Thanks for the update! I think things sound like they are off to a good start! I really like the Sweet and Spicy themed parties - very fun and very universal in their appeal.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Regarding that extra program, it sounds like something that is already implemented on may campuses although it could be presented in a different form. My experience with campus Panhellenic is that there is always a required speaker or session on these types of issues that the houses are required to attend. Once it becomes the norm, no one will notice as much (nor will it be a deterrent to joining a sorority, imo).

AST, can't wait to see how much more you grow the house. You're doing a great job encouraging your girls. Wishing them all the best on this years recruitment!

Like the others who have followed this thread for the past year, I have been intrigued by the story of your young women.

In a way, I understand your situation since I used to teach at one of the small Penn State campuses. The students called it Fogelsville High and with good reason. It didn’t feel like a college at all.

Many years ago, I was rush chair for 4 semesters and I can imagine the obstacles to organizing at one of these schools.

We learn the most from adversity and your women have my admiration. What they are building along with the other chapters, can change the campus for the better.

I hope that you tell them about the support and the interest that you have received on GC and the over 14,000 views. And that they belong to something much larger than they may realize now.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful words of encouragement! :D

I have desperately wanted to update, but I’ve been so busy the past few days! Anyway, on with it...

I figured out why they moved the Recruitment Kick-off event... because Club Rush, which is usually held in October, after recruitment is already over, was moved up to September 3rd. So what better way to get more girls to come to the recruitment event than to say, “It’s tonight, you should come!”

Each sorority had a list of names that they accumulated at Club Rush. I knew that our Recruitment Chair couldn’t attend, so I sent a quick text to the President to find out how many names they received. She told me that they had a list of over 20 names, there were even more on the list that Panhellenic was building, and that the Greek Advisor, through an email, had invited hundreds of women to attend! A little panic had set in, but I figured I’d wait and see how many PNMs showed up that night before freaking out completely.

All of the sisters started arriving to their designated rooms around 7:30. I had walked by the other two at some point, and I found it funny that all three sororities used streamers (in their respective colors) to decorate their rooms. But anyway, everyone was busy setting up and getting ready when some of the PNMs started to show up. The three rooms that we use are all lined up down a hallway, and perpendicular to that hall is another, which starts right in front of the middle room (the one us ASTs were in). The PNMs signed in and were then led into a large lecture hall, all of which we could see from our room. And they just kept coming!

Before the short presentation to the PNMs started, the Greek Advisor made a stop to each sorority to tell us that 62 PNMs were there!!! We realized that about 20 PNMs would be coming to our room at once, and with 19 active sisters, myself, and another alumna present, we were basically all going to have to take on one, maybe two PNMs at once.

When the PNMs were released into the rooms, it was crazy. There were so many people! There were some familiar faces from our other recruitment events, but there were also a lot of new girls to get to know. And I was happy to see that even the shyest of sisters were having conversations with PNMs.

Unfortunately, by the time the third group of girls had come, the group was noticeably smaller. While the PNMs are “required” to attend all three parties at this event, they really aren’t. It’s not formal, so they can still leave whenever they’d like. But there were still a whole bunch of people to meet and talk to.

Our Recruitment Chair, who is also the Panhellenic President, had to be impartial, not indicate which sorority she was a member of, and help move the PNMs between the three rooms. When the whole thing was over, she rejoined us. She told us that while some of the PNMs were moving from one room to the next, she overheard some of them saying that they liked how we had our party set up, and they really enjoyed the one-on-one conversations. I’m not entirely sure what the other groups did, but it was good to hear.

We were all sitting around afterward, talking for a bit, and the Greek Advisor popped her head in the door. She told us that while there were 62 PNMs that had attended, because we bid to total, there are only 55 spots open between the three sororities. She told everyone to keep a more formal kind of recruitment in the back of our minds, and that we’d have to see where the numbers ended up over the next two weeks or so before bid day.

While the sisters were kind of nervous about how membership selection procedures were going to go because there were so many PNMs, I reminded them to simply keep inviting girls to future recruitment events, and to see how many of them actually attend. I think that tomorrow and Wednesday’s events will give them a better idea of the girls they will really be focusing on.

I’m unable to attend the recruitment event tomorrow night, but I’ll get an update afterward, and try to provide as much information about it as I possibly can.

And the sisters have also planned an extra event. This Saturday, September 12th, they are co-hosting a kind of "Greek Olympics" with Delta Chi that will be open to all students. There will be games such as cornhole and ladder golf, and from what I understand, a few members from each organization will dress like Greek gods and goddesses and will act as judges and/or officials for the games. It should be entertaining!

