University of Southern California Recruitment
 

Nine NPC chapters will participate in formal recruitment at SC beginning Tuesday, August 24, with an evening orientation. SDT will have informal recruitment.

All registered potential new members must have completed the alcohol education requirement before participating in formal or informal recruitment.

As of three days ago about 800 women have registered. This is a large number since only about 1300 to 1400 women are in the entering class. Many sophomores do receive bids at this campus.

Party schedule: Visit 9 chapters in formal rush
Visit up to 6 chapters by invitation
Visit up to 4 chapters by invitation
Visit up to 2 chapters by invitation for Preference

Bid Night is Sunday, August 29th. Note: Since a record number of pnms registered there might be some change in the schedule posted.

Presents will take place in October.

LIFESAVER! Literally...I wasn't aware that we had to complete the alcohol education thing to be able to participate and I'd yet to do it.

It was meant to be, I swear!

Website
 

It is stated on the SC Panhellenic website. I think it may be a new requirement this year, so women may have missed it on the SC site.

My daughter, who went through last year, didn't have that requirement. I strongly suspect that it has not been well advertised. I'm sure that something will be done/said at Orientation.

I can say that all the houses are READY for this recruitment. They have been working so hard. Good luck to all!

What's presents?

Good luck to all the girls!

Presents is a USC tradition that occurs on Parent's Weekend. On Saturday, all the sororities hold a Presents party where the new members of the chapter are introduced or "presented" to the rest of the campus. The new members wear white dresses (think Debutante style) and the houses are all decorated. I think UCLA has a similar tradition, although theirs seems a bit more low-key.

This is a crazy time of year for all the houses...fraternity rush started yesterday with the kick-off party on the quad. Today is the first day where all houses will be hosting an open-house party on the row...the rushees will check out as many houses as they can while eating the food which, if past years are any indication, will range from In-n-Out Burger to Morton's Steakhouse to a Hawaiian style pig on a skewer. From the on, it will be three days of off-campus events (comedy clubs, sports games, gun ranges, indoor skydiving and, unfortunately, a strip club here and there) before Blue Chip Dinner (the fraternity equivalent of pref...you attend one house's dinner at either a restaurant or impressive alumni's house in a suit). Pledge classes will be decided from the attendees at Blue Chip.

Good luck to all the fraternities and sororities!

You must explain In N Out to non SoCal people.

And Presents is a huge deal in southern California. If anyone is interested go to the USC Panhellenic site and go to photos from each house. Most have posted pictures from last year's Presents. Also, in my daughter's recruitment thread, FootballFan was kind enough to post pictures of TriDelta's Presents. That definitely gives you an idea of what Presents is like!

I think Presents is one of the most unique experiences at USC. The other tradition that is hard to find at other campuses is deliveries...every chapter holds their Monday Night Dinner before chapter, guys in suits, girls usually in dresses. The pledges from the respective houses (although I've heard that now many sororities use their actives until the new members are initiated to avoid hazing...a little overkill, but it is what it is) will make delivery runs to the other chapters.

Let's say I had a great date with a sorority girl, or just wanted to acknowledge an inside joke to a friend in another chapter. I'd buy her a delivery and then one of the pledges would go over during dinner and announce, "I am [insert name] from [insert chapter], and I have a delivery for [insert girl's name." Everybody claps and the girl gets her delivery. The deliveries themselves could be a dozen roses, a cheap but funny dollar store trinket or something outrageous (a pinata with her favorite candy, a stuffed animal with alcohol concealed inside to make it past the house mom and the security guard at the door, etc).

The craziest dinners were after one of our invites where it felt like each sorority would have dozens of deliveries for guys in our house (their dates). Also intense were when one of the fraternities was planning on asking a sorority to an exchange...in this case, the deliveries would number in the dozens, not to mention that every girl in the chapter would usually get a rose and that there were usually elaborate song and dance routines asking the sorority to an exchange.

(I'm trying to work, but this is not working....)

When I was at SC (and UCLA) they definitely had Presents. But delivieries...no....Monday night dinners were known for candle passings...and then serenading.

My daughter has told me about deliveries. In the time of my grandmother it might have been called "old time courting." Lovely and fun.

