Ole Miss is the smallest SEC school (other than Vanderbilt) with approx 15k undergrads. Alabama has about 26k undergrads, for the purposes of comparison.

Well, because that's all that is there. Ole Miss is actually a smaller school. It's the second smallest in the SEC with only 19,000 students. Vandy is smaller at around 12,000 but it is also private. Florida and A & M are the largest at over 50,000. Alabama, Missou and UGA are in the 30,000's and the rest are in the 20,000's. Vandy, Ole Miss and MS State, as the 3 smallest schools in the SEC, also have the smallest NPC systems.
So the 9 are not unsurprising. They are going to expand this next year. The problem there is housing and being in close approximation of the other groups.

Nota bene: 4,000 of the 19,000 are graduate students

Oh....ok. I guess that makes sense. I am glad they are looking at adding a few chapters. It sounds like the demand is definitely there. Thanks for the info.

I just used Wikipedia total enrollment for all because it was easiest to get to.

Back in the day there was a story that MaryAnn Mobley's (1 of 2 back-to-back OM-ChiO Miss America's) younger sister went through rush, got cut, left Ole Miss and went to Alabama. Story was MaryAnn never forgave the chapter. Not sure if it was true or not -- but it made for a great story and put the fear of God into Rushee's that if HER sister got cut -- watch out. During my time at OM rush was held the week before school started. There were lots of stories of girls getting cut and leaving school. It happened.

It does happen...I know someone who did it. Mind you this was 30+ years ago, but she went to Ole Miss intending to pledge a particularly sorority and when she got dropped from them, she packed up and transferred to a smaller state school closer to home (not in MS) that had a chapter. She got a bid and to her credit, stayed where she was.

Undergraduate enrollment at Vanderbilt is only about 6500.

Yes -- but I still don't think that this is common, especially in today's recruitment atmosphere.

Not to take away from the anecdotes -- I'm interested in knowing what happened to Mary Ann Mobley's sister.

Hey, if this happened today, Mary Ann could text her friends, tweet her displeasure, and even vent about it on GreekChat! ;)

Just for fun I googled around a bit -- and found that Mary Ann Mobley's younger sister is Sandra Williams Young. It appears that Sandra was a DDD at Ole Miss, though their mother attended UofA.

Of possible interest to DDDs -- Sandra Williams Young is the current president of the Delta Delta Delta Foundation:

http://test.tridelta.org/Document/Fo...rd_Of_Trustees

While Mary Ann Mobley was serving as Miss America, and immediately thereafter, a large formal portrait of her in her Miss America Regalia was on prominent display in either the foyer or living room. When her sister did not receive a ChiO bid, Mary Ann marched into the ChiO house and lifted her protrait off its hook and carted it to her car. Her daughter Collins went either TriDelta or KD, I cannot recall.

Perfectly understandable. All the work today filling pitchers of ice water has worn on me. I think I'm going to take an pain reliever.

I have found a nice glass of wine is the perfect ending to a round of recruitment!

Can't find the Naproxen Sodium, so maybe I will take your suggestion and a little Merlot.

Dear Mary Poppins,

Thank you! You're totally right. I'd forgotten the best part of the story. (And now that others have followed-up so diligently, I do recall hearing her sister pledged DDD.) The image of Mobley driving up to Oxford (in a convertible I heard at the time), marching into the Chi-O house and removing her picture is just too delicious. Maybe my age is showing, but seems like the stuff today is so boring in comparison. It's either poor grades or drinking or drugs or sex or some other tired misbehavior that takes too much time and energy and gives little in return. These current tales of woe are not the rush stories we live to re-tell. They're sad and mundane. No inspiration. But Mary Ann Mobley is still my hero. And so are all the participants in this drama. Even the Chi-O's. Imagine. The audacity to cut Miss America's sister! Takes guts. And the Tri-delts walked away a winner with a great pledge and valued member to this day. What's not to like about this story!

Ole Miss Sorority rush is the best.

I have an interesting twist on delayed rush at Ole Miss. When my daughter went thru rush in 2008 at Alabama, a high school friend of hers that went through was released from rush. This girl was in the Honors program at Alabama. Nevertheless, the day she was released she packed her bags and headed back home. She then enrolled at Ole Miss (for that same fall) and because of delayed rush she was able to go through and she did get a bid. She ended up back home the next year! She often said she never should have left Alabama but she was so caught up in rush at the time that she made a rash decision that she regrets to this day.

I heard that she pulled up in a horse-drawn carriage wearing a hoop skirt. And that she snatched that portrait with a moxie that would make Scarlett O’Hara blush.

