Rho Gamma Policy
 

My cousin attends a university about 20 minutes away from my university. At my school, selected woman disaffiliate for the summer and beginning of fall to be Rho Gamma's (Recruitment Guides) for women's recruitment, as I'm sure many schools do. My school has a ritual for Rho Gammas, and afterwards, you then get your Rho Gamma block letter shirt. I found out we wrote this ritual. I was just wondering if other schools have Rho Gamma initiation/ceremony/ritual (or Gamma Chi, Rho Gamma Chi, etc.). The reason I ask is because, at my cousin's school, they also disaffiliate, but they aren't officially called Rho Gamma's and just do what a Rho Gam does. So can she wear a Rho Gam block letter shirt? I mean, it's not a real sorority. It's based off English letters and no special Greek meaning. My school wrote a Ritual. Is it a big deal if she wears the shirt?

In a word, no.

We had Rho Gamma t-shirts but they weren't block letter. They usually said "Rho Gamma" on the front and a saying on the back about sisterhood or friendship, and then said "Recruitment 2005" or something like that.

I don't think it'd be a big deal if she wore the shirt. Or it might be a big deal in a positive way (like, all the other Rho Gammas end up wanting one). But block letter shirts are expensive and I don't know that I would want to buy one that I would only wear regularly for a few weeks out of the year.

Then why on earth would she want to wear a shirt that says Rho Gamma on it? It would be like wearing a t-shirt for a high school 10 states away that you have no connection to.

It's nice that you're thinking of her, but I'm sure her school and her Panhellenic have this taken care of. Let them do their own thing.

Unless your college panhellenic constitution has a specific rule about wearing block letters then it is ok to wear the shirt regardless of whether you do some made up ceremony. The block letter rule is campus specific and really more of a guideline than a rule.

Thank you!

That is what she and I are hoping will happen. The shirt also didn't cost that much. I was able to use part of my IFC budget to pay for it, so it was more of a win-win.

Because she is doing what a Rho Gamma does, and she would like a letter shirt to wear. I am not getting involved with her PHC. I mean there is nothing to care of. I just wanted to know if it would be a big deal if she came on campus with Rho Gamma letters on.

Anyway, I bought the shirt, she loves it, and we'll see what happens in the fall. Thanks for all the commentary.

:confused:

Op is a sig ep. Why would he be all up in the rho gamma koolaid at his school, including buying a block letter campus Panhellenic shirt?

What do they call them at her school? Rho Gamma isn't an NPC term - they did away with that kind of thing and just call them recruitment counselors. Some campuses have come up with other terminology - rho Gamma, pi chi, whatever. It's campus specific so who cares but that campus????

I am concerned with having an initiation ceremony for recruitment counselors. It is not a sorority. The position was created to help pnms through the recruitment process not form another house. Plus, having them disaffiliate from their houses at the beginning of summer seems a little long and counter productive. A review of the MOI might help.

Well, the MOI (edition 17 from earlier this year) has a recruitment counselor ceremony. It also recommends disaffiliaton for 30 days prior to recruitment. Both are recommendations and not unanimous agreements. I am pleased that so many have strong opinions about what NPC should and should not do. Hopefully those who are so interested will find a way to volunteer on a national level with their organizations and eventually get on their delegations in order to enact the changes they hold so dear.

To me a "ceremony" is different from an "initiation" but maybe just semantics. However, having shirts that are worn at times other than recruitment seems to be forming a group with an entirely new identity rather than a temporary group. Just my opinion.

And you are certainly welcome to it whether it is valid or not!

So you're saying...

You used money earmarked for your chapter's IFC dues (or worse yet, money from the IFC coffers) to buy a shirt for a woman who has zero connection to your school and nothing to do with IFC recruitment?????

Oy vey.

(And the fact that it "didn't cost that much" doesn't matter - this is some seriously shady shiznit.)

I know, wtf? Especially if they're not even called Rho Gammas... I missed that the first time around.

True, maybe it is just semantics but still it is a temporary position so what exactly are you pledging to? Maybe a better way to handle it is to take an oath of office (since most RGs are chosen or elected by a panel or their chapter). Taking an oath of office assumes you are no longer held to the oath after you are out of office. Plus there are so many rules an RG has to abide by maybe it would help them maintain order by saying and repeating an oath?

Not exactly. We have 1,000 from Student Senate too, and on June 30 is the last day we can use money from that. We have about 400 left, and if it's not used we lose it. So I asked the other officers and they said it was fine. We have separate budget that comes from chapter dues.

All I asked if it was Okay if she had the shirt. She can wear it over the summer and until summer recruitment. Apparently it's fine since it's not a real organization. Why did I buy a shirt for a girl who goes to a different school? Because I can. Some letters to wear since she can't wear her own. At her school they don't have a name. They just do what a Rho Gam does. They all call themselves Rho Gam's anyway but it's not a official term. So why buy an "official" shirt? I mean, why not? Just wanted to check I wasn't breaking a major rule, and apparently I'm not. Calm down...remember, it's just a shirt with cotton letters. Yes of course they have meaning, but in reality it's just cotton.

This sounds remarkably stupid and is a waste of money.

I pray that your student affairs directors don't audit your IFC board.

The student affairs director in me is cringing over this. I hope you are not on my campus.

