Bids distribution
 

How are formal recruitment bids distributed on your campus? For example, do all PNMs open theirs at once, or do they come to the Panhellenic office to accept one at a time?

Girls going through Recruitment at my school usually come in one at a time. The Office of Student Life is open from 8-5 so they may pick up their bids during that time.

When I was a rho chi, each PNM met with her rho chi individually. She was either told that she did not match, or she was told "Congratulations, you've received a bid from _____" and handed her bid card. If she accepted or deferred her bid, she was then sent to her new sorority's bid day party. (You could defer for 3 days or so, if you wanted to think about it, talk to your parents, etc. before signing.)

At Virginia Tech...
 

At Virginia Tech the Rho Chis take the bid cards to the PNM at her dorm room or apartment. Inside the bag given to the PNM is the official bid card from the sorority, candy and other good stuff, and the number to the PHC office where the girl calls to accept/deny her bid. Also in the bag is the invitation from the sorority to the bid day celebration that is held later that night. I think they do it this way so that they Rho Chis can be one-on-one with the PNMs in case they are upset/disappointed with their bids, etc. Also, I think it stinks that some schools make girls open their bid cards in front of everyone or run to their sororities in front of everyone-- that must me horrible for the girls that are disappointed with their bids!!

Re: At Virginia Tech...
 

Being an ASA I have heard of "Walk" at Longwood but I never quite understood how this running to your new sorority in public thing works. Do you get the bid beforehand so you know where to go or does the sorority just say "hey you, over here"? ;)

My school (and this was four years ago, so maybe it changed) would have all the girls show up at a certain time, like say 11 am. Girls who hadn't gotten bids had been called previously by Greek life, but it was VERY unusual for a girl to go through pref parties, fill out a card and not get a bid.

The Greek life folks would have a table with the bids organized alphabetically, and all the sororities would be arranged around the room (we only had five). Generally they'd have bid day shirts and goody bags. So a girl would get her bid and then go over to the chapter.

That was OK. What I hated, hated, HATED was Panhellenic pledging. All the chapters would meet about a week later, the Rho Chis would be unmasked, and each chapter's new members would stand up in front of everyone while their chapter sang to them. It was always like, "Ooh, they didn't get very many ...." "Oh, they got all the pretty girls," ... "Gee, what's with all the sluts in that class?"

at UF
 

We do the run to your new house thing. I really like it, though I don't know it being done any other way so I guess I'm partial. Anyway, the Rho Chi's call the girls that didn't get bids earlier in the day. Then around 5 everyone gathers (Rho Chi's, Rushees, and uninvited fraternity men) at a field right next to the sorority area. The Rho Chi's reveal and then everyone gets to open their bid cards. It's so great because when we're standing on our lawn waiting for the new members to run to the lawn we can hear everyone screaming and then they all start running over. It's so great because you get to see all the new members running to all the other lawns on the row and it's just such an exciting time! I agree though, some girls do not get excited if they didn't get their first choice, so the running isn't as great for them. The Rho Chi's stay behind at the field to console them. Anyway, just talking about it is so exciting...I can't wait!

Tara

I have a Phi Mu castle...

when i was there we did it three ways....they were never happy with any of them!

When i went through, all the pnm's that recieved bids (the ones that didn't were met with by their rho chi) went and in the confrence room in our student center. we had to listen to a few speeches from panhellenic and then the rho chis tortured us by making us sit on our bid cards while they went over a few things and reveled themselves. and then it was a 1-2-3 thing and everyone got to open their bid cards up. and then they let us all go outside and we were to go over to our new sorority and we got bid day shirts, gifts and went and got our pictures taken.

my sophmore year, they did the same thing, but they got the pnm's in groups before hand and let them go out by chapter.

my junior year we had what we refered to as "cattle call". All the sororities went to the gym and were allowed to bring one banner, and that was it! All the pnm's were given panhellenic t-shirts with their new letters on the front (not stiched letters) and a panhellenic design on the back. They were all lead onto the stage and each girls' name was called and they reveled their t-shirt and their affiliation. and then they went over to their sorority. it was a bad idea, bc if some girls were upset, you could totally tell and it totally singled them out!

my senior year, i was a rho chi, it was similar to my sophmore year, just in a different location, and the presidents of each sorority were also there. The unveiled rho chis and the president met with the new members, gave them shirts, and then led them down to the houses.

