Why am I in the backroom?
 

Hi! Last year I was in the front room with all the PNMs. Now, I have been assigned to the back room. I don't understand why and won't get an honest answer from the people who are head over recruitment. I am currently in nursing school and have to talk to people I barely met, so why wouldn't I be a candidate for rushing girls in the front room?

For people that are in charge of recruitment or have dealt with recruitment, what does it mean to be put in the backroom? :confused:

It doesn't matter what you say. I just want an honest answer.

Why don't you ask someone else in your chapter? We have no clue.

I understand you don't. That is why I asked what does it mean to be in the backroom. I haven't gotten a solid answer from the people in my sorority, so I'm asking on here.

We're not the one's that put you there though. We know as much as you do/have told us.

Because that's where we hide the fat ugly girls.

I LOL

Damn, son.

It's also where they hide the people who still use the term "sratty".

It's also where we put the girls with bad breath.

You understand that we don't know why you're in the backroom, so you asked us why you're in the backroom?

Makes perfect sense.

There are a lot of reasons and a lot of them have been listed here. The only ones that are missing would be:

Awkward to talk to
No edit function on your mouth so you say inappropriate things

Even in super-fabulous chapters, SOMEONE has to do the "backroom" jobs.

Did you break out in hives for your first recruitment as an initiated member?

That's what I did. I probably would have been in the back room if I hadn't gone the Rho Gamma route (and I never broke out in hives again).

LOL! I feel you.

See all the snark above.

But as IrishPipes said, because SOMEONE has to do it.

A few reasons WHY they might have assigned you:
1) do you have a class conflict at some point in time? If you cannot attend one night, they might have assigned you to somewhere else so that they don't need subs
2) when they were putting together the groups, they tried to get a mix of personalities. for whatever reason, when they finished putting the groups together you were groupless-- nothing against you, it just happened that way
3) maybe you were SO fab at fitting in wherever is needed, that by not assigning you a group, they know they can count on you to sub in wherever needed at a moment's notice

we can't really know why you aren't in the front room. but having spent time in the backroom, I can tell you it's incredibly important.

This is why people keep coming to GC for info that is best obtained elsewhere. After all of the smartassy responses GCers will eventually provide the info. Womp womp.

sorry, runs back to lurkdom...

Don't you dare!

I'm lane swerving anyway....

egh, swerve all you want.

and honestly, the backroom IMO is more fun anyway-- you get the best gossip back there -- and if you are serving food/drinks, you get to sample it. and depending on your role, you don't have to dress up (that might depend on the chapter though)

Maybe cuz ur now fat, LOL!!!

If you're in nursing school, how do you have time to be an active member anyway? Reasoning is probably that you're not going to be around that much, so having you in the front room to influence rushees' decisions (either positively or negatively) is kind of pointless.

And LOL at the whole concept of this being upsetting. Anyone who would have LOVED to be in the back room (hell, who would have loved to have a back room period) throw your hands in the air and wave 'em like a grizzly bear.

Old Row beat me to it!

Maybe you make really good sandwiches? :-P

I for one thing love being assigned backroom roles. But because of my super OCD personality, I am much better suited for that kind of thing. But I can also switch into Super Rush mode if I need to help out wherever (I just find it quite exhausting, and we already know Recruitment can be SO exhausting)

Perhaps, as ForeverRoses suggested, your Recruitment chairs felt you could excel in such a role.

Hands in the air like I just don't care! One of my best friends was the rush secretary for 3 years. True, she didn't see daylight for about 2 weeks because her office was in a windowless room in the basement, but she was happy and would have not done well on the floor. But in our chapter, we didn't have any spares to hide in the basement. If you do have one of those kinds of roles, you will know A LOT more about what's going on than if you're in the middle of it. I hope to assist with a rush one of these days, and WANT to be down in the cave, or whatever the Southern California version of that is. But I'm an analytical person who enjoys the numbers. Would that possibly describe you?

YES! Formal Recruitment is amazing for stats lovers hahah

We have SO much fun in the back room and all of these posters are right. You will know exactly what is going on from a different point of view. Our Advisors usually get so delirious by about day 2 that we start putting on a comedy show. I never laugh so hard at some of things we come up with to keep ourselves entertained. There is never a shortage of girls that want to be the information chair after hearing about all the antics going on in the back room. Enjoy your time back there!

