Rushing Legacies
 

I just got a pm from a new member who would like to know how much attention y'all's chapters generally give to legacies--how much you rush them, whether you go after them strongly, etc. Does anyone have any input?

C'mon, new member! People will welcome you if you post!

My chapter paid special attention to legacies, if we knew about them before recruitment started bc we had spring rush. its more or less that everyone knows who they are, their name, who their legacy is and where they are from. We try to get to know them very well.

This year we have 2 legacies going through rush. While we keep close tabs on them, we don't rush them the same. Those with greek parents tend to have an idea of how rush and pledgeship is supposed to go. We usually sell them on our chapter, and confirm things they heard from their dad about being a Kappa Sig. We keep close tabs, but we also have the parents do a little at home rushing too.
Here, our legacies get bidded first, and eventually get initiated first.

It also boils down to where you feel most comfortable. I have seen many friends and PNM's pass-up chapters where they are legacies (sometimes even double legacies) because they didnt fit in with that chapter.

Carnation, it would help if we knew where this PNM was going to school. I can only speak for my small, north-midwestern Greek system. I've never seen a Kappa legacy go through, though each of the other chapters has had at least one during my tenure as an active. Each pledged a legacy (though we stole one-- my little). If a Kappa legacy were to come through, I'd have to do everything in my power to calm my sisters down. We'd have a hard time resisting the urge to treat her like a celebrity and try to impress her (can you tell we have some problems with Recruitment?) so that she'd pledge us. Chances are that if we didn't pledge her it wouldn't be because we cut her, but because she cut us. It'd be a huge embarassment.

Wow, I just re-read that and it sounds really depressing.

But anyway, to the legacy PNM in quesiton, feel free to post! We'd love to get to know you and hear your rush story. I wish you the best of luck and I'm sure you'll find the place that's right for you.

Generally it's good idea to pay special attention to legacies. Legacies typically are born with committment and excitment for the fraternal experience.

Also their parents are more likely to donate...

We have had a few legacies go through and we have always tried to treat them the same as the rest of the PNM's b/c otherwise they tend to feel weird when they see that they are not treated the same. We do make an extra effort to impress them, and we keep close tabs on them so that they don't accidently slip by unnoticed. But we are careful with what we say b/c there is nothing worse than spending a whole rush party talking about the sister/mother/grandmother who made her a legacy and not get to know her at all for who she is.

We are obligated to invite them back for a second round (plus we can only drop them if their is a legitamate good reason) but you always want to make sure that it is right for both the chapter and the PMN. Our advisors remind US to keep an open mind on the whole situation b/c they might feel comfortable somewhere else and they should have a right to choose where they want to be regardless of if they are legacies or not. If they do pref us however they are almost 99% sure to end up getting a bid b/c we have to put them at the top of the bid list. And not that it can't happen but it is unlikely that they would be #1 on two houses bid lists. If it does I am sure her top choice would win.

Sorry if this is a little long but I hope it helps.

p.s. I a legacy does drop out of rush and we do love her and we have space she will be the first one to be offered a snap bid. This happened last year and she accepted!!!

My alma mater was a small school, and even though being Greek was a big deal, our house totals were only 50. Quota was usually around 14. We had a legacy in my pledge class, and she was treated like royalty because her sister was a VP and very active sister. We had a legacy come through following that who also had a very active sister, but the girl wasn't exactly a good fit for us. Okay - she was, and we bid her, but she was VERY cocky all during the parties. She would start telling the other PNM's about all the "AXO" stuff (like - that's their badge, its designed after the first instrument played by the gods) -- that type stuff. We discussed it, but we really knew that we would bid her. Being such a small system, we couldn't really turn her down.

I do know some schools with HUGE systems that cuts legacies because they say if they didn't, the whole pledge class would be legacies. I know that for me, if any of my 4 nieces go to a school and want to be an AXO and don't get it, I would be MOST disappointed. Yeah, you can say "well what if she doesn't fit" but still - I can't imagine that conversation. Of course the oldest is 5 and the youngest 4 months, so I guess I have time... :D

My take on retention is that the parent, grandparent, whatever REALLY REALLY needs to do their part -- I liked whomever said "home rushing" -- not so much a "if you don't go my chapter I'll be mad" thing, but a "I love my sisters/brothers so much that I can't imagine not having them" thing. My life is surrounded by AXO - my best friends are AXO's, my involvement with both alum and collegiate chapters is high, etc. And that's something my nieces already see. They come to visit and they know my friends. They love to listen to us sing and play with our badges. So although they are too young to know or care about a sorority, as they grow, they will continue to interact with the people in my life that are AXO's. So I think its always a big help if the person is able to talk about how wonderful being an "XYZ" is and helps the PNM to see why.