On our bid day, all of the sororities go to the gym and wait for the PNMs to arrive. The PNMs go to a table with all of the bid cards to get theirs. Since all of the women who didn't get a bid are already notified, anyone at bid day will have a bid. If you do not want the bid, which happened once in four years to a sorority while I was in school, the woman said "no thanks" and left. Otherwise, the girls go to the table, get their card and rip it open, and after they see who they got, the sisters run up to her and take her back to their group. It's hard b/c sometimes you're having 2 and 3 girls at a time ripping open their cards, but it's really fun for the PNMs. After that, it's fun time!

Our Bid Night is usually on a Monday evening..... The sororities all gather outside the student union with our standards (big wooden letters on poles- not sure if everyone does these or not). We're all screaming and cheering and looking like a bunch of lunatics :O)
The PNMs gather inside in the ballroom (those who didn't get a bid are called beforehand). The Rho Chis reveal their affiliations and hand out the bids to the girls. They then gather then in groups by each house and the Rho Chi from each house leads them outside. It's not a suprise who we got (we find out about an hour beforehand who we got- we dispatch sisters to go do door decorations in the dorms of our new members), but it's crazy. We then go up to our suite for a whole bunch of junk food, and we all introduce ourselves and hang out a little. The new member educator meets with them briefly to go over schedules etc. and we give them all their presents :O)

Girls who do not receive a bid are called the night before bid day.
The girls who did receive bids are placed in different classes with their PX group. The PX has all the bids and one-by-one, she calls each girl to the front of the room to read their bid card. It's interesting cause you got to see what girls in your PX group ended up with the houses they wanted.
Then, you are released from the classroom and you run down Greek Park to your knew home.

At my school, bid day is on a Sunday. All the PNMs have to wait in their room until 1pm (because your Rho Chi will call you before 1 if you didn't get a bid). If you didn't get a call, then you go to the University Center building at like 2pm, wait outside either the Greek Life room or the Student Orgs room, wherever your Rho Chi tells you to meet. Then you line up in your Rho Chi groups and wait for your Rho Chi to come get you. They bring you in the room one by one to a cubicle they have and give you your bid in an envelope, then you open it and get excited or whatever, and you sign a paper if you accept the bid.
You get to do whatever you want until 3:30 - when you go to Rho Chi revealing ceremony. After that's all done, its about 4pm, and you go walk to the spot on campus where your sorority is waiting for you (it tells you on your bid card). So you meet up with your sorority, change into your bid shirts, and take the group pictures. Then we do this thing where everyone piles into cars that are all decorated for your sorority and you drive up and down the main street on campus (my campus is REALLY small, so its basically a really big street with buildings on either side), honking and yelling out the windows and going nuts... you get to drive by all the other sororities who are still out there taking pictures and mingling. Then we all go do bid night activities until midnight that night... usually just sisterhood/bonding stuff - no boys or alcohol allowed on bid night... its really fun! Kind of hard to get up for classes the next day, but it's worth it!
I think its good that the girls dont have to meet up with the sorority right afer the bid, that way the ones who werent excited originally have time to get over it and talk to friends/relatives that get them pumped up, so they are excited when they meet up later
Hasta!
chantillylace

On my campus, the PNMs arrive in our union ballroom at 5pm and meet in their Rho Chi (or whatever name they're using) groups. Then Panhel does a little thank you ceremony for the Rho Chis. Next, the bids are distributed and all the girls open them at once. Afterwards, there is a New Member presentation at the lakehouse, where all the sorority members are waiting with flowers, ballons, shirts, etc.

I like the way we do it because you get to see where all the girls go, even if it's not to your sorority.

SFSU
 

On my bid day, all of the PNMs met in a meeting room on campus. If a girl didn't recieve a bid from any house, they were called the night before. We were all handed our bids and told to wait until everyone got theirs so we could all open them at once. It was pure chaos, but it was exciting! There were two girls from each sorority waiting outside the room, and once you found out which house you got into, you ran to your new sisters. Then, we were all led out to the main lawn, where each sorority had a table with goodies for us. They were chanting and singing. It was so much fun!