Perhaps the new stories will develop some interest after 50 years of recollecting and retelling. And the new stories may even include pics – for better or for worse. Most likely worse.

Meanwhile, I didn’t trip across anything to indicate that Mary Ann Mobley’s daughter, Clancy (Collins was her last name), ever pledged any sorority. She attended the Sorbonne in Paris and Magdalen College in Oxford, England, before graduating from Stanford. Nice article regarding the southern influence of her California wedding:

Worthy of royalty: Southern tradition reigns as the daughter of Mississippi's first Miss America weds in California



Definitely – a bastion of the Old South.

Hmm. Perhaps I may have accidentally confabulated her with another ChiO legacy story.

LOL, there are plenty of us who wouldn't exactly consider that a good thing.

Don't know if this makes a difference but my understanding is that UK has a junior quota. Or maybe it is an upperclassman quota that includes sophomores.

No -- don't necessarily consider it the bastion of anything -- except it isn't dull. Ever read Faulkner? There's a reason his work isn't tired or stale. Lots and lots of layers.

Written couple of recs to OM for the first time in 25 years. Don't live in the region. Never have. OM rush gave me the best people and interviewing skills which I've used to great advantage throughout my career -- NOT in the south. No doubt other SEC schools are similar. But Ole Miss is one of a kind.

Best to all the OM rushees, sororities and those supporting them.

...acknowledged

Perhaps not the "South will rise again" part, but more the charm, romanticism, and tradition maybe.

This may have been answered before, but I'm curious about something...what is the reasoning for having a two week (approximately) lapse between the water parties and the start of recruitment at Ole Miss?

I would have thought that the water parties would have been moved back to be closer to the other recruitment events.

I've been told that it's meant to give the PNMs a chance to try recruitment out before the registration closes.

Speaking of Faulkner -- his niece, Dean Faulkner Wells, was Mary Ann Mobley's sorority sister at Ole Miss.

Dean Faulkner Wells wrote a memoir about Faulkner (her "Pappy") and her life in Mississippi -- Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/03/25...ing/index.html

She passed away several months after this article was published.

(haven't read the book, but it sounds like a good read)

Got it...makes since that is is right before the last day of registration. Thanks!

Some years there is a bigger gap between water parties & philanthropy parties .....just depends on football schedule.

PS presentations were awesome. Ole Miss would be lucky with any of the four (DZ, ADPi, Alpha Phi, & AGD)! I believe Panhellenic should announce something soon!

PSS I heard over 1200 are registered again!

Good to hear from you!

Keeping my fingers crossed for Delta Zeta, but gotta admit, any of the four would be great! :)

Will they wait until after recruitment to make the announcement?

I would so love to see Delta Zeta at Ole Miss!

I think they will announce before recruitment. But I could be wrong. It is a very exciting time for our Panhellenic women at Ole Miss!

That's the impression I was given on Sunday too.

Okay, why am I now hyperventilating??

Anyone have a strong (relatively unbiased) hunch which group it is going to be?

Because it's just like the final four (or whatever number) of a beauty pageant! :D Panhellenic isn't my area, but I was told all the presentations went really, really well. Sounds like it's going to be a nail biter for everyone, but Ole Miss is truly excited for this!

My money is on 2 at once with the other 2 slated for a later date, maybe 2015 or 16? And since I have no horse in this race, I'm going to guess ADPi and Alpha Phi, for no reason whatsoever. Well, except I think AGD might be fully committed right now. They might make sense for a 2015 or later colony though. Maybe they'll do Arkansas one better and colonize 3 at once, with one to come in a few years.

Obviously I'm rooting for ADPi. Our chapter there closed in the late 90's (96 or 98 I believe). Since I wasn't there for presentations, who knows. It is in the hands of Panhellenic at Ole Miss now. We shall see.

How in the world are they going to decide? Such strong groups!

Don't forget LSU recolonization next fall! :D

I would like to see the following:

1) delay the announcement until recruitment is complete.

2) bring on all four at once. Seriously. How impressive and exciting would THAT be? Trail blazing; it would set the bar really high. Not to mention, it'd certainly shake a few trees.

Okay: now I'll wait for all the naysaying posts, but since you're all from the South, if you flame me, I expect it will be so gentle and subtle that my Western brain won't even process it. I do love all of you guys, I do! I have learned so much from my Southern sisters... sigh... but I will always always always be a California girl, even if I was born in TN.

Panhellenically yours, AzTheta!