Just a little over a week left until bid day...

:)

I know it's a small chapter, but this is a bad plan, hon.

To be honest, there wasn't much else they could do, but why is it a bad idea? Would it be bad for our chapter, or for Panhellenic as a whole?

I guess I could see where problems might arise, but I don't know if they would with the system we have now...

Can you provide examples? I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from.

I think a problem with it is that being that she is panhel pres, she has to remain neutral, and your recruitment chair should be the biggest proponent of your chapter to all the pnms. If there seemingly is no recruitment chair due to her "mysto" status, it could hurt your recruitment efforts.

Best of luck to y'all I can't wait to hear how it goes.

Oh, well she doesn't have to remain neutral throughout all of recruitment. It was just that one night while taking the PNMs back and forth between the three parties. Again, this is still COB. It was just one event that was a little more formal than the others, and since there are no Rho Chis (or whatever you want to call them) the Panhellenic President and VP (I think?) are used, in addition to the Greek Advisor, to bring the PNMs to the different rooms.

I think this is the issue, though.

You want your recruitment chair to be the welcoming person (with your president) when the PNMs show up. They should be right at the door with a huge smile and welcome your guests into the room. They should be "working the room" all night.

Once the party is over, instead of making sure that she is in place to take the next group (and being neutral) to the next party, she would be better served making sure that she is saying bye to each PNM and exuding mad-love for AST!

In other words, this is *her* event. Both the PNMs and the chapter should be looking to her to set the mood, enthusiasm, organization, leadership, etc. You want someone who can be in the room the entire time.

On the flip side, since there are no Rho Gammas, it sounds like she and the panhell president are the only ones that the PNMs can discuss things with. It might be better to have 2 completely neutral individuals in these positions. My campus (and I am sure that others as well) had all panhell officers disafiliate for recruitment.

I know that you are a small chapter and system, but it sounds like you are growing quickly. (yay!) This may be something to consider for future years when officers are selected. The bigger that you get, the more that you will want these two positions to be completely separate.

Best to you and your chapter. I love following your story.

I completely understand what you're saying. But the PNMs aren't really discussing anything with them. We're talking about a few feet in between doorways. The whole point is to simply bring them from one room to the next. This isn't nearly as formal as I might be making it sound.

And again, our chapters are still very small (which hopefully will change very soon!), so it's extremely difficult to even find people who are able to attend Panhellenic meetings and hold a position, let alone stay neutral and avoid holding certain positions within the chapter.

And remember, PNMs here are still completely clueless about sororities and how this whole process works. To be honest, so are most of the sisters, as they have never worked with a formal system before. I can see, at the very least, a partially structured recruitment coming in the near future, and I think problems such as this will be tackled then. For now, everything is still very informal, and we're all working on things slowly.

Hopefully I'll be able to post an update for you all tonight :)

The recruitment event on Tuesday consisted of “speed dating” and was more of an informational night where the sisters explained what it is we do as a sorority in greater detail. They also answered any questions posed by the PNMs.

In speaking with the Recruitment Chair following the event, there were approximately 25 PNMs who attended!

The next night was supposed to be philanthropy night, but there were scheduling conflicts with rooms, and it turned out we had no where to go! The Recruitment Chair, on a whim, decided that we’d have our event outside. It was actually a really nice night, and the sisters spent most of the time talking about their favorite memories of being in the sorority, while the PNMs (about 20 of them!!) told us some of the reasons why they were interested in joining. Everyone eventually started in again on one-on-one conversations, and one PNM, who I’ll refer to as Melissa, really seemed to be getting along well with some of the sisters. One of the sisters came over to me and said how funny it was that she was having a great time and kept coming back. I inquired as to why, and she told me that she had seen Melissa at Club Rush last Thursday. Melissa had tried to get this one sister to join the College Democrats, and the sister basically told her, “I’ll make you a deal.. I’ll go to at least one of your meetings if you come to the Panhellenic Recruitment kick-off tonight.” Clearly it paid off!

Bid Day is Wednesday...


:)

The girls added in a recruitment event for tonight, in order to get to know a few PNMs a little bit better. It was very relaxed and laid back, and very helpful for the sisters, as well.

And I know how many bids they're giving out...

... but I'm not telling!

Tomorrow! :)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH

I would never bug a PNM, but an alumna doesn't get to leave us hanging this long! ;)

Hope that all went well. Update when you can!