SIPing: a.k.a "Suiciding"

Listing only one sorority on your bid card after pref night.

The technical term I believe is "Single Intentional Preferentials" (not sure on the last word), but it is the new word for suiciding (putting only one chapter down on your pref card and if given that chapter you are bound to it for one year if not iniated). Please someone correct me if I'm wrong....

Thanks I understood suicide as a concept for recruitment but the acronym SIP threw me for a loop. :)

Thanks liltrixx for the acronym breakdown. :)

Yeah, I know it's the "single something prefsomething" so I just think "suicide" ;)

One of my favorite DG sisters COBed 3 times before getting a bid. She somehow kept slipping through the cracks and then we realized we were stupid for not bidding her sooner...sometimes it's hard to see through the fog of everything.

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Good luck. You may also want to consider the two chapters you dropped during formal recruitment. They are both recruiting this fall, and you'll get a better feel for the membership in a laid-back CR event than in formal.

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I think you're doing awesome. Here's my 2 cents for what its worth. Go to as many COB events as you like, and definately consider rushing next fall. At the same time, try to get involved in other activities. Either you'll find that close group of friends from the activity, or you might even meet some other sorority women that way. Either way you'll be doing something you like and having fun.

There's no guarantee that there's a house for you. But there is something on your campus for you. No matter what happens, you seem to have an awesome attitude. :)

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=14204

Wow, finding that thread made me realize how long I've been on Greekchat; I would never have guessed the thread was four years old! Carnation had wise advice as usual.

Being a founding member of a chapter is great!! Something that I recommend you definitely look into. On another note if you do transfer to UF you could always then affiiate with the DG chapter there....and believe me they are awesome. They one of the most sought after groups on campus!! Good Luck!!

The UF chapter of Delta Gamma (Gamma Theta) does not accept transfer sisters. Also, the UCF chapter of Delta Gamma (Epsilon Tau) has been on campus for twenty years. There aren't any chapters colonizing at UCF this year.

Sorry I must of misread! I thought that DG was colonizing because the post above said they did not participate in formal. As for accepting transfers, I know a girl who pledged DG at FSU and transfered to UF and affliated.

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That's a very rare case then. The Gamma Theta bylaws generally don't allow transfers. The Anchora of Delta Gamma actually did a brief article recently on transfers being active with the chapter, but not technically affiliated. I don't mean to be knit picky, but I'd hate for anyone to get their hopes up over something like that.

It's my understanding that the UF chapter of DG doesn't accept transfers as a way of maintaining the integrity of the chapter (i.e., grades, involvement of members, etc.). All of the DG chapters are awesome in their own ways and it would be a shame to loose great sisters to bigger or "more prestigious" schools/chapters. Although, most DG chapters do accept transfers. Gamma Theta is one of the few who doesn't.

The conversation surrounding colonization at UCF has been going on for years! There are arguments for both sides, but if UCF really wants to be a top Greek community in the state, it needs to stabilize the membership numbers of it's struggling chapters. It's difficult to do this and colonize at the same time. There are still a handful of chapters at UCF who aren't making quota or aren't at total.

You seemed so excited about going to UCF!!!!! You've barely been at school for a month and now you're thinking about transferring? Give the school a chance before you pack up and move again. I think you're feeling hurt and confused after recruitment and not giving the school a fair shot. However, If I was in your shoes, I think I would be thinking the same thing because it's not fun to feel that way. Give it some time, though. I think that once this has passed you're going to remember why you were so psyched to get into UCF in the first place. The school has so much to offer, but you have to give it a full opportunity to once again prove to you why you were so happy to come to Orlando in the first place! Like you said, you'll give it some more time-- let that time pass. I had a great time at UCF before I joined a sorority and made tons of friends, so I can assure you that it is possible to have a great college experience without being Greek. I'm not saying being a UCF greek wasn't fun or not a good way to meet people, but honestly looking back, I know my life would have been about the same had I joined or not! I promise you'll get through this and love the school!