At my school, the rho chis meet with each girl around noon (they go to their dorms or apartments). They either hand you a bid, or they tell you alone and privately that you didn't get one. The year I went through there were four girls in my dorm on my floor that went through. Me, my roommate, our neighbor and her roommate. I got my bid first, from AGD, I ran upstairs elated! Then I went to the shower and when I had come out my neighbor had gotten one from Sigma Kappa. My roommate had gotten hers (also from AGD) and then my neighbors roommate got to meet with her rho chi to find out she hadn't been selected (she had suicided AOPI) she was crying so it was hard for us to be happy while she was so upset. Needless to say a few days later she was back to her oldself and she even came to COB events at AGD , Sigma Kapp anad later AOpi but never peldged.

Re: at UF
 

Last year we all had to go the auditorium for the Rho Chi revealing and then we went to the open field to receive our bid cards.

That was the best run of my life! One of my most exhilarating moments.

As we were waiting for our bid cards we all stood in circles with our rush groups and nervously chatted. I saw "Pi Phis this way" a huge sign with an arrow pointing towards the Pi Phis hung from the garage that all the fraternity men were watching from. I couldn't bear to look at the sign for fear I wouldn't get Pi Phi.

The girl next to me, Lauren, asked me where I wanted to go and I said Pi Phi and she said she wanted it, too. When we opened our cards we hugged each other so hard we almost knocked each other down and then ran so fast to the group. We were lost in a crowd of smiling faces, huge hugs, wine and blue balloons, picture-taking and our new members gifts. It was outta control. Last year there were some guys streaking all over the field.

Then we got on the bus to go to the house and it was eerily quiet b/c I think we were all just stunned. Back at the house we got normal and excited again.

ps: you know where to go b/c while you're waiting you can look around the field and all the sororities are there. You make a mental note of the ones you preffed at and where they are. They all have balloons and are cheering.

I forgot that a couple of years ago we tried something new. All of the sororities went out to dinner together and before we had dinner all of the girls were called up one by one and one of the Rho Chi's announced what sorority each girl was joining. The only thing that we were told was a number so we would have the correct number of gifts to bring to the dinner. I especially felt bad for the sorority who hardly got any girls. None of the sororities liked this at all. After we tried this it went back to the old way.

We don't like waiting until 5 or 6 in the evening when we could have found out at 8am (when most of the girls show up to pick up their bids)

Auburn
 

Let me give you a little back ground ifnormation before I tell you how Panhellenic distributes bids. All 15 sororities live in one area of campus - The Hills. It has a 12 dorm buildings and one to two sororites live in a dorm. In the center of the Hil is a building called Terrill Hall and it's our main dinning facilluty on this end of campus.

On Bid Day, the pnm, Panhellenic officers, sororites (and everybodies mom!) gather around the front steps of Terrell when bids are supposed to be handed out. The pnm line up in their groups in front of their rho chi. Rho chi's have already called or gotten in touch with girls who didn't recieve a bid. The sororities are doing cheers and have letters, banners, ballons, and gift bags for the newest members. At the appointed time, the rho chi's hand out the bids to each girl and everybody run to their new sorority. Then there are pictures, picnics, and meeting/ getting to know new members and parents.

It is organized chaos! There are almost 900 pnm and just as many parents and sisters. But its a fun day.

Oh PinkRose, that sounds so much better than the old way of bid distribution at Auburn! They used to give them out in the Social Center down by the Quad Dining Hall. Nobody was down there except the PNMs and Rho Chis.

You got your bid, then ran to your sorority's dorm. Yes, you had a major run if your sorority was on the Hill but that's where all the guys were...if you were in a Quad sorority, they didn't consider you worth watching run to your house, it seemed. See, the Big Six plus 2 others were housed up there and the other 6 were in the Quad.

Sororities have become much more equal since they moved everyone to the Hill!

Panhellenic is also adding a new facet to bid distribution this year. This is what I've heard is going to happen:
All the pnm are going to gather in the act with the Panhellenic E-board and rho chi's where they will have a ceremony welcoming the new girls into Panhellenic life and give them some sort of Panhellenic pins. I wish I could be there to see it!

Carnation - I knew that some of the sororities used to live in the Quad. I've seen our scrapbook from when we were founded at AU - they are hilarious!! I couldn't imaging having to go b/w the Quad and the Hill in the hot hot August sun. Talk about glistening! I love having everyone in one place - it makes going to Panhellenic council much easier - it's a two second walk max and you can visit friends w/o being too scared of bad things happening.