I think legacies generally get closer attention. Some legacies have grown up hearing stories about Greek Life, which tends to make them more anxious to be involved. On my campus, chapters love to snag legacies...theirs and other chapters as well.

We've had several legacies from all three organizations go through at some point or another over the past few years. Our approach is to let the sisters know of ALL the legacies, whether they are G Phi or not...and even if the organization they are a legacy to doesn't exist on our campus. But beyond that, there is no specification while rushing them. We treat them as we would treat anyone coming through because we don't want anyone to feel as though they are more or less important than anyone else.

As far as "home rush" is concerned, one of my littles is a legacy. Her grandmother had told her all about her experience as a G Phi, but also that it was her decision where she went and that she shouldn't feel obligated to pledge G Phi if it wasn't where she felt comfortable (but we got her any way!!).

One of my pledge sisters is also a G Phi legacy and her experience from a different organization on campus made her drop them. She had mentioned at the first round that her sister had been in a sorority and had gone to our school. The sister at that organization that was rushing her at the time asked which sorority. My sister didn't want to specify because she wanted to go through recruitment with an open mind. But when she did say G Phi, the sister rushing her basically stopped trying. So don't snub a potential just because she's a legacy of a different organization... You never know, she could prove to be a very good sister in your own organization.

Hello! My college has a small number of groups on campus, and each chapter may see only 3-5 legacies go through Recruitment. My chapter has not really treated legancies any differently than other pnm's, except to ask how they are a legacy. We have also not had much success in retaining our legacies. How do you discuss the "legacy" question...do you wait for the pnm to bring it up, or do you go ahead and talk to her about whatever group she is legacy for? I'd love to see more legacies joining our chapter, but am just not sure how to approach it! Help!

IMO legacies are very important!
 

At Texas A&M we gave all of our legacies very special consideration and attention. The top rushers were always paired with them. It was very important to us to pledge all the legacies that went through-though this did not happen we were able to pledge many of them. The mother's of two of the legacies in my chapter had been roommates in college and we had a display with their memorabilia as well as their daughters (who ended up being big sis/little sis pairs)-it was very neat!. I think it is important to show our legacies what a special bond they already have with our chapters and I think this makes a difference for some as to whether they pledge us or a different sorority.

Top priority- a legacy always gets invited back after the first party- and then very special attention.

It is only right and in full respect to the alum ... as an alum now- I would want some extra special attention to my daughter - I think the alums are the ones who stress it to the active members... "hey- make sure you make this girl feel welcome!"

I think it is fair to say though- being a legacy is not an automatic bid- you can't just sit through each party... be totally unsocialable ... and think you are going to get a bid.

I just don't know what to think. In areas where a few sororities are strong, "legacy" doesn't seem to carry the same weight that we were led to believe as actives. A comment was made last year in response to a post where I said "legacies were getting cut left and right". The response was-"Maybe there were more legacies than quota." She was absolutely RIGHT! They had 78 legacies going through and quota was 70. So, SOMEBODY had to get cut.

We have an old keepsake box, and in it are little items like a Sigma Chi car decal, little sister pins etc... We let the kids look through it when they were young and we too spoke of them being legacies. After last year, I don't say ANYTHING like, "Well son, you're a legacy to Sigma Chi." I would HATE for him to walk in and believe that he had special ties when it isn't clear to me that the chapter he will be meeting puts any weight on it. Of course his Dad would love for that to be true, but I put a damper on the conversation.He also has an g-uncle in the alum, higher echelon of Sigma Nu. I haven't discussed it to any length because I found out POST GC, and I don't know how Sigma Nu looks at that. Both chapters, Sigma Chi and Sigma Nu are great at LSU. However, I just hope we didn't put anything in his brain too deep prior to what I have read on these boards.
I think parents need to be aware of this so they don't build up their children's "expectation" only to get hurt. There is so much information for the ladies going through recuitment, but fraternity info is hard to come by. It seems to be very different from campus to campus.
:(

My pledge class had 2 legacies. After that I don't think we bid a legacy my entire 4 years. There always seemed to be a problem :(

My sister didn't even get the "special consideration" outlined in our bylaws which left me wondering exactly why we bother sometimes, but c'est la vie that was only one chapter of many. She got a bid from her other legacy org, but decided greek life wasn't for her anyway.

