Anonymous recruitment
 

Are there any campuses that participate in anonymous recruitment? Meaning that girls do now know what houses they are visiting, just House 1, House 2, and so on. I heard something about it and am curious how/if that works (or if it even exists).

Is it something you actually heard of happening? I honestly can't imagine that it actually exists within the NPC. I don't know how it would be possible to keep it entirely anonymous.

I don't either but I know I read something about that on GC awhile back.

I've never heard of that, but I wish that would catch on! It would definitely help with the pressure that some girls feel to want a "top" house, and would help the girls focus on finding where they fit.

I never heard of it actually happening, just someone saying it would be cool to do it. I never really investigated as to where they got the idea from. I think it would be really hard to keep anonymous because PNM's know girls in houses, plus I feel like a lot of girls would end up in a "bad" house then drop (or would there be no "bad" houses because of the anonymity?) That's why I am curious to see if people actually do it, or if it's even possible.

Even with my limited understanding of how sorority rush works, wouldn't anonymous rush really defeat the point of a HUGE part of rush? How would you do a pref ceremony? Philanthropy day? Songs and chants? What about legacies going through who really would like to be a part of their mother's chapter? Not to mention, how would you explain your sorority's values?

Last but not least, I'm not entirely sure that it would also hide who the "top" chapters are...I'm sure those houses would continue to put their hottest girls and cheerleaders in the slide show, door stack, etc. I'm not saying that every girl in a top chapter is a model, but it only takes about a minute on a chapter website (or even on a bid day photo) to make an educated guess on where that particular sorority falls in the campus hierarchy. Given 20 minute rush parties back to back with every sorority as a point of comparison, I think most girls could guess the hierarchy pretty accurately. The top chapters do tend to have more beautiful girls than the others, and while I tend to think the stereotype that lower tier houses are less attractive than middle is false, it IS usually the truth that the numbers will give it away. YMMV may vary of course.

I completely agree with this. It would be impossible to completely sanitize each group of their names, and as much as we like to say that you don't join a group for the name, some do for the reasons DTD Alum mentions- legacy status, philanthropy affiliation, history, religious affiliation, etc.

I was talking to one of my sisters one day about what a neat idea this was. However I think that it would only be possible for a round 1 or "meet the Greeks" type situation, because as others have mentioned the philanthropy, mission, and values plays a lot into sorority recruitment. Nevertheless for the first round I believe that it is a good idea because then girls would focus then more on the conversations they were having versus the "show" part of recruitment (i.e. the outfits, decorations, etc).

If this has ever actually been carried out I would be very interested in hearing about the results.

But let's be real here, it wouldn't eliminate any part of the "show". You could still have themes and outfits without disclosing the name of your sorority. I think the only theoretical benefit would be to avoid rumors, but I can't really believe with house decor and people knowing girls in sororities that it would be a secret for more than a couple of seconds. Plus, like I said earlier, I think girls could pretty accurately figure out who was "top" pretty quickly...I doubt any "top" chapter would be cool with people not knowing that fact about them, and would find ways to broadcast it subtly.

At the end of the day, I think that hiding which sorority you are would defeat the purpose of what founders intended because you wouldn't be able to discuss what makes your sorority different than the rest, and what your sorority values. In fact I think it might be a huge detriment to eliminate things like colors, philanthropy, mascots and history because those are things that would stand out in a PNMs mind to differentiate chapters from each other.

I disagree. I mean the whole point of "no frills" recruitment was to remove a lot of the "show" out of recruitment, and to that end (when it's followed, of course) it has been somewhat successful at removing the performance aspect of sorority recruitment.

And the idea of an anonymous recruitment would be along the same lines as "no frills", just taken up several notches. I mean obviously there would be ways of trying to get across whatever reputation it is that you wanted to portray, but at least girls could know the reputations as the chapters want to be perceived, not how they were 10 years ago that's probably not true anymore but is set in stone because reputations don't change, or at least don't change much.

And I don't know if I agree that it would defeat the point of recruitment as we know it. NPC sororities are really a matter of fit-- and chapter fit trumps all. This is why we always tell PNMs to keep an open mind because reputations are really pointless and in the end you will be joining an amazing sisterhood and fantastic national organization, no matter which specific one you end up in. And I feel that if recruitment were somehow anonymous (which would be nearly impossible in the logistics, but bear with me), it would allow girls to go in somewhat blindly and realize where it is they truly feel at home.