Fuzzie Alum - Georgia Southern was a lot like what you described.

The women who did not get bids were notified in the morning before they were to go to the Union to receive their bids (Must be at home between such and such hours...). Panhellinic was inside at a table with the bid cards in alphabetical order. All of the sororities were outside rimming the rotunda. When you received your bid you ran to your new chapter. I guess if you were disappointed you could just leave by another exit, and no one would know except the chapter when you didn't show up (we had a list).... After all the new members were with the chapters the Rho Chis would get on the stage in the middle of the rotunda, reveal themselves, and rejoin their chapter. Then we would all go and have pictures, if you didn't have a house you'd pick a spot around the union otherwise it was at the house.

It was really a lot of fun. I like the running out part the best.

Carnation - Do you know if they still do it this way?

I didn't really like the way our panhel did formal bid distribution but here goes:
All the pnms meet in one area with their rho chi and group and stand in a giant circle (yes, 600+ women in a giant circle, scary!) The girls who didn't get a bid are called in the morning but it's obvious to the group when she isn't there that Patsy Pledge didn't get a bid :( Each PNM has an envelope with her name on it that she stands on. Then Panhel exec does a silly skit and then a countdown.... Then it's mad chaos as each girl rips open the envelope and sees the house she has now signed her name to. There are screams of excitement and happiness mixed in with tears and anger.
The sororities are waiting across the bridge on the lawn outside the sorority housing with a dj, photographers, fraternity guys, etc. Each sorority has banners, giant letters, and gifts for their new members. Everyone is cheering and chanting and singing. Then the new members make a mad rush over the bridge - in this mad rush girls get pushed, trampled, etc. The new members run to their new sorority to put on the matching t-shirt and accept their gifts and hugs.
Then some sororities look around to check out how many new members every other house got while we wait to get our group pictures taken. Some sororites intimidate girls who they wanted but the PNM chose a different house. Others comment about the looks of another house's new members. It's awful. :(
Then the rho chis are revealed and each sorority goes their separate ways to have their own bid day celebration.

Bid Day!
 

After our Debutante Ball for the PNM's we slip the bid cards in their mailboxes (every student in the school has a private mailbox). They are told they can't check it until 1:00 pm but we usually have a sister sitting around and she see the girls running up at 10 in the morning to check. Its so cool cuz when they show up the Pref they are all so excited!

~Rebecca

The way our Panhel did bid distribution was we were called in the morning if we were cut and we shouldn't show up for bid day activities. When we met with our Rho Chis in our rush group rooms we were handed an envelope with our name on it and at a certain time we were told to all open them at once. Then we all ran out of our rooms over to the Reily Room in our student union where our Rho Chis revealed which house they were a part of. From there we ran out of the Reily Room and to our new homes where our new sisters were waiting to greet us with balloons, gift bags, and hugs. It's a really crazy time but it's a lot of fun.

Jess

:eek: :eek: :eek:

They WHAT the girls they wanted? How?:eek:

Yep - if ABC sorority liked Suzy Q but Suzy Q chose XYZ sorority - the ABCs would throw her dirty looks or walk by her (mind you it's chaos out on the lawn) say things like, "you should have chose us" or "now your going to be a loser" or other worse things I wouldn't want to share here. I witnessed it many times over the years, not from my own sorority, but there were a couple houses in particular who treated rush like a war. These were big houses too who didn't need to act that way.
I always wished we could have done bid distribution differently to prevent stuff like that from happening on a day that is supposed to be happy and special.

what do they say......
 

I never been through rush but I am curious what do the Rho Chis possibly say to a girl who did not recieve a bid and who is unconsolable? what do you say to a girl who has her heart torn out? i am just curious????????