My sister didn't even get the "special consideration" outlined in our bylaws which left me wondering exactly why we bother sometimes, but c'est la vie that was only one chapter of many. She got a bid from her other legacy org, but decided greek life wasn't for her anyway.

AOPIIBrandy---Was this YOUR sister by family or "A" sister as in this happened to someone you know?

If it was your family sister, were you at the same school? Were you active at the time?

If you answer YES to the above, then all I can say is--------I'm SHOCKED! Tell me I'm not understanding your post------PLEASE!

When I was @ UF, all legacies were invited back. Most of the Southern KD chapters have this policy - not sure about the rest of the U.S. because things are different all over. But we always had at least 50-70 legs going through - yes, it became very very tearful - and stressful.

But I'd like to point out the awkwardness when we weren't warned of a legacy coming through. The rushee says, "I'm a legacy" or "My grandmother was a KD." Of course, we'd have to check on this, because it's hard to imagine that the girl didn't have one legacy recommendation before rush.

JAM,

My REAL sister.

We were not at the same school and I was an alum, but I had only been an alum for 2 years.

My sister decided very late that she was going to rush (junior transfer from a community college), so I e-mailed my rec to the Chapter Advisor and the President (CA told me to send it to her also). I then called the chapter house to make sure they got it, they said they would read it. I never received a "read response" from my e-mail (tells you when e-mail was read) so I called the house again, and was again told they would read it.

My sister was dropped 1st round, so I called IHQ and was put in touch with the network specialist. The response....

"We got her confused with someone else (there was actually a girl with her first name and my married last name - but the rec was correct), but now that we know who she is everyone loved her but, she's a junior - we cut all juniors and above b/c we don't want to be "top heavy" and graduate out (hard to do with over 150 I would think), If we bid all legacies that would be the whole pledge class..., we could invite her back, but we wouldn't want to get her hopes up only to be cut again." :rolleyes:

Oh Gee, that's really a disappointing situation. I am so sorry to hear that. You seemed to indicate it was OK with her (beng bid by her other legacy and deciding Greek life wasn't for her) I hope so. It would have left a bad taste in my mouth to say the least, but that's me and I tend to get emotional.

t could have been the irresponsibility of one person, but it reflects on the chapter.There aren't too may excuses for the responses you received regarding her letter of ref. however...:(

I'm just a little bitter :rolleyes: She was VERY disappointed that she got cut first round, we had discussed what could and should happen as far as legacies. She knew she may get cut in later rounds. I think I was more upset than her b/c I didn't and don't think they handled it correctly.

She kept going through rush because she hadn't been cut by her favorite yet, she preffed her favorite and her other legacy (which she didn't like). I tried to tell her to suicide if she would only be happy in the favorite, but her Rho Chi told her she had less of a chance for a bid....She didn't listen to me or Mom so she got her bid wasn't happy and declined.

I have since been told that this chapter basically operates on its own rules. I don't have any more legacies (at this point) so I'll just have a bad taste in my mouth for that chapter and move on. As for my sister, there is always Alumnae initiation if she chooses :)

As for my school, I know most sororities have a percentage of their NM class reserved for legacies but still end up cutting heavily. I guess it just depends where you go to school...

I'm sure this happens a lot! At my school, the rush forms would have if the PNM was a legacy...regardless of what organization it was to. We had a few legacies, and yes we did 'court' them. However, we would work just as hard to 'steal' legacies of other groups! Not to be mean, but just some fun competition! It went this way all around too! We only had six NPC's and we were all pretty tight...all in good fun!

aj

unfortunately stuff like that does happen though. i was cut by the sorority i was a legacy for through my older sister. We went to the same school, but not at the same time. she graduated my junior year of high school. she was president of the chapter when she was there. however... i still was cut, and pretty early on and for a not so nice reason.

I'm one of those, too. Although it ended up being for the better, I was still a little surprised since I had grown up being told that legacies were likely to get bids to that sorority. In my case, I really don't think it was because there were so many legacies going through that they had to cut...I was naive and I had several things working against me, like that my older sisters were alumnae of a different chapter at a school that everyone sort of looks down on, and the fact that I was a sophomore and this chapter tends to take freshmen (usually, but not always, I'm sure). The rush registration form had said NOT to get recs because chapters would secure them if they were needed, but after being active for 3 years I now know that that is a bunch of baloney--recs are always good! I bet those gals wondered why, since I was a legacy, I had no recs at all! Even though I knew from the minute I stepped into the house that I didn't belong there, I kept them on my schedule during rush until they cut me because I didn't want to disappoint my older sisters. But I knew I was a goner when I saw which member I was paired up with the last round before Pref...she and one of my sisters absolutely despised each other, and sure enough, I got cut after that round! :p

I go to the same school as mu_agd went to, and I was cut by the sorority that I am a legacy to through my mom, both grandmothers, and my great-grandmother. There are 15 women in my family that are in this sorority. Don't get me wrong, I ended up exactly where I wanted to be, but my mom and grandmothers were REALLY upset. I don't think sororities at our school much value legacies...

so true....