Don't worry about sorority life right now-- just focus on life and having fun as a college student. I promise that this too shall pass and you're really going to enjoy this year!

Adding to the other discussion not related to recruitment:
As far as transfers, that could just be an urban legend that is perpetuated by non members and members who don't know their bylaws. Typically, transferring membership to another chapter of your sorority is not a guarantee. If it's a very competitive chapter, then likely, yes, they will be very selective about accepting transfers.

And as far as colonizing a new chapter, UCF has done a whole lot of colonization over the last 8 years. I think they will likely take a break for a few and let the new girls catch their breath and get established before they bring on a new chapter or open up the campus for more expansion. Minimum of 2 years, I would think... The time betw. Alpha Xi and Chi O was five years, and the members of the Chi O chapter that I knew were very upset when Kappa and Theta were selected to join us a mere two years after their colonization later b/c they felt they needed some more time to establish campus presence given the most recent precedent-- so Panhellenic spaced the colonizations of Kappa and Theta out by a year of one another. Most of the chapters on campus are at over over total, but I think it is the newer chapters, and the ones who aren't housed who suffer during formal recruitment and have to work extra hard to recruit over the school year b/c they're still building up their name on campus.

ETA regarding the top Greek schools: UCF is one of the top Greek campuses in Florida, if such a criteria can possibly be established. LOL. In 2001, it was recognized by Florida Leader Magazine as being the top Greek campus in Florida, for whatever that is worth. I think the Greek System done a great job of establishing good programs, a zero-tolerance stance toward hazing a friendly culture between the sororities. More sororities doesn't necessarily equal better. Most chapters are at or over total, but I'd like to see those who are still in their early years to get where they need to be numbers-wise before UCF opens up for expansion again. One thing I liked about being a UCF greek was the supportive and non-competitive nature, and how we helped the younger chapters to be successful. Adding a new chapter while there are still some getting their bearings doesn't help and only establishes a pecking order and resentment. I hope that never happens at UCF.

Although if you do want to transfer to UF because of their football team, that's a much better reason! ;) We got our asses handed to us last night. 0-42.

I'm wondering if our team saw the Gators come out on the field and just decided to hand them the ball for the next 4 hours and watch...

WOW!
 

The "not taking transfer members" policy is really shocking to me.

Doesn't that undermine the sense that you belong to a national group?

I could understand a local NPC agreement that groups would need to restrict transfer members if it was messing up chapter total numbers, but for the chapter to do it itself really surprises me.

I would expect all chapters to get some say in who affiliates in case they knew someone was a particular problem for their chapter, but the blanket policy seems like the chapter projects to the rest of the national group that it thinks it's better than they are.

Is this policy common?

I know that some number of people might try to exploit transfer policies to avoid having to get a bid in a really competitive rush, but is it really such a large number that policies like this have to made to prevent it?

Please tell me more.

To quote myself....
 

No, this is not a common policy among Delta Gamma chapters.


Wow, I didn't mean to open up a big can of worms! I was just responding to a reference of transferring into the UF chapter of DG.

There's really nothing to tell. All transfers must file transfer paperwork and all chapters must vote to accept a transfer member into their chapter, just as they would vote to accept any member into their chapter. If the transfer isn't a good fit with the new chapter, they're not going to accept the transfer. It's really simple. She's still a sister. She just takes alumna status.

I don't think it is being unsisterly. Just because you got a bid at one chapter doesn't mean you'd get one at another school-- if that were the case, there would probably be a ton of crazies rushing at Backwater University to join a struggling chapter and transferring up to State U as a member-in-full to become part of the most prestigious chapter there.

I know we say on and on at GC that there aren't "Sorority Tiers." There aren't official ones, but campus hearsay keeps certain chapters top-of-mind in the university and among students at other schools. It would opening up a huge can of worms if we suddenly allowed opened up the floodgates... I can see several cases where someone might attend one school to pledge a sorority and then goes to transfer to another school just for its "better" chapter. IE: pledge one sorority at FSU and then transfer into its USF counterpart, or vice versa! That would be insane. ETA: and it defeats the whole purpose of collegiate Greek life as a means to augment the college experience. In this case, it becomes the defining purpose for being at college. And that is crazy.