I personally think that, at schools with large chapters, you could randomly assign PNM's to chapters and it would work out just fine.

That said, I think no frills is a move in the right direction, and I'm curious if schools have different rules about mentioning fraternities. IIRC, we were not allowed to put fraternity letters in our official video, but it was fine if they were in door decorations and stuff like that. Again, it's not really a secret who mixes with whom, but it also shouldn't be the deciding factor.

As nice as this idea is in theory it couldn't work due to the information age we are in and each campus has a culture that could potentially work against any idea of evening things out. Over time I think that the changes we have made (RFM, no frills, enforcing policies on dirty rushing) will level out some schools, and has at some. Places where more out of state students are headed that have had traditional strongholds will, and are changing, albeit slowly.

I think our bigger problems are really lying with retention, the cost of college, and the caliber of students attending college. A university degree really isn't for everyone and higher education is going to implode sooner or later and we can't keep doing things the same way with our giant houses and to be honest, some really arcane policies that don't fit the college students in the second decade of the new millennium. There is a lot that has changed but a lot that still needs to changed if we want to stay relevant and vibrant into the future.

Perhaps focusing on how similar we are as organizations and working for a system that allows PNMs to filter out that it often is the women in the chapter at a place and time (their campus during rush) and not all the other stuff we put out there that really is given a different name by the other 25 groups. I can honestly say every group has something I'm interested in and there was something about the women I met when and where I met them in addition to other, albeit other factors, that had me end up where I did. Sure there are some women who have legacy relationships that trump everything, or a relationship with a philanthropy, but those women are not as common as those who don't.

ETA: There are things within my ritual that speak to me like nothing else, and that is something that is unique to my experience and group that wouldn't be exactly replicated elsewhere like swaps, homecoming, candle passes, parties, and the other things we all do. Maybe (likely) the women who are my sisters saw something in me that related to our ritual and that's part of why I am an Alpha Gam, but ritual is something that comes with Initiation and hopefully we can find our deeper meaning during our too short new member periods.

I think you're right, if we're being real here. Skits aren't necessary on all campuses, as no-frills recruitment has been successful, but I do think the elements of pref ceremonies, for instance, are important. I know that fitting in with a particular chapter is usually the determining factor, but even as the confused, snobby, and probably tunnel-visioned PNM I was, I did have interest in the national organization. I picked my organization because I loved my chapter, but there are many very specific things I enjoy about my international organization that I did think about at the time. I'd want the benefit of knowing about the organization I was going to be a part of.

And I think you're right that it wouldn't necessarily eliminate the worry over "tiers". PNMs could probably determine it based on the reasons you pointed out, but also by the facebook photos (someone/something would slip through privacy filters...it just would happen) and prior friendships.

I could see it working well as an opening night option on a campus like mine with only five NPC sororities and where hierarchy isn't as important as it is to PNMs at large campuses. But after that, I think PNMs should get the chance to learn about the organization beyond the chapter.

Well, let's be frank...those are all kind of the same anyway. I mean I don't think XYZ says "we only want girls who are beautiful" and ABC says "we only want girls who are academically superior." Pretty much all of the sororities want well rounded women and want to help develop women to that end.

As far as being more or less Jewish, Christian etc, regardless of what is in your ritual, that varies WIDELY from campus to campus. Ditto with how you focus your philanthropy efforts.

No frills has supposedly been happening for the last 15 years. Some schools have embraced it in the manner in which it was intended, some schools have used it as a way for chapters to snitch on each other and get hit with infractions, and some schools will have each girl rip out a kidney and send it to Australia before they give up chants, skits, matching outfits and thousands of dollars' worth of decorations.

I completely agree with this. We need to get rid of national awards for achieving quota/total and replace them with awards for the highest percentage of pledges staying active until their senior year. I would bet that some schools that supposedly have "weak" Greek system would tote home all these awards - as the people who join at such systems join because they really want to, not just because it's the socially "right" thing to do.

Although I think that this may be one silver lining in this recession - kids who want no part of college (or being Greek) won't be buffaloed or coerced into it by their parents, simply because the $$ isn't there.

As to the original post, I don't know that we so much want to make it anonymous as we want to impress upon women that the best sorority is the sorority that fits them. Making things anonymous just masks the problem, it doesn't really solve it.