This sounds like a bad lifetime sorority movie!! No wonder some people think sorority life is like a movie. That's sorta sad! :eek:

Yes it was sad. There was lots of dirty rushing and extream competition for girls going on and it was unnecessary - defintily like a sorority movie nightmare! I think a lot of it turned off quality women to greek life.
There was always a high attrition rate from rush especially before and after pref night. I think it was a big weakness in our greek community. I don't know if things have changed at my school since I graduated but I do know they are getting a new greek life advisor - so hopefully things will get better.
On a more positive note - I love some of the other ways of bid distribution I have read about here! And if any PNMs are reading don't be scared b/c my story - it's one school out of many and it was two+ years ago :)

At CofC, the rho chi's call each PNM in their group in the morning to tell them whether or not they received a bid. At noon, all the PNM's who got bids meet at the auditorium. The rho chi's give their groups their bid cards and t-shirts. Then we all run together towards Sorority Row, where all the sisters are standing in the middle of the street, cheering and singing. I loved it! Of course, I was ecstatic about where I received my bid to, so it was one of the best runs of my life!

Re: what do they say......
 

Hi! I've never posted on here but I've been reading for a while.
I went through Rush last year (Fall 01) and one of the girls on my floor was cut after the first round. The Rho Chi's knocked on her door in the morning. She knew when they knocked that either she or her roomate had been cut. She opened the door and they were like "We need to talk to you" So she went with them and they told her that she was cut and that they were so sorry.

Re: Re: what do they say......
 

Welcome to the boards PiPhi Julie! :D

I know when a girl on my floor was cross cut her Rho Chi called her and told her that she had been cross-cut and then they apologized and directed her to the counseling center. They also told her they would turn her name in for COB. She was really upset and I know it had to hurt during bid day because we lived in the dorm right across the street from where all the sororities are! Cutiepatootie, don't worry about not recieving a bid! Just be yourself during rush and it will work out the way it's supposed to.

Jess

what does cross-cut mean? I have never heard that!

Almost everyone on my hall recieved bids, some did not take them bc it wasn't the house they wanted, but I can only think of three girls out of about 40 on my hall that were totally eliminated during rush.

the way it was explained to me was she put XYZ first and ABC second on her pref card. ABC had her pretty high up on their bid list and XYZ had her pretty far down on their bid list. Both of the chapters hit quota before her name came up. It's pretty rare when it happens and someone who didn't go to my school told me it shouldn't happen, but it does.

If anyone else can explain it better please go ahead and post! :)

Jess

Re: what do they say......
 

After they told her she was cut that was about it. My dorm was across from some of the sorority houses also. I know it was hard for her because her roomate and most of her friends joined sororities. We rarely have COB at my school. She didn't return for the second semester. I felt so bad for her. She coped pretty well. She went with her friends on Bid Day when they received their bids and she was happy for them when they got their first choices but when I went back that night to get something she was in the hall crying on the phone. I wish good people didn't get cut. :(

PiPhi Julie, where do you go to school? It sounds like something that happened at my school....

I go to Ole Miss.

I had gotten cross cut and while it was upsetting I immediately found a new home with AXO-it all turned out well and I was very very very happy :) :)

I kinda like how we do it at Clarion. We have pref on Saturday morning, and all afternoon we do bid matching. For 15 minutes that afternoon/evening, the pnm's are told to stay by their phones, they will be called if they didn't match...if they didn't receive a phone call, the go to the student union at like 7 pm. Then we have all the girls wait in one room and the sororities wait in another room. One by one, we call all the girls into a thrid room, and we say, "XYZ has invited you to join their sorority...." They then sign their bid and are taken into the room with all the sororities and are presented: "This is jess_pom, the newest sister of Phi Sigma Sigma..." and everyone claps and your sorority cheers and hugs you and stuff.

After all the pnm's get their bids, the RC's are revealed. And then everyone goes back to their house and heads out for the night... I had a lot of fun on my bid day, and I thought it was really special. It's not as devastating, I guess, as being that person who got a bid from a sorority they didn't really want. You don't have to be presented, I don't think.

As for the question about pnm's not getting bids and being told that, I'm worried about that, too. I'm a RC for the fall, and I don't really know what I would say, plus I would feel sooo bad about it...:(

I kind of like the way we do it at my school, because it gives girls time to calm down a little bit after recieving bid cards. We hold rush in the student union, because we don't have houses. All the sororities are in their rooms, and the rho chi groups are in their own rooms. The rho chis go into the hallway and call girls out one at a time. Then they give them envelopes with their bid cards in them. Then they either come running back in to tell everyone, or they can go to the bathroom if they're upset. But eventually everyone meets back in the room, and the rho chis will take all the new members of one sorority and run them through the building to the sororities room. It was a lot of fun, especially since I was so excited to get my KD bid card!