My Country Music Recruitment Story
 

Hey everyone! I’m a long term lurker here on Greek Chat and since I went through recruitment at the beginning of this semester, I thought it would be a good idea to share my recruitment story!
A little background on me: I’m from the north and moved to the south for school. I go to a very small school in the south with a fairly relaxed Greek system. A pretty good percentage of our student body is Greek. I’d been planning on rushing since I was in high school, but I didn’t have any legacies in my family (my mother was a member of a local chapter at her university in the north). The few people I did know that were Greek were not members of any of the six sororities found on my campus. I decided to go into recruitment without any legacies or rec’s and hoped for the best. If you think you know where I might go to school, feel free to shoot me a PM! I’m interested to see where y’all think I’m from :)
I will identify each chapter by a country music artist. They will be listed in no particular order below:
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kacey Musgraves
Keith Urban
Kenney Chesney
Florida Georgia Line
Before recruitment, each sorority held a “Meet the Sisters” event. Here were my initial reactions of each chapter (I tried to keep my mind open as possible, but these events were kind of considered “Round 1” at my school).
Jason Aldean- I really liked this chapter. Many of the girls were in my major or similar majors. I already knew a few of the girls from orientation events and classes. Their philanthropy was something I really loved. I clicked with a few of the girls I talked to, but one of them didn’t seem to like me at all. I was really looking forward to seeing this chapter during recruitment.
Luke Bryan- These were the prettiest and smartest girls on campus. They had the highest GPA and always hit quota on bid day. Their philanthropy was my favorite of the bunch. During their events, these girls always ran up to me and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. I was in love with this sorority, but I was very nervous as they are known as the “top” house.
Kacey Musgraves- This house was fairly unremarkable during their “Meet the Sisters.” None of them approached PNMs and seemed kind of stand-offish. When I approached one and asked questions, the girl seemed very uninterested in helping me learn more about her sisterhood. I was hoping that they would try to more actively recruit girls once the week started.
Keith Urban- Based on their “Meet the Sisters,” it was evident that this house was somewhat divided. Half of the girls were scholarly, theater types, the other half more social girls. The chapter is the newest on campus (this is only their 4th year as an established chapter). I felt like I feel in between the two types of girls in the house so I considered this a good option for me.
Kenny Chesney- Every campus has one chapter. The chapter with a broad range of girls that just doesn’t seem to work. This was that chapter at my school. The girls seemed to really love each other, but they really didn’t seem to fit with my personality, especially when I approached them asking questions. They seemed nervous and taken back.
Florida Georgia Line- This chapter is the all-American girls. Their philanthropy is close to my heart. The student government president is also the president of this chapter. The girls were quiet at first, but once I started talking to them at their “Meet the Sisters,” I found that they were very sweet and personable. I was really excited to get to know them better.
I can’t wait to continue my story! Stay tuned!!

Looking forward to hearing more! Thanks for sharing your story!

The night was finally here! I had been preparing for round one of rush for months. My rho gamma group consisted of 10 other girls. I was pretty sure my rho gamma was a Jason Aldean, but more on that later on in the story!