The point that you are missing is why did you use IFC funds to buy a shirt for YOUR cousin, who goes to a DIFFERENT school, and has NO CONNECTION to your campus. The $400 you were going to lose could have been donated to a philanthropy (or spread out among several), supplies for the IFC, etc., etc. People on here are questioning why you used campus funds (and, apparently, got permission to do so) to purchase a PERSONAL item for your cousin.

If you wanted your cousin to have a Rho Gamma shirt, fine. But, it should have been purchased with YOUR PERSONAL MONEY, not IFC funds.

Exactly. I can't believe he isn't getting this. I mean, it's obvious he was going to buy the stupid shirt for his cousin no matter what anyone said. If the other officers really thought this was fine...I'm sorry, but you all need to be kicked out of your offices. It's not the amount of money that matters, it's the concept of what is right and what is wrong. It's wrong to use organizational money on personal items, no matter how much or how little. This is the kind of thinking that got several national officers of a sorority into lots and lots and LOTS of trouble.

Yep. Heck, I think a giant kegger would be a less objectionable use of that money.

I agree - what a waste of money.

The meanie in me disagrees with your second statement, though. I hope the student affairs directors DO audit the IFC board. If something like this was ok'd for one group, there's no telling what has been ok'd for other groups. Considering the state of the economy, I can't imagine there's a school out there that couldn't benefit from putting a stop to such questionable spending practices.

Okay, I really do understand where everyone is coming from. I am sincerely sorry that this seemed like an abuse of power/money. The reason I even thought about using our IFC budget is for the part that we lose. Student Senate is so particular. We are given this 1,000 that has certain uses. We cannot give any leftovers to philanthropy. We would if we could. The 400 or so remaining was for food, printing, a contest we no longer sponsor, leftover money from our new officer retreat, leftover money from having speakers, leftover money from Summer Orientation 2011, and leftover money from for apparel. We saved a lot on apparel this year, so we had a lot left over. We don't have any more apparel to buy at all, and we're just going to lose all of it, so I asked and it was fine to buy a shirt to benefit someone else. It had a purpose, whether its official Rho Gamma or not. Let's end this, please, because this blew up way bigger than it needed to be.

Why not? It seems difficult to believe that any student government would say "No! Don't give your leftover money to charity!" If the answer is "because then they'd give us less money next year because we didn't use all of it for what we said we would this year," which is my first thought, then you absolutely could've given it to philanthropy.

I have a harder time believing that permission was granted from the proper authorities for you to make a personal purchase.

I just said this. The money is allotted to certain costs. We're lucky enough we get money from Student Senate; in fact, we're getting less next year. Not because we didn't spend it all, just because we are. Today is July 1 and this year we only got 500. Has nothing to do with the money from last year. We used what we could, and now it's gone. No big deal. Please people, I got the approval, so just grow up and back down.

Senate doesn't allow money to budget for philanthropy because it doesn't represent the service aspect; it's just easy money they would give away. People like seeing Greeks do work and earn the money, not just take it from your Senate budget. Everything we buy regardless needs Senate Approval, so since it was under Apparel, we're fine.

But it wasn't apparel FOR ANYONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL, FOR ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOUR GREEK SYSTEM. Shit, call me up next year if you have leftover funds because there's a really cute pair of jeans I want.

The philanthropy story is kind of ridiculous and I really don't believe it, but let's say it's true. Did you think for a minute about other ways you could have used this money to benefit IFC? Prepaying speaker fees, stocking up on computer supplies, printing and sending an all-Greek alumni newsletter, doing an alumni ANYTHING?

No one is going to "back down" because no one can believe that you don't understand what you did was WRONG.

We understand that IFC would lose the $400 if they didn't use it. What nobody is understanding is why you didn't use your own personal money to buy a personal gift for your cousin.

Even if the left over money is okay to use for apparel, I'm sure your advisors would explain that it is for IFC apparel, not for a Rho Gamma shirt for an NPC member at another campus.

As a student affairs professional, I will tell you - Brogamma did, was unethical. Don't argue the point, you seem to miss the point that the money was intended to stay on your campus.

Whether or not you got approval isn't the point. Posters are incredulous (GCers, insert some other word if "incredulous" isn't how you feel) of this because the money was for IFC, your cousin has nothing to do with IFC, so spending it on a shirt for her regardless of whose approval you got is wrong. That's the point people are trying to make that you don't seem to get because you keep saying "no it's fine, we're fine".

As for the philanthropy part, okay then, that makes sense. Then you should've given it back to them and not tried to find ways to spend it "cause if we don't we lose it". :)

As for "grow up and back down"...lol. Good luck with that one, champ. No one has given you any sort of immature response, so I'm actually not sure why you want us to grow up- pretty sure older people are even less likely to think that you wasting money is totally fine.

ETA Damn, people all over than one.

What I don't understand is what is so horrible about that $400 going back to the Student Senate? That money is from student fees. You bought a shirt for your cousin, not with money contributed from dues paid by IFC member groups, but by students who pay tuition to your university. Your little t-shirt "approved" by whatever brain trust is running your IFC didn't think about the fact that misappropriation of student funds could mean you get cut off in the future. That extra money wouldn't just disappear. It would go back to the Student Senate's budget for future allocations. Sounds like they have wisely decreased IFCs take this semester.