Oh and you really get to appreciate being able to sit down/taking your heels off ;-)

Man, I wish I was in a "real" sorority. The one I pledged, we used a meeting room in the student center. For informal rush, we just took them to Applebee's.

That's another reason to put someone in the back room: you are thinking of her for a leadership position in the chapter (ie. VP-Membership) and want her to understand the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run a recruitment.

this. it's pretty sad when the recruitment chair has to come in and ask the advisors to keep it down because we were getting a bit too slap happy.

With ~150 actives, I can't remember everyone's name or even really meet all the women. But I remember all the actives that worked in the back with me!

Why would you put the fat girls in charge of the food? Didn't they eat it all before it hit the recruitment floor?

We put them in the basement. Problem solved. <runs and hides>

Did you attend the rush workshops? Are you up to date on points(if your chapter does them) and dues?

Most of the time girls know why they can't vote, or go to formal, or are in the back room-they just don't want to face up to the facts.

You may be a good recruiter but are there better recruiters? As they have said, not everyone will get the opportunity to recruit.

Have you been MIA?

That is a really good point you have made. I have attended everything that I was able to that didn't conflict with nursing school's mandatory work and have been on time with dues.

There you go. Kudos for you for wanting to stay involved, but if you couldn't go to rush workshops, you can't go to rush.

I appreciate all of your comments. I don't know everything and everybody has a different outlook that based on past experiences and beliefs. Therefore, I can't possibly figure out why some decisions are made when I do not get an honest answer originally. I also realize none of you all know the exact reason either. However, there has to be at least one person who has either been in backroom or been in charge of recruitment that can shed a different outlook to it.


Initially, I was bothered about being put in backroom because I came to the conclusion they didn't want me around PNMs, when in nursing school that is what you do and am also trained with therapeutic communication. I appreciate all of your comments and different opinions on the issue. Thanks! :)

I was a permanent "floater" and LOVED it!! :D Working behind the scenes isnt bad either. I have someone working in that role now that loves it because she still gets to do something, but doesnt have to worry about making small talk which makes her uncomfortable. Depending on your chapter, it can be an honor to serve in that role. I wouldnt make it more of a deal than what it is. Make the best of it! You might end up enjoying it!

Ahh... 'tis the eternal question, isn't it? Why did I get passed up for that promotion when I was sooo qualified? Why didn't that guy call me back? Why is that chick mad dogging me, or.. wait, is she mad dogging me or am I imagining it?

The questions you've asked can be summed up generally as the "why didn't I get something I thought I was qualified for" question, which will pretty much always be a combination of factors: others were maybe more qualified for that role; some decision-maker just didn't want you there for any number of reasons; sometimes it's just dumb luck; you couldn't fulfill the total time commitment; etc.

The more specific issue is that young women aren't very good at directly telling each other any kind of criticism. If you're not getting a straight answer, then the reason is likely that other people were going to be better at recruiting that you are perceived to be. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're bad at it, because as someone else mentioned, even in super-star chapters there going to be the women who just aren't as at ease at recruitment.

The other sorority-specific issue is that there are so many more roles to recruitment than the girls on the recruitment floor. You should feel lucky that your chapter has the membership to fill those roles! Some chapters aren't really good about describing and pumping up the need for all of those decorators, water bearers and helpers, while some chapters are great at recruiting their own members into assignments that they'll enjoy.

Bottom line, all you can do at this point is prove that you're a team player and that you're going to kick butt in whatever role is assigned to you. If you're DYING to be on the floor next year, then tell the recruitment chair about your interest and ask how you can best prepare for such a role.

^^ couldn't agree more. The other thing is I always know every ones last name but never a first name. I'm always asking "what's your last name?" then a light bulb goes off in my head!

Bwahahaha...trained in therapeutic communication! Like nurses make better rushers. I'm cracking up over here at the thought that we should put our nursing students up front just because they have been trained in
"therapeutic communications". I know LOTS of nurses, hell, my mother and sister are nurses, but I know plenty who couldn't hold a conversation if you gave them a script.