Kenny Chesney- I was happy this was my first house of the night because I wanted to get my nerves out on a chapter I wasn’t super attracted to. I was paired with another PNM this round that barely spoke. The first girl I talked to was so nervous that she could barely begin a conversation. I had to ask all of the questions to both of the girls. I talked to a total of four girls and I didn’t click with a single one. They were all terribly nervous, soft spoken, and seemed uninterested. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go back.
Keith Urban- I talked to four girls in this house too. I clicked really well with two of them because we had similar interests. Both of the girls I clicked with told me they would “see me tomorrow.” I was worried about dirty rushing going on at my school so I took note of it and tried to shake it off. The other two girls were nice, but the conversations weren’t natural per say. In the middle of my last conversation I snapped my plastic up in half by accident. How embarrassing! I was pretty sure I would get an invite back.
Jason Aldean- I recognized so many of the Fall 13 pledge class girls and was so happy to see them. I was paired with the only Fall 13 pledge that I hadn’t met previously. She was stunningly pretty and I was really hopeful that we would hit it off. We stumbled through the conversation at first. One of the Fall 13 girls that I had a class with came to bring us water and said hello, but quickly left. After about 10 minutes of surface conversation, I was getting bored with the girl I was talking to. I was expecting the girls to switch out, but we had to keep talking. I finished my water and my voice got really dry again. I ended up coughing and having a hard time talking for the second half of the conversation. I walked out really upset because I wished I could have talked to more than one girl and wished I hadn’t had a coughing attack halfway through. In my heart I knew I was dropped from a house I really, really liked.
Florida-Georgia Line- This house was perfection. I clicked with every girl I talked to. We had a really deep conversation about their philanthropy because it was one that I had previously supported in high school. All of the girls were so nice and seemed really interested in my conversations. The president spoke to the group and told everyone about the national awards the chapter had recently won. I felt like this was the perfect place for me. When I left, the girl I connected with the most told me that she was “glad we had this talk.” I was really looking forward to my future in this chapter.
Kacey Musgraves- We had a little break before this chapter and I could feel myself getting tired. Nevertheless, I put on my best excited face and entered the chapter hopeful. We don’t have sorority houses on our campus so the parties were scattered around campus in random community rooms. The room this chapter had was very small and echoed a lot. I could barely hear any of the three girls I talked to. The first one kept apologizing because she couldn’t start a conversation. The second one I liked okay. The third one was a girl I had as my orientation leader during the first week of school, but I was never very close with her. My overall impression was “meh.” They still didn’t stand out amongst the others.
Luke Bryan- This. House. These girls were by far the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. I was paired with the director of PR for the sorority (I am a PR major so I thought that might have been intentional). The girl was nice, but we didn’t really connect deeply. She basically told me about her favorite events. The second girl I talked to was the director of photography for the sorority (I’m also I photographer. Not a coincidence). She was also from the same state as me so we really hit it off. This girl became my instant rush crush. I was really hoping to be called back!

I left the night on a high note. My best friend texted me that night and said that the girls from Luke Bryan asked about me because they hadn’t seen me yet. I took that as a good sign. I couldn’t wait for round two.

I am new and don't really post but wanted to say how much I am enjoying your story.

Out of the country music stars you picked, at least 2 of them are fraternity men!
Kenny Chesney is a Lambda Chi Alpha and Luke Bryan is a Sigma Chi.
(I don't know if the guys in Florida-Georgia Line were in a fraternity at Belmont University or if Jason Aldean was a member of any chapter at Truman State University, where those artists went to university.)

Looking forward to hearing more!

Didn't know about Kenny, but I picked Luke for that reason (a few of my good friends are Sigma Chis up north). I don't think Jason was Greek, I'm not sure about FGL either!

I love the theme, and I don't think we have had a country music theme before.

Thank you both! I loved reading stories before my recruitment so I'm just helping the future PNMs out there! Stay tuned!!

Thanks! I was at a loss for a good theme so I just picked something I liked! Stay tuned for more!

I'm fairly certain Jason Aldean didn't go to Truman State. I know he performed there with his band, but I've never seen anything about him actually being enrolled there.

Luke Bryan's wife, Caroline, is an ADPi.

If this is a "retro" story (in that your recruitment has finished), please consider posting it all instead of dragging it out. Thank you.

We've had just way too many dragged out or never finished stories. Way too many.

^^ second the motion .. please, if your recruitment is finished, don't drag it out.

Please continue!

Thank you all for reading my story! While I appreciate the suggestion to post it all at once, I am very busy with school and everything right now and would prefer to post it in smaller chunks. No worries though, I promise it will all be posted soon enough (I'm shooting to have it done a week from today!). That said, here's my Round 2 story!