We've had a few legacies come through rush, and it is always an exciting experience. All the actives are so excited you have to remind them not to overwhelm the girl.

Historically, ADPi appreciates letters of recommendation and legacy introduction forms. These are sent by alumnae directly to the chapter.

A rec/legacy intro form is no guarantee of a bid, but we like to give these women every courtesy we possibly can during recruitment, out of respect for the alumnae who has such faith and pride in her.

I don't think the girls at my school know what to do with legacies. It seems like it's assumed that they'll go with the house they're a legacy to, even if it's clear that they'd fit in better elsewhere. As far as I can tell, this often leads to bad bid-matching -- this year we had a couple of girls who were legacies from multiple orgs, but didn't go ANYWHERE!

I think many legacies who go through recruitment expect and deserve special treatment. I was/am a legacy to ADPi, and I had ADPi drilled into my head my entire life. I had loyalty to ADPi before I even went through recruitment. Many of the other legacies at my chapter, and even those in other orgs feel the same way.

Legacies are impt here. Well at least for ADPi on our campus. Id say though for all chapters here its big. We really look at the legacies and do put them ahead of the others cause they are recommended. I am a legacy to ADPi from several members of my family including my grandmother. When I was in ADPi we also had several others who were legacies. It really takes a lot for us to turn one away. I was there once when we did, but she really wasnt right and just wasnt someone who meshed well with us. We had to obtain special rights to cut her though from Nationals so it is a big deal here. We really ask our Pi's to be on the lookout for patentials and send in forms if they encounter any or have any family whos coming to college.

I do have several friends who live in Georgia who were ADPi legacies and got cut. One year I heard there were 50 legacies or more going through and a lot got cut. A lot of moms and families were very mad. I guess that happens when you take a large amount for each recruitment.

We take about 20-25 in the fall and in the spring maybe about 10 or less. I wish house total was much higher for our campus. We only can have 65 in each sorority. I know us and another sorority would always be at 65 every year, but we still have 1 or 2 sororities who struggle during recruitment and never take quota. If they got better Im sure wed get to take more women or get a new chapter on campus, but we have tried everything to get their numbers up. They have too. They have gotten better, but they are still so far away from 65 members.

I would assume that y'all would have a TON of legacies come through. We had 2 legacies in our chapter, both double legacies, and it was fun going to the one girl's house because it was like partying with one of your sisters, even though it was the girl's mom.

I don't know whether or not this has been mentioned or not, but I know that legacies are looked on highly because they aren't as likely to drop, either. And, taken a step further, are usually highly active.

True, however, my ex-grand little sister was a legacy, and she de-pledged 4 days before initiation. It was very sad. :( But she never joined another sorority either. I don't really know what was going on in her head. I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just trying to point it that it does happen, although it's rare.

Yeah, I'm not trying to say that it doesn't happen, but at least there's a little more pressure there.... My little's roommate was a double legacy of another chapter and wanted us, but went that chapter b/c her mom would only pay for her to be in that other org. I always thought that was so horrible, and if I had an extra $5000 lying around, would've offered to pay.

Legacies are paid attention to but they are not guaranteed a Bid into the sorority. One of my line sisters was a legacy (her old sister is a Zeta) and she had to work just as hard as us. It may have been harder on her because they hold her to the standard because she really knows what is expected. Also, the sisters knew her and it wasnt easy for her to hide out from them when they were getting to know us because they knew her already.

I can't believe her mom would do that - she should realize her each chapter is different and her daughter is a different person than she is. While I hope my future daughters will be Alpha Xis, I will support any choice they make.

I know my chapter payed a lot of attention to girls that were a legacy to us or to another chapter on campus. If they were a girl we were interested in we would make sure they talked to the sisters we knew would do there best to steer them our way. As far as the number of legs - we didn't really see too too many that were legs to Alpha Xi but it helped to know which other chapters on campus we were possibly competeing against for another girl. Legs were usually automatically invited