NPHC Members To Be Among Gamma Chis for Fall 2012 NPC Recruitment (Miss. State)
 

At Mississippi State U, two members of an NPHC sorority applied and have been selected to be among the Gamma Chis for fall 2012 recruitment. Reportedly this is the first time that NPHC members have served as Gamma Chis at Mississippi State. For fairly long article see:

http://www.reflector-online.com/news...ment-1.2708043

As long as they know that there is no Membership Intake reciprocity when it comes to such things. :)

How can they help girls make an informed decision about a process they have not experienced? Their organizations use a completely different recruitment process.

Wasn't there a discussion about this recently?

ETA: Found it (Southern Mississippi, though): http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=123376

I think it is great that the NPHC women volunteered to do this. Surely, they are capable of understanding that the NPC process is different and providing the appropriate emotional support to PNM's.

I don't know if this IS the case, but it's also possible these girls did go through NPC rush, decided it wasn't for them and chose to join NPHC sororities.

I think this is an excellent idea. Hopefully they would be seen as unbiased and simply there to help the rushees. And it's not rocket science; you just need girls who are interested in the process and able to communicate it. Unfortunately some NPC girls may choose to be Gamma Chis for less honorable reasons than this, like just wanting to get out of rush, member selection, hair, makeup. The NPHC girls wouldn't have this motivation, but may have career aspirations that this would help. Like being a Greek Life adviser...

What if a nonGreek decided to apply to be a gamma chi? Has that ever been done?

I wondered that too. If next year an independent applies for a position, how could she(or he, for that matter) be turned down, if all other criteria are met?
Perhaps in the MSU constitution and/or by-laws it was never specified that Gamma Chis were to be members in good standing of NPC sororities.

It seems to me that each council should, while working together to promote greek life from within their respective councils, not veer into another councils business.

As Dr. Phil implied, NPC sorority members need not volunteer to assist with NPHC intake-as it should be.

NPHC women have been Gamma Chis at Southern Miss for several years and have done a great job. Plus the bonus of NPC and NPHC groups getting more familiar with each other's systems and making new friends!

I was going to mention the bold, but I figured there were rules in place saying "...a woman in good standing..." or something.

I still think it's strange, but if it's working, so be it. There are plenty of ways to show Greek unity without diving into processes that folks are unfamiliar with.

Why would anyone who's not involved with rush at that campus even be concerned about this, much less opposed?

Whatever works for that campus....

I think being a good Gamma Chi is more about the "counseling" aspect of things instead of the "structure/process" part of recruitment. Someone can always look at a piece of paper and read the directions on how many chapters they can rank (and they can always ask another Gamma Chi for help with that part) but I think the magic happens when a Gamma Chi can help a crying girl work through her disappointment and convince her to at least attend the parties she has that day, THEN decide whether or not she wants to drop out. Some people have that gift of being able to talk others through a difficult situation and you need those people as Gamma Chis. That's what keeps women in recruitment and helps them find their home.

I love this idea!

Why do we discuss ANYTHING on Greekchat? There are plenty of things that are brought up on the site that don't directly affect ANY of us, but we still talk about it. Also...

For the same reason you shared your opinion.

Absolutely agreed. To me, this is a misguided attempt at "diversity" that really doesn't accomplish anything on a bigger scale.

Everyone saying this is wonderful - would you feel the same way if a fraternity man was a Gamma Chi?

I do like the idea of NPC alums being Gamma Chis, especially if their chapters aren't represented in campus.

Jen, you just made me picture a Sassy Gay Friend as a Gamma Chi. And the picture is kind of awesome.

Here's what the NPC MOI (aka Green Book) says about recruitment counselors

Recruitment counselors are undergraduate chapter members in good standing
and who:
1. Are dependable, responsible and available to the Potential New Member.
2. Are enthusiastic and have a positive attitude toward
fraternity experiences.
3. Are objective and impartial in opinions.
4. Have good listening skills and the ability and willingness to
keep confidences.
5. Are sensitive and perceptive of another’s feelings while
remaining objective.
6. Are representative of the best qualities of a Panhellenic woman.
7. Are willing to refrain from contacting their own chapter members in
order to reveal confidential information obtained from a PNM.

Resolved (1993), That because collegiate membership recruitment
counselors function as a committee of the local College Panhellenic during
membership recruitment, they shall be in good standing in their member
groups, be active participants in the collegiate chapter and shall be enrolled
in the institution where the chapter is located.

I disagree.

I think in an process like recruitment experience and prior exposure mean a lot. Its such an emotionally stressful time I would think that having someone who's been there would be more understanding and supportive to the PNM.

I'm sure the NPHC members are not doing a bad job, as this works for this campus.