I went to pick up my invites with high hopes. I was pretty sure I was dropped from Jason Aldean, but I was pretty confident with all of the other houses. When I got my list, it read

Kacey Musgraves
Kenny Chesney
Keith Urban
Luke Bryan

I had to say I was a little surprised. I really loved Florida-Georgia Line and thought they liked me too. I replayed the conversation in my head. Maybe it was the fact that I mentioned going to Germany and visiting the Hofbrauhaus on a past trip while talking about my future plans to study abroad. I decided to look ahead. I still had four chapters that wanted me. I only needed one to call home. I had class until the very beginning of the first party, so I had to hurry to make it.

Kacey Musgraves- I felt like I neglected this chapter during my first round, so I tried to look a little more eager to meet the girls. Unfortunately, I was paired with a girl who seemed to have her heart set on this sorority. She had told me that not only was she a legacy, but she had 3 rec letters and had bonded with many of the sisters at the church retreat. I felt like a third wheel talking to the sister along with the other PNM. Their philanthropy presentation was nice, but not a cause I was very connected to. I felt panicked leaving because I felt I didn’t make a very good impression on the girl I talked to.
Kenny Chesney- I looked at the other girls in line to visit this house, and it was clear that none of them wanted to be there. I put a smile on my face and tried my best to look excited. The philanthropy was obscure and the presentation was weak. The girl I talked to rambled on about her entire life story and didn’t ask me any questions about myself. It took everything in me to stay engaged in the conversation. I left disappointed and very nervous about my next party.
Keith Urban- I was paired with another PNM and I took this as a bad sign. I talked with three girls, most of whom asked surface questions (What’s your major? Why did you pick this school? How did you like our philanthropy video?). I connected well with the philanthropy and tried my best to express that to the sisters. Again, I left the house uncertain of my fate.
Luke Bryan- I cried at the philanthropy video. Yep, I was that girl. I was paired with the same girl I talked to first the first night. Again, we struggled to start the conversation, but found a comfortable topic and seemed to connect well. Every single one of the sisters I had met at the “Meet the Sisters” night came up and said hello to me, two of them offering me hugs. Then I began talking with a new sister. When I asked her if she had a leadership position in the house, she got kind of awkward and told me that she was the new member coordinator. I felt like I had offended her and started to freak out inside. Was it a good sign that I was talking to a girl in charge of all of the new members or a bad sign that I could be getting cut? I ended the night talking to the same girl I talked to last the previous night. Again, we seemed to connect really well.

I ranked the houses 1. Luke Bryan, 2. Keith Urban, 3. Kacey Musgraves 4. Kenny Chesney and hoped for the best…

You were probably second guessing things a bit too much, but I think that's pretty typical in such a nerve-wracking situation!

Re Kenny's philanthropy, obscure as in you thought it was weird to have a philanthropy for that cause, or obscure as in you never heard of the organization supporting it before? I personally think it's kind of pointless when GLOs pick things for philanthropies that everyone knows about and donates to anyway.

Yes I most certainly was. Unfortunately, it's in my nature to over-analyze everything. There were too many sleepless nights during my recruitment process.
Well, I personally thought it was an obscure philanthropy because it was an issue I'd never really thought of as a huge issue and I personally didn't have any connections to it. I appreciated the girl's support though. Honestly, their event sounds like a lot of fun. I don't mean to bash their philanthropy at all, it just wasn't something I was particularly drawn to in comparison to the other sororities that had philanthropies I had personal connections to!

I can't think of an "obscure" philanthropy, for any of the 26 NPC chapters. But then I'm not filtering through an 18-19 year old's brain, where everything is related to the self.

Like I said, I don't mean to offend any philanthropy out there as I understand all of the causes are great. I had very personal connections with the other three philanthropies and this one did not resonate with me the way the others did. I felt more comfortable with a sorority with a philanthropy that I felt a personal connection to and may or may not have previously worked with. Maybe obscure was not the proper term to use. I am quite aware that there are bigger things in the world than myself...