It was like UCF didn't even show up. I was so embarrassed. My UF "friends" texted me all last night to congratulate UCF on their valiant efforts. :rolleyes:

I just received an email from a friend in Orlando looking for a house painter. I told her to start with the UCF Football team. After last night, they're all going to need a new way to pass the time.

:mad:

I agree somewhat, my feeling though is if there are open spots for membership and there is a sister wanting to affiliate that she should have one of the open spots. I get that different schools, different sisters, but for me affliating is almost (emphasis on almost) like rush.

During FR a PNM might meet only 3-10 sisters (this is dependent on how many are in the chapter, how quickly the bump groups are, etc...), so those girls are the ones really "determining" whether the girl will join the chapter or not. The sisters who haven't met her are basing their votes on what the members who have met her say. If they say she is good, they will most likely vote yes, if they say she's bad they will most likely vote no. They could vote a girl in, who only meshes with like half the chapter, that is really a chance that is taken because not every chapter member gets to meet every single PNM.

That's kind of how I see affliation. You can't mesh with everyone, you can't like everyone, but I guess for me if one chapter thought she was good enough to join our sisterhood, then she's good enough to join my chapter.

Hope that makes sense :)

Huh?
 

How could not welcoming a member in good standing of your group into your chapter be regarded as anything other than "un-sisterly"?

I can see keeping out a person who was likely to be destructive to the chapter, but such singularly destructive personalities are rare.

Your chapter ought to be strong enough to handle a few affiliates from Backwater U and still be awesome.

I understand most chapters vote to accept affiliate members. Part of the fun of being a sister is the idea that your group choose you. But to basically say, nobody else initiated elsewhere could possibly be good enough? Wow.

It was PITIFUL!

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Then take it up with the proper authorities.

I don't see any reason why any collegiate chapter should be required to take a transfer just because she shares membership. If they wouldn't have bid her had she been a PNM at their school, they should be under no obligation to take her just because she initiated at another chapter. Chapters can share the same ritual and operations and be drastically different in their chapter cultures.

ETA: LilT: I don't think anyone thought you were thinking of pledging and transferring. We just hijacked your thread. Give UCF more than a semester, girl! Any place and any thing takes at least a full year to adjust to!

I think it is very sisterly!

Let's say ABC's chapter at UF is one of ABC's most well-known chapters. Now, say that a legacy knew she probably would have a harder time getting in there at UF. Under your policy, she could take the easy way, go to a school where it's VERY easy to get into ABC. Then, after initiation, she could transfer to UF and become a member. Now, she has taken a slot that someone could have gotten that would help the original chapter build-up.

So, stronger chapters would stay strong while weaker chapters would possibly just get weaker as a result of losing sisters guaranteed a spot anywhere they wish to transfer.

Voting makes sense. Having a no-transfer policy also makes sense in these stronger chapters.

See, the people at the top make these decisions because they have thought all of this out.

It makes sense. Re-reading UCFAlumna's post about maintaining the integrity of the chapter, I don't see anything un-sisterly about it.

Are there other NPC chapters who have similar "no-transfers" rules?

I haven't heard of any ADPi chapters with this policy, but I know my own chapter took each transfer on a case-by-case basis. There were instances where we accepted a transfer from a less competitive chapter and declined another from a very competitive chapter. And vice-versa.

i believe that the one time that a chapter can exceed total-besides formal recruitment-is when they have a member from another chapter affialiate into that chapter. it could be to the chapters advantage to get to know the sister, to see if they think she would fit in. so a transferring sister would not be taking up a slot someone else(other than another transfer) to fill. in fact, i do not believe that there is an npc limit to the number of transfers that a chapter could take.

After following my daughter's recruitment thread, I had two mothers pm me to say they were transferring to other less competitive universities in terms of sorority recruitment just so their daughters could receive a bid to a national sorority.