I knew you'd reply to me ;) We think the same way about a lot of these things and I'm glad I'm not alone in some of my thoughts. Perhaps there will be a movement of a joined effort of women throughout different eras of membership can work together to blend the best of the past and the present so we can be current and stick to our ideals and goals while not expecting women to never drink or have sex, or not be sitting in the parlor waiting for gentleman callers and playing the piano on weekend nights planning to be pinned by so we can get married after graduation.

I joined a feminist organization and I'm going to continue to promote the betterment of young women through my sisterhood and membership.

Unfortunately, with the insurance companies running our orgs, the only time that's going to happen is if this country starts advocating personal responsibility and treating young adults like adults. The fwap fwaps aren't helping at all with the latter.

It's not just a Greek issue, it's a societal issue.

I think this is what we are all trying to go for in our responses. The question is, how do we make this a more real part of the recruitment experience? Ultimately it is up to every woman to make the decision in her mind to seek out the chapter that best fits her, but is there and in what ways can we aid women in their attempts to stay neutral and keep an open mind?

It seems that having recruitment earlier (i.e. as soon as women get to campus) would help, but I have no empirical data to back that up. Anyone with deferred recruitment want to weigh in?

As was mentioned upthread, though, it does no good to make quota and then lose half your pledge class as they find out in the next few weeks that you are not a popular chapter.

I completely agree. I've seen the difference between my relationship with my parents (they had me when they were older and I have older siblings who pulled me towards GenX) and the relationship some of my younger friends and my last boyfriend have with their parents. I don't see my parents as my buddy or my friend, they are my parents and it blows my mind the sharing and activities that differ by just a few years. I'm not saying my mom and I aren't friendly, but she's first and foremost always my mom and there's a very different relationship I see with kids now. I'd never take my mom to a fraternity house or out bar hopping during Mom's weekend, nor would she be interested. We don't borrow the clothes of the other, shop in the same departments, or share sexual details like I witness others do. I'm not a shameful prude but I have peers and siblings to discuss intimacy with and unless someone ends up pregnant there's really no reason to share details of hookups and one's partner with their parents. Granted I think my parents would rather not know not because they are in denial, but because there is a clear line and if I was in a situation my (bio/step) sisters would look out for me.

I think it was Munchkin who mentioned a friend in higher ed. who attended a conference where the dynamics of parents and kids were discussed about how kids were viewed by their parents since they had careers and put kids on hold, and are therefore seen as more precious and an investment and how it leads to helicopter parenting. Maybe it wasn't publicized but I read in the news about underage kids with alcohol and that parents purchased it, and so many kids on campus don't think an MIP or a DUI is a big deal and aren't afraid to tell their parents, and in some cases the parents have them too so no biggie.

I think I'm down and raging because it is election day tomorrow or something.

I know I've said this on here before, but your paragraph above hits the nail on the head. It's doable for a "less popular" chapter to put on a mask for a week. Then people start coming back to school...and you hear random comments from people in your dorm...or you don't have any mixers...and you realize you've been took, hoodwinked, bamboozled.

Often (unfortunately) this isn't what the chapter itself wants to do, but what they feel pressured into doing, either from the Big Mascots who want the chapter's reputation to improve (and who apparently have forgotten how much of an epic fail something like this can be), or from the ginormous but necessary house that needs to be filled (I just pictured the house being all "feed me, Seymour, feed me").

If you go through deferred rush, for the most part (by which I mean unless you're an idiot who hid in your room for a semester), you KNOW the reps of the XYZ cokeheads, and the PQR geeks, and the ABC jocks. You join where you join because regardless of the rep, you like them anyway. It's a lot easier to deflect that sort of silliness when you've had a whole semester to see for yourself it isn't true, rather than only having had 2 weeks.

I've got friends that have multiple arrests and no punishment, discuss their weekend hook ups with their mom...all that stuff. My parents are not my friends, and I will not be my child's friend. I complained about their rules as a teenager, but of course I'm now grateful.

I've noticed lately with all the parents on facebook now you can tell who the parent-friends vs. parents are easily. I'm still shocked every time I see someone's mom post details of their sex life on their walls. That will never not shock me.

I think we need to stress something we go on about, mutual selection. You mentioned that a woman needs to seek out the chapter that best fits her, and I see that as a road to failure because she doesn't get to make all the decisions. Granted we are discussing teenagers for the most part but I don't think these kids can 100% say they belong in a group and cite a good fit. We need to do our part to stress that it is a mutual process and not every PNM will be successful and that if she is not completely released she should decide if she wants to be in a sorority or not, and accept how the system works. It is rare that a woman goes through again and gets into XYZ, and perhaps if we make it clear from the get go the reality of who wants a PNM and how our organizations have similarities women can get in where they fit in.