Now that we have that cleared up...more story, please!!! :)

I don't think anyone is offended; I think we are all just racking our brains for what it could be.

Ours.
While I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE RMH, I can see why it may not "resonate" with 18-19 year olds unless they were personally affected with a childhood illness that required a stay at RMH.
I'm sure there are others that while we love as members of the sorority, wouldn't really resonate with 18-19 year olds.

See, I was thinking it was something more like eating disorders or the American Heart Association or something. I could be wrong, though.

ASUADPi - I'm thinking it's likely CASA.

I've watched actives struggle with how to explain this to PNMs. They don't have a clue about how to make it come alive. They aren't involved face to face with CASA children, for obvious reasons. They can't relate, it's so far outside their experience.

So how is a PNM going to "feel a connection" to that? Not like autism or breast cancer or heart disease, for sure.

^^^ That was my first thought, too. When my daughter met with her Theta rec writer a couple years ago, she said she was going to ask her to talk about CASA, because she really didn't know anything about it (and she was very curious).

Some of our chapters had a hard time presenting our former philanthropy of camping for girls, especially those chapters that didn't have a local camp connection. Our "rebranded" philanthropy, Building Strong Girls, still incorporates camping, but also includes Girls on the Run and a wider umbrella of building strength and resiliency in girls, which college women can relate to.

Oh, I thought it was DZ...school for the deaf?

I was thinking CASA, yet it is such an extraordinary and critically important service -- advocating for those who cannot effectively advocate for themselves. In the thread where posters identfy their favorite items from each NPC group, I look to highly distinctive elements, (such as a constellation for Alpha Phi, no crest for AOPi) and CASA for Theta. It is not one of the highly branded (sorry, I get brand fatigue) philanthropies.

I'm in the process of submitting an application to become a CASA volunteer. Our local CASA director is an Alpha Xi Delta alumna (no it isn't AZ-Alpha Xi!). However, the drawback for me is the transportation piece. I'm sure something will work out.

back to the story, OP!

ETA: DBB, I think the DZ philanthropy is well known, myself. We all have our thoughts on this, apparently.

I'm having a great time reading your predictions about which philanthropy I failed to connect with. It's funny because a few of the ones mentioned were either ones presented to me during recruitment that I connected with or ones that I have supported previously on my own.
I'm hoping to write my round three story this evening if all goes as planned. It is a little bit controversial so I'm interested to see how you all react to it! Stay tuned for more! As always, thanks so much for reading! :)

I graduated from college in 1987 and when we, Theta, switched to CASA after that, I thought it was probably a more well-recognized philanthropy. There was only one Chapter on my campus who had a more "obscure" philanthropy to me, but they have since changed their philanthropic organization too. Interesting discussion.

Looking forward to more of the story.:)

While we're waiting for the next installment, I'll share that I chose my career based on Theta's support of the Institute of Logopedics in Kansas. It was an organization that I could really support. Last March I heard a fabulous, fabulous Delta Gamma alumna speak about Bill Wilkerson and the DGs' association with him and the Hearing and Speech center at Vanderbilt (wish I could recall her name, for my DG Panhell sisters. When I do, I will share it, but don't hold your breath, but holy cow she was a dynamic speaker).

Sorry if this is too much of a derailment, or swerve, I am simply trying not to be impatient. I hope KC_96's story ends with her finding a home, regardless of the philanthropy.

Maureen Syring was the speaker at the Tucson Alumna Panhellenic luncheon in spring of 2014 and the recipient of the 2014 Athena Award.

We are so proud of our "Reen"! Thank you for your kind words about our former Fraternity President!