We had Pledge Presents at ASU (Arizona) but it was individuals chapters and not the entire NPC and this was back in '91

Ohhh...Presents really sounds lovely. Deliveries sound like they could be so much fun. What a way to liven up a Monday night!

I've seen pictures from Presents. So pretty!

San Diego State has presents as well. Due to the size of many of the new member classes over the past few years, they have had to move it from the house to a hotel. I loved having at the house, but understand it's a size issue.

We had something similar - Phi Delta Theta held "Kiss and Carnation" on Bid Night to welcome each sorority pledge to the greek system. Each would get (you guessed it!) a kiss and carnation from a Phi Delt.

One year, one of our sisters had just gotten her black belt, so when they arrived, she was in the line for K&C, and the sister checking the list said, "Oh, you don't have one of the pledges, Carol." They quickly added her, and the Phi Delt who was to give her a carnation got flipped instead!

I like this tradition!

As of last night, a record 948 women have registered! Fight on!

This sounds so fun!

Ok, clarification regarding In N Out Burgers: This is a drive through restaurant, although some venues have tables, and it does have a few trucks that rent for specific parties. They have...hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, and drinks....and that's it. Double double (double meat/cheese) animal style (fried onions)...and it is inexpensive. It is good.

small hijack ..

we in Tucson actually have the farthest most eastern In-N-Out Burger .. love In-N-Out

end small hijack

Oh sorry about that...and there is one (maybe more) in Las Vegas. I just remember reading business sections where their management said that they weren't going east...or south...but this could have been awhile ago.

Even so...great hamburgers

...and as I learned last weekend, there are some In-N-Out Burgers in Utah! Mmm...

We had the same tradition at San Diego State when I was a collegian a zillion and one years ago.

DaffyKD

A New Member Walking Through the Presentation Arch
 

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...1JEqyKU_ph.jpgEach chapter at SC has different customs for Presents. The Tri Deltas walk through a Presentation Arch. Pi Phis are "crowned" with a circle of flowers. Delta Gammas walk down a curved staircase carrying a bouquet. After presentations receptions or brunches are held in the chapter houses which are decorated with sorority symbols and many vases of fall blooms.

Depending on attrition pledge classes could be in the 90s!!!!! I can't imagine the run on white dresses in Los Angeles.

I found an article from the Daily Trojan from last year's rush...it seems like there was a 64% placement rate (the vast majority of people who didn't place likely withdrew because they didn't get the chapter they wanted), which would mean pledge classes of about 67 for this year. 90 would be insane, especially because many of the sororities can't fit their chapters in their dining rooms anymore...but you never know, especially with one less chapter in the running this year.

SDT is recruiting informally. From what I understand this suits their style better. And I hope they get a fantastic pledge class.

And yes, ninety would be insane.

It'll be interesting to see what happens! I already know one girl who dropped out, she actually dropped after the first day. She thought that Panhellenic rush was a bit too crazy, so she's just going to concentrate on the Asian houses (she obviously is Asian), because their rush is more chill. We get our schedules for today (the first round of cuts) between 9:45 and 11, I believe.

Preference and Bid Night
 

At Southern California preference is on Sunday morning. Bid Night is around 8 o'clock on Sunday evening, August 29th.

Celebrations are held at each sorority chapter house along the row.

AAAAAAAHHH CAN'T WAIT! :)

i don't officially get my bid until tonight, but i am guaranteed a bid to the one house that i preffed, so i am excited to say that i am proud to become a new member of alpha chi omega!

congrats! :D

Congrats from an East Coast sister! Epsilon has a rich heritage and is on its way to some great days ahead.

LITB,
Gatordeltapgh :D

Welcome!

Congrats on AXO and welcome:)

Bids are out!
 

Women are going to the chapter houses now. They heard around 9 o'clock PT.

People I still know from campus have told me that these chapters got the following amount of members:

Alpha Phi - 74
Delta Gamma - 70
Gamma Phi Beta - 73

These are huge pledge classes for USC, last year I think they were in the 58-59 range.

Thanks for the information DTD, do you know what quota was?

Quota was 65, from what I heard

The Reluctant One told me that Bid Night was amazing!!!!