In each case, the daughters pulled out of recruitment activities before preference day, apparently because they were released by their favorites along the way. I sypathized with them to some degree, but I guess sorority participation means quite a bit to those particular young ladies.

If you were a competetive varsity athlete, for example, you might transfer solely for the reason that you were not getting adequate playing time, didn't like the coach, the teams was not competetive, etc.

Who is to say that being a sorority sister is any less important to a young college freshman? If she transfers, gets a bid to XYZ, then resumes studies at her previous university, it also seems fair that she has to be examined for acceptance by the gaining sorority. I think its quite true that she may take a spot from an original pnm simply by her voluntary transfers between schools.

Just a thought from an innocent bystander....

wow...
 

I know that there are major differences between NPHC and NPC but I never knew that your affliation was more about the chapter then the orgainization as a whole....I don't care if a soror pledged in a 3 member chapter at Hamburger U...if she loves and works hard for Delta, she gets nothing but love from me...I lurk these threads to learn the other side but this is really surprizing...BTW I'm NOT knocking it, just an observation....

Since DG is being spoken about, I'll throw in my two cents...

I do not know about specific chapters...but I do know that nationally, DG is pretty good about transfers. Now, if for some reason, a sister at one school just really doesn't fit in with the girls at another school, she does not have to affiliate, nor does the chapter have to "let her" (she can just go alumn). I have not heard of any chapters that just don't even look at the possibilities and frankly, if a chapter does that, it really turns me off. That's just not very sisterly at all and perhaps is something that we need to look at from the top down. I can see Jocelyn's thoughts about total/recruiting freshman though...so I don't know.

It shocks me to think that some girls would seriously look at pledging at one school, then transfering to a more competitive (Greek-wise) school just to affiliate with the chapter there...that just seems very egocentric and I think focusing on what is best for your education should come first...

In the 80s, there was a book about rushing and pledging - it was sort of the GC, full of information and misinformation! :) Anyhow, at competive SEC schools, women who did not get bid often went home and dropped out of school and this was before the first days of class! (they also drank Tab which, is making a comeback as an energy drink!)

Today, that does not happen nearly as much (even at UGA according to some inner circle people) - schools are way too competitive to get into in the first place and after applying to colleges and finally getting accepted, starting over at the application procees is a much more difficult endeavor not to mention the humilation of coming home after you've gone off to college and have nothint to do for at least a semester.

It was more common then for women to pledge at a less competive campuds and transfer later to a more competitive campus but today's women are much more career focused and even though they may have been "bred" for sorority life, they may have been coached to cast a wider net (instead of mom's legacy house and aunties's legacy house, they try for 5 of the campus' 15 groups.)

Whole thing still makes my head spin twenty years later!

Shocking or not, some girls do. But they ought to check to see if their original desired chapter WILL affiliate. Many don't...not because they're snooty, but because they just don't have enough spaces to fill. Some (and I can think of at least one at U of Ala.) don't because quite a few women were trying that "back door" way to get into a top group.
And there's the BIG chance that a girl will pledge at one school, transfer and then find out that the new chapter is not at all to her liking. I would always advise a transfer to wait a semester...visit the chapter, and see if she'd really be happy there. If she did affiliate, she might not be happy and then have to resign. But if she waits and checks out the situation and finds she wouldn't be happy, then she can stay an alum, or go back to her chapter of initiation.

can a sorority ever go over total? I feel like theres a couple chapters at ucf over total.. but idk, maybe im not paying close enough attn at panhellenic.. lol

Yes. There are quite a few at UCF who are over total. When I was in school, total was set at 110 and we had close to 200 members at one point. That's what happens when you don't have a lot of members graduate and you have a large fall recruitment with a large quota of 60+ members. When I was in school we had 7-8 chapters. Expansion has been one way to bring those numbers down to a manageable level by spreading out the PNM's over more chapters. I believe total hasn't changed and most chapters are at or have exceeded total.