the rest falling into a clearly delineated line. The tent talk is deadly because the girls are told the order and feel desperate to get into the one deemed #1 this year.

We try until we're blue in the face to tell them that none of it is real and the day after rush all of that ranking and winners/losers evaporates. But they don't listen and are devastated when somebody's #1 cuts them. The good news, at this school at least, is while the girls are devastated and cry to their mothers, they aren't really dropping out. We know this because of the incredible numbers at this school. So it's lots of pearl clutching and gnashing of teeth, but they seem to be getting on board and accepting their lots. Which is good because all of these chapters are strong. And they find this out a few days after rush is over and they are so so so thankful they got what they did.

Just had an Alpha Delta Pi alumna confirm 159 new Alphas. Quota was 142 (but y'all probably know that!).

Excellent, and now if someone can share the NM class number for Kappa Delta we would have the 2015 numbers for every Ole Miss sorority and irishpipes would have complete data here for her really great NPC listing!

I always help out when I can, but my "quick" to reply Ole Miss contact doesn't know the number. She said, "I think everyone got over 150 and we got 14 Texas girls" So sorry, I would help if I could.

Well, thanks for trying!! I would think surely somebody would know and hopefully comes over to greekchat a fair good bit.

KD 155

Ole Miss
 

nolefan, you are too kind! I am so glad that JB found her perfect home away from home.

I have visited Ole Miss 5 out of the past 6 years as a national officer. I have also been at Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and LSU during that time frame and have found Ole Miss to be extremely welcoming to all PNMs. I think the tent talk happens on all campuses, not matter how competitive.

All of these campuses have made great progress at pledging quota for most if not all groups for the past 5 years, and "mass exits of PNMs" is greatly over-exaggerated. The loudest of tent talkers are ones who have their minds made up that only one or two of the 10-18 groups are worthy to pledge.

Indiana and Penn State have 25+% of PNMs either drop out or not be pledged. To me, that is a bigger issue than 100 of 1700 at Ole Miss being released or dropping out for whatever reason.

Thanks so much; after seeing all the other chapter numbers, that's even more than I expected them to end up having (meant in a good way!)! Thanks again for now completing the data set!!

Any word on how Alpha Phi's colonization is going?

I think Penn State has a good amount of women sign up at the last minute and then they drop out when they realize it's just not their bag. This isn't a culture of women who have been working on getting recs and connections since their junior year of high school. If it was, then yes, that number of dropouts would be cause for alarm.

Exactly.

I agree with this too. I knew very few girls who dropped out completely after the first two rounds because they were cut from a particular group. I can think of two girls that left school though. One was cut completely and the other didn't get the one she wanted--though I think it was really not the one her mother wanted...she was happy on bid day, but her mother stayed in her ear. She left Ole Miss before she was initiated. I heard later that she transferred to another school and the same thing happened. I think she finally landed in one that was acceptable to her mother at her 3rd school. It was sad really. I can't imagine going through recruitment 3 times.

I had a very positive experience going through Ole Miss recruitment. Even though it was many years ago, the tent talk was probably just as bad then, if not worse. I wasn't sure two new colonizations would work at Ole Miss. I am glad to see that ADPi is doing well and I hope that Alpha Phi does well too. When I was there, it always seemed to me that much of the tent talk was from girls who were either from Mississippi, or from surrounding states that have a large number of enrolled students at Ole Miss. With out of state enrollment increasing, I think that has helped with the tent talk.

Lovely!

Not just going through recruitment 3 times, but giving up a spot in a sorority that you were happy with because your mother wasn't satisfied. Twice. That's terrible. (My mother was over-bearing, but she didn't have the slightest clue about Greek Life. Thank the Lord.)

Rush wrap up from a newbie
 

My sweet daughter recently went through Ole Miss rush. 4.0 and 32 ACT with a couple of national awards for service. We do not live in Mississippi and knew no one from Ole Miss so we were warned that it would be tough. She was accepted into the house she wanted. Theta. She has several cousins that are Theta alums from Duke and Vanderbilt and they were very happy. My sorority of which she is a legacy cut her, but it really just helped her make her choice. She received her bid and everything was great. Until....let the mean spirit behavior commence. Horrible comments (from other girls who got bids from other houses as well as a couple of actives from other sororities) that she is in the "lowest" house on campus and Theta doesn't cut anyone are almost hateful. I'm assuming that these attitudes are not wide spread and that Ole Miss Panhellenic does its best to discourage this behavior? She's kinda feeling like she is in a bigger version of high school where she is the new kid from out of town. Thankfully she is undeterred, and knows how great Theta is and will be for her in the future. We were warned that Ole Miss rush is brutal and were pleasantly surprised that it was not at all. Ole Miss AFTER rush though is a different story.
Wishing all well and blessings on all of our babies!

That's a shame, and it's hard to understand what people think they get out of bashing other sororities, especially weeks after recruitment.

It sounds like your daughter knows she has joined an excellent sisterhood, and I hope she has a lifetime of great experiences on her way.

It's all so silly. All groups have weak chapters and strong chapters. It's a shame that your daughter has been confronted with this, but encourage her to stay strong. Although it can be hurtful to hear these things, she has a lifetime of amazing opportunities ahead of her - and that is nothing to be embarrassed of.

Now would be a good time for your daughter to learn that you can't fix stupid. She's happy, Theta is happy and screw the rest of em.

Hope you daughter knows my rec girl!
 

One of my rec girls pledge Theta, too! She is a super sweet and very smart young lady with a super family. I hope they know one another.
At the end of the day, I hope that your daughter can ignore the chatter and negative comments to focus on the her group. There are girls from our south Mississippi high school in at least 7 of the sororities at Ole Miss. Some of them were legacies but most were just really interested in Greek Life at Ole Miss and the excitement that surrounds that. I think all of them are perfectly happy. The ones that completely drop out of rush because they only wanted a certain chapter are the ones that end up being unhappy. Having said that, I know exactly the kind of attitude of which you speak.

I just want to reach out and give all of you a BIG HUG!!! I am sick to my stomach on a frequent basis to see the things written by cowards about the Ole Miss chapter. I really am shocked that some of these sorority women are that nasty in person, as well.

There is very little REAL Panhellenic spirit and support at Ole Miss among the chapters. There is some lip service of support, especially when a chapter colonizes, but it doesn't last long.

I hope that you ladies tell your Thetas to hold their heads high and wear those letters proudly. Every girl deserves a sisterhood to call their own, even if you are not thin, gorgeous, a beauty queen or popular. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

I am all verklempt....

What a shame that others want to put down a wonderful org. I hope that those young women come to realize how hateful their comments are and they apologize.

I'm not holding my breath.

Why do sororities bash each other? We should be building each other up for the greater Panhel good. Some of my closest friends have been from other groups.

The hyper competitive environment and "tiers" that are practically carved in stone has not changed at Ole Miss in decades. It is really sad.