I agree. Portland State University asked all the alumnae associations for help during their recruitment. I know that at least ten of us showed up. I was a Rho Gamma (or Gamma Chi or whatever) at U of Oregon. The PNMs seemed a lot more open to talk about what was troubling them as none of our chapters were representing on PSU campus. It could be that the campus personality is more open or it could be that there was no chance we were part of the organizations they were worried about. Also it reinforces the idea that sorority membership is for life. Most of us even wore letters which, in my opinion, also reinforced that there is a larger community that one is joining instead of just one chapter.

Perhaps the NPHC gamma chis will do (or do at Southern Miss as someone mention) a great job. I am just having trouble imaging giving advice to someone going through something that I had never experienced.

I said it elsewhere, but I'll say it again:

Many women who go through recruitment have great (or at least good) experiences the whole way through. Thinking that they can relate to women who are getting heavily cut just because both have been through formal recruitment is a huge mistake. Yet, many of us would agree that consoling disappointed PNM's (and encouraging them to stay!) is one of the most important things that a gamma chi does.

So, if you think that NPHC women are not qualified to do this, I think that you should also never have gamma chis who got their top choices each round.

Hey, that's pretty good. It's awful watching someone who got all her choices go off on someone who hardly has any. Yeah, she'd come apart too if it had happened to her and the PNM knows it.

This just seems strange to me. I can't imagine being a PNM with a Gamma Chi who wasn't a member of the organizations. I would questions her ability to be thoroughly knowledgeable. I know that there are clueless Gamma Chis from NPC groups, but I agree with the previous comment that this is a misguided attempt at diversity.

I also think alums of groups not on campus is a really interesting idea. Alums would have much more to offer in terms of objectivity and a bit of life perspective.

perhaps i am reading this wrong, but unless the NPHC members sororities are not members of the college panhellenic-meaning they are members of the NPHC at MSU-then it appears that MSU is not following NPC recommendations.

And thank you AZ-AlphaXi for finding this.

^^^ FSUZeta ... that's the way I was reading it.

this resolution has been cited to me, when I've suggested that Alumnae (unaffiliated ones) act as counselors.

(and you're welcome :-) )

Well, if the only issue about NPC recruitment is to console a crying young woman who does not get her choices, or is dropped, then yeah, I guess anyone can be a gamma chi.

Well, there's consolation, directing the girls to the physical meeting location (houses) and explaining the process/rules. There shouldn't ever be a time when a rush counselor says anything about a specific chapter. "you'd like XYZ. They're like you because..." would be a huge no no. A rush counselor should help a rushee make decisions by drawing out of her what she liked and didn't like about specific chapters, not doing the pointing out herself. "How did you feel about XYZ?" "What made you feel that XYZ is better than DEF? Could it be a specific girl you were talking to and not the chapter as a whole?" Those statements could be said by ANYONE and are the kind of open ended questions a rush counselor should say to draw out the feelings of the rushee. And if the rushee knows for sure that the rush counselor is not a DEF, she's going to feel a lot more comfortable being honest about her feelings, and thus getting to the truth quicker.

NPHC women are joiners, leaders, enthusiastic, and smart. There is no reason to think they couldn't handle this and I see very little down side. I think this is also true of non-affiliated alumnae, and grad students in psychology for that matter. The grad students would just have a larger learning curve but presumably they'd also end up in the same place.

Or else she will think "this woman/man/elm tree has NEVER been through this experience. How in the world does she have the nerve to try to counsel/console me?"

Please keep in mind when we talk about these options that we're talking about 18 and 19 year old women.

Don't the NPHC, MCGLOs etc. sometimes all fall under the umbrella of the Panhellenic council at schools? It doesn't appear to be the case at MSU, but it seems like I've seen things structured that way at other schools.

The only time I've seen these groups under the same council has been in the case of "All Greek Councils"

I didn't read any of that saying they had to be part of Panhellenic. It just said they were "a committee of the Panhellenic". It also said "good standing of their member group", again not Panhellenic. Maybe it is just me being too literal but I don't think they are breaking any NPC recommendation.

According to the MSU website, they are two separate Panhellenic groups.

Or just not enough non-NPC orgs to have a separate council. I advise at a school where there are only 2 cultural/MCGLOs in total, 1 fraternity and 1 sorority. TNX is an associate member of the CPC, as college rules require they associate with a council, but there is only one.

I don't love this idea. I see that I'm late in responding, but still, I don't feel that this is beneficial to the PNMs. I feel like part of what made my recruitment successful was being able to go to both of my RCs and communicate my feelings to them. If I felt like they didn't really get the stress I was under, I would have been really frustrated. Of course, these girls may have rushed NPC. I think that's the key.

This is somewhat OT, but I also wish that there was more support for girls who get dropped. When I got the call from my RC, I just didn't feel like she completely understood it. And how could she? She'd never been through it! I think it's impossible to do it any other way, but I wish there were another way.

Yup.