I come from a campus that has rush before classes start and the women move in on bid day and I think it has more negatives than positives for the women and men in the system as well as the campus culture as a whole. I see membership for life and living in a dorm for a year is not going to kill our groups but since we have houses to pay for we're stuck in the cycle. I forecast students staying in school and succeeding, less chance of RM issues (especially hazing), and people adjusting to school and making friends outside of joining chapters. This is because people join before school but I am a fan of deferred recruitment after the first semester or quarter of grades due to seeing college as a place to receive an education with Greek membership as a bonus.

Women move in on Bid Day so dropping incurs some fees due to breaking a contract, but we lose people in the system at semester or the end of the year because they fail out and either lose their financial aid or parents blame the Greek system. I know kids in residence halls do the same things, but when one lives in a hall with all kinds of people and an RA some behaviors cannot be ignored or kept quiet, and I see it as a benefit if chapter brothers and sisters and outside people (RAs, friends, floor mates) all see if someone is struggling or needs help. I also have seen people leave membership because the house has to have people living in it and they are juniors and seniors and want an apartment instead of Greek Life. Sometimes a chapter facility is an albatross around our collective necks.

I think on the old south campuses, early recruitment doesn't make a difference because recruitment actually starts 6 months or more earlier with the campus visits and alumnae teas for high schoolers. These girls are trained to know which girls they know are in which houses. However, at these same schools, they seem to be doing just fine with parity, so lack of anonymity doesn't seem to be a hindrance.

I just think spending truckloads of money on decorations sets a precedent of wasteful spending which ends up biting the young women in the arse 4 years later when they're buying their first car, apartment, etc. I don't know how much it helps or hinders recruitment, but it's a good life lesson that you can put on a perfectly lovely event and not spend a fortune.

I like the idea of all the Greek women wearing the same t-shirt on day one of recruitment which would I suppose sell sorority life as an institution instead of focusing right off the bat on the individual chapters.

I also LOVE the idea of chapter retention awards, both at the campus and inter/national sorority levels. Now THAT would be something to crow about during recruitment - we have the highest member retention on campus so that's proof our members are the happiest!

Fixed your post. LOL. This is actually what I thought it said when I first read it and I was like "so true."

I completely agree with you, my parents aren't even on Facebook, they don't even text and it is bliss. I felt so sorry for the friend who became intimate and was informed by their partner their mom knew the friend was the first sexual experience of their partner, and then met the mom and sat through a dinner. I recently saw on the facebook feed of the person who told mom they did the deed, that their step mother was taking quizzes and one of the questions was if this person was a virgin and a good kisser. That is a line I never want to have crossed.

I think for some women it starts before they have been born and it is a cultural system we don't understand and may lessen but never disappear. Not only are there students from out of state, but there are many college students who are the first to go to college and have no knowledge of the systems in place and if they are lucky don't get told who someone thinks is the bee's knees or cat's pyjamas and these girls go through and join a chapter based on mutual selection and not the opinions of people who have a certain mindset. Will there always be a group who only want XYZ at some SEC school? Sure, but there will be women who join the other groups, new groups charter, and it will even out.

Yet again, real estate is the issue here, and that's a whole separate issue. Since we have moved all the alcohol to men's homes and therefore the RM issues when they close we can move in their homes :rolleyes:

My dad got a Facebook to see what it was about, but my mom refuses to. The only thing on his wall for the most part are greetings from high school classmates and the videos I send him from todaysbigthing. I keep my profile pretty clean no matter what, but him being able to see it is another incentive to. I don't want my parents in my social life and they don't want to be in mine. Now that I'm old enough to appreciate them, I'm glad they set boundaries and stayed parents...and never tried to be my friends.

What a positive spin on fraternity hijinx. Maybe the way to enforce RM issues is to have the sororities who WANT to come on campus be the party enforcement. HA!

It would be an excellent idea for everyone to think of who could be reading their post before hitting send. I know it has kept me from saying something snarky about my sisters (bio, not sorority) more than once. And the whole parent-friend thing I think is just icky. My oldest sister (speaking of being snarky) has that utterly co-dependent relationship with her daughter and it is destructive for both of them.

Actually, I didn't. You must have just read it wrong the first time. But either version is accurate in some cases!