The next day, I woke up nervous to pick up my invites. I ended up going after class with a huge group of friends to get the invites (not a great idea). While everyone else was excited to get back their full schedules (4 houses max.), I looked down at my schedule which read

1. Kenny Chesney
2. Kacey Musgraves

Two. I was down to two. This hurt. And it hurt bad. Not only was I down to two, I was down to my bottom two. My best friend, a Luke Bryan legacy, realized I wasn’t entirely happy. She took me out to lunch and, after a long discussion, helped me realize that I should give these sororities a good look. Although I never seriously, considered dropping out at this point, I was really glad that I had such a great friend remind me that it only takes one in the end.

After our lunch, I saw my rho gamma while I was walking back to my dorm. She hadn’t been overly friendly or helpful, especially considering it was her job to help me through the process. I thought now would be a good time to chat with her about how I was feeling. She asked me how recruitment was and I told her that in all honesty, I wasn’t incredibly happy with my outcome thus far, but I was hopeful that one of my two remaining houses would be my home. She told me, and I quote, “Well, that’s what you get for going through recruitment without recs and legacies.” What? Um, I’m pretty sure that this is the girl that is supposed to HELP me cope with the loss of houses I love, not tear me down as a result of it. And prior to my registration, I emailed our director of recruitment asking if recs were recommended for the school and was told “They’re not super important here like they are at big schools.” So this made me really upset. Remember that at this point, I feel pretty confident that this girl is a Florida Georgia Line.

That said, I was very scared, but also hopeful going into the parties for sisterhood night. Here’s what happened:

Kenny Chesney- The first question I was asked was “How has your day been going?” After I responded, the girl I was talking to gave me a 3 minute long rehearsed speech on sisterhood that had nothing to do with how my day was going. I was very confused. It was evident that these girls loved each other, but they didn’t seem very interested in me. I wasn’t asked any questions about myself so I had to ask the girls questions about the sororities and themselves. I was very, very uncomfortable. At one point, the girl I was speaking with walked away and talked with her sisters for about two minutes, leaving me completely alone and awkward. Another girl picked me up, but during our conversation point blank told me that she hated the north and the mentality of the people who lived there (after I told her I was from the north. Um, okay then?). I really hated this party and I really, really hoped that I wouldn’t get called back.
Kacey Musgraves- I knew almost every girl waiting in line to go to this house and many of them were trash talking it because they had “better” options. I tried not to listen to them because I had nothing against this house and it was my only alternative to the other. Thank goodness I was right. Again, I felt like I never took the time to truly appreciate this house. They held a ritual ceremony (weird since it was only round 3) which really touched my heart because it was about never being alone and depending on your sisters. Even though I was paired with another PNM, I felt like I truly connected with the girls I talked to. Again, I talked to my orientation leader who seemed to really like me during this conversation. The other girl I talked to had the same major that I did and seemed to really like me as well (she actually told me the she “loved me” in the middle of the conversation in front of another PNM and had to awkwardly backtrack and tell the other girl that she loved her too). They played a sisterhood video which was literally perfect. For once, I felt like I was home. This was where I was meant to be.

My rankings for this night were pretty obvious. I spent my night Facebook stalking the girls I had talked to and stumbled upon a long forgotten photo revealing my rho gamma’s house. My rho gamma was a Kenny Chesney.

I’m having so much fun sharing my story with all of you! Thanks for your patience as I post these stories! Get ready for round 4!

The Rho Chi was probably trying to make you feel better (ie. "It's not you. It's just the paperwork!") but she was pretty awkward about it.

(And my guess for obscure philanthropy is Pi Phi's Arrows in the Arctic. It's awesome, but I would have never heard of it, if I didn't know some Pi Phis.)

Literacy is our main philanthropy. Arrow in the Arctic is just kind of an offshoot. I haven't heard anyone mention it in years,

Arrow in the Arctic… leads me to

Key in Kiribati

Kite in Kyrgyzstan

Panda in Peru

Quill in Quebec

Anchor in Argentina

Dophin in Denmark

I think it's really cool though that Pi Phi has designated a Canadian philanthropy that ties into its main thrust. It's a good way to be less US-centric in planning for future growth.