Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu - Arkansas
 

I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread for the colonizations at Arkansas ( a la the Delta Gamma at Bama thread for this year). More information is beginning to be publicized.

Such as: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

I was reading that Alpha Chi Omega will only participate in the first day of Arkansas recruitment and then have their own recruitment later. How does that work? If a girl decides she likes them would she drop out of regular recruitment? I would think that's risky and most girls would stay in to have the best chance of getting a bid from all of them instead of only trying for one.

That is ordinarily how it happens. Pnms will decide at some point during formal recruitment if they will formally withdraw from recruitment and pursue the colonizing sororities or they will go thru to the end, but not sign a bid card and will then remain eligible for recruitment with Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu at Arkansas. The pnms will be well instructed(probably several times) on how the process will work.

Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu schedule for colonization:

Aug 12-13 Phi Mu and Alpha Chi participate in Open House, both then withdraw from recruitment
Aug 14-19 All other houses complete formal recruitment and bid process
Aug 19 Marketing begins
Aug 22 Joint Info Sessions, 2 one hour parties
Aug 28 Alpha Chi Events, 2 one hour parties
Aug 29 Phi Mu Events, 2 one hour parties
Sept 4 Phi Mu Events, 2 one hour parties
Sept 5 Alpha Chi Events, 2 one hour parties
Sept 7 PNM Decision Day
Sept 9 Bid Day

Important: PNMs are not required to go to all of the parties, they are required to have an interview.

Here are some articles about the colonizations:

http://www.uatrav.com/2012/new-soror...-ua-officials/

http://www.uatrav.com/2012/a-team-pr...ew-sororities/

And, an article about Beta Theta Pi and Kappa Alpha Order colonizations:

http://newswire.uark.edu/article.aspx?id=18340

Sounds like a fair schedule to me except that while all the other chapters are celebrating and introducing their new members to the GLO community the AXO and PM PNMs will still be in the processes. Hopefully the colonizing organizers will have some exchanges planned for Bid week (we call it NM week when we have NM orientation, mixers etc to get them excited about GL).

I am sure that the powers that be in Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu have everything well under control.

Since dates for the interviews are not listed, do the the interviews happen after the parties?

Also, could a PNM - in theory - receive a bid from both colonies or will there be some sort of bid matching process similar to formal recruitment?

I would imagine that the interviews are held during the day, and perhaps the three days prior to the colonization info sessions.

I don't have any idea how the bid process would work with two simultaneous colonizations.

Would it be fair for a pnm to attend recruitment events for both colonies, or is that considered bad form (like sorority shopping)?

Well, they SHOULD be "sorority shopping" - it's actually more like a formal recruitment. Since they have two choices, they should make sure they go with the one they fit into the best.

Since there is a PNM "decision" day listed I would assume that this is some sort of ranking that they would do to determine which bid they might receive.

Here is some information to answer the questions:

The interviews will be held from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6. The parties and interview dates are not related, they are concurrent activities.

September 7 is PNM decision date, they will rank their personal choices. The sororities will construct their bid list and bid matching will take place with bids being issued on September 9th.

Will Alpha Chi and Phi Mu count in establishing quota? If not, I don't see how there would be many PNMs left to choose from.

No, they typically do not include the colony groups in quota. I am sure that with the numbers they have at Arkansas and the knowledge that alternatives exist, more PNMs will be highly selective and the existing chapters will also probably be more selective. Also, the women who drop out and the women (particularly upperclass women) who did not go thru at all will be available. If memory serves me correctly, Alabama had more women going thru the Alpha Phi and Delta Gamma colonizations than the number who did not complete formal recruitment.

If they need mixers to get them excited about Greek Life, they probably shouldn't be in a colony. It's going to be a lot of work and they need people who are extremely committed and not just in it for the social life/fraternity party aspect.

Also, national volunteers not from Arkansas wouldn't do a very good job of "introducing" women to men they themselves have never met.

So if numbers registered for formal rush remain the same, the Arkansas chapters could still be looking at quotas of 130+ for this fall?

Depends on how many drop out before they sign a bid card. It may be that Susie Snowflake will opt to try for one of the two news ones rather than go on and try to make one of the others "work" for her.

Well, it worked at Alabama for Alpha Phi and Delta Gamma - not to mention on other campuses for other groups. I'm sure that if this formula did not work, the NPC groups would find a different model. They have the same events that everyone else does - just a week or two later. Not a problem.

My guess would be that quota will be huge again this year, but a group or two might miss quota due to the pending colonies.

Although it seems like it SHOULDN'T work, it always seems to and the colonies are not stuck with the leftovers or dregs of the rush pool.

Keep in mind that both groups will want members from all classes so seniors and juniors who might otherwise not even go out for recruitment would find a place pretty easily with one of the new ones.

Colonies don't have to take anyone. I think that's a bit of a misunderstanding some people at a campus may have. In many cases, colonies will be even more selective as their future depends on their choices. It's better to take on a smaller initial class than to pledge women who will not do the work needed or will give your organization a bad reputation.

It's always interesting to see the wide variety of women who come out for a colonization. I've met many women who never went through formal recruitment at a competitive school because the process was too daunting or otherwise difficult for them.

I think the most difficult aspect at Arkansas will be how the young women will chose between the groups. Aside from those who have family legacies or regional preferences, I imagine it's going to be hard for the PNM to decide without having any current members to meet a gauge your comfort level. Do you like the philanthropy better? Your complexion is better suited to wearing their colors? All your friends want a specific group?

I can't tell from the schedule if there are invitational parties at all. Seeing who else is in the running would definitely seem to make the decision a little easier.

the question was where would all the PNMs come from for such a massive effort. I was addressing the fact that at Arkansas - as at Alabama - juniors and seniors who pretty much otherwise wouldn't have much of a chance would have much better odds in this scenario. If upperclass quota is say 5, you know with a colonization there will be far more total upperclassmen taken than that....as many more would be signing up than usual.

I think it's important to remember that a colony recruitment is the only recruitment a chapter will ever have where the new members are not chosen by the chapter. In an established chapter, especially on a competitive campus, it is vitally important for a PNM to have a connection to someone in the chapter to pull for her during recruitment. This situation is nonexistent in a colony recruitment since members are chosen by women who seldom have any connection to the campus in question. So, a PNM who is glorious but has no greek connections has equal footing in a colony recruitment, where in regular recruitment she would be at a severe disadvantage.

When AOII colonized at Arkansas, we came across so many wonderful young women who were the first to go to college in their families. This is VERY common at Arkansas. These young women tended to have little greek knowledge or pedigree, and therefore didn't know how to prepare for formal recruitment at such a competitive campus. They included Razorback cheerleaders, the Homecoming Queen (and future wife of American Idol winner Kris Allen), student government president, and on and on. We're not talking sub-par PNMs - just people who didn't plan for recruitment for a year in advance, or came from a smaller town and didn't have connections, or transferred in as a sophomore, etc. The established chapters, for the most part, could hit their 100+ quota without tapping into these unknown PNMs.

I think the situation in Arkansas has gotten even more dire, because even more of these types of students are coming into the university. Arkansas has a program that accepts bordering state students as in-state if they meet a very reasonable ACT requirement, so the university has grown a ton very rapidly. (Not to mention Walmart has some requirement that its vendors have an office in NW Arkansas so the area boomed as Walmart grew.)

Phi Mu
 

irishpipes,
You make a really good point! I am so excited to see the incredible women that Phi Mu chooses to be members of the sisterhood! Good luck to all the ladies going through Recruitment (and colonization) at Arkansas!

The general attitude among the majority of Greek women on Arkansas's campus is immense excitement regarding Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu's colonization this fall. With the enormous (and growing) pledge classes, the Greek community (especially NPC) is united in welcoming any and all ways to help alleviate the stress of a 350+ chapter. Arkansas's freshmen summer orientation is currently under way. Each night of orientation each chapter (all four councils) is allotted a table for about 2 hours to meet and greet with PNMs. Based upon the already past sessions, the response to A Chi O and Phi Mu has been incredible. I think very few people fear their ability to be successful at the U of A despite our campus being considered a death trap for new chapters. AOII is the best example of how successful a chapter really can be at Arkansas if they have a strong foundation. The only whispers of concern I have personally heard is the impact A Chi O and Phi Mu's recruitment could have on chapters that have struggled in the past. Last fall was the first time in years all chapters at Arkansas made quota. While this was an incredibly emotional and satisfying accomplishment (shared by all NPC chapters), there is some fear the addition of the two new chapters could lead to 1 or 2 already existing chapters not receiving quota this fall as many women may opt to drop during preference round to pursue the colonization process. I am hoping and praying this is not the case and that we can experience once again a very successful formal recruitment and colonization process!

Not to stereotype these women, but I get the feeling on campuses like Arkansas (and Alabama, LSU, etc) there are so many PNMs who are a great fit for Greek life (especially in the South) but as you said that one crucial factor of lacking an inside connection to an established chapter is a big hurdle.

Like in the North (and just making a generalized un-expert opinion) I get the feeling that even if chapters decided to take anyone who walked in through the door a greater proportion of the student body still just wouldn't be interested in greek life.

All that being said, it just makes me more excited for AGD's return to USC!

Question...
 

Based on what has been said there are so many great woman at Arkansas and other SEC schools;

I wonder if that makes it the case of the old adage "too many chiefs and not enough indians."?

Granted I can see where the Student Body President may not want to be Chapter President let alone president of the dining committee.

I'm not really following your thinking here....

My thought was that if we define "great women" as leaders.

Well in order to have leaders, we need to have followers.

My concern is that if we have all of these leaders going through colonization process, what about followers? We need those too.

Ah, i see.

In my experience, many of the " great leaders" from high school become really good followers at college. Those high school "chiefs" were sometimes put in those positions out of default, or chosen because they are smart, or well liked by the faculty, or popular.

So, a pnm with a good resume filled with activities and honors will not necessarily translate into a college career of the same caliber. However, it can and usually does mean the girl understands concepts like team, group, loyalty, commitment, etc. and she will make a good "Indian."

^^^totally agree with that and have seen it play out!

Any new information?

Do they even have house sketches or, for that matter, land? I would be surprised if they were that far along, but I would love it if they were.

gee_ess I don't think any of that has even been discussed at this point. Last I heard the two sororities will be temporarily housed in the Bud Walton dorms (formerly the athletic dorms before the completion of the NW Quads) which are directly across the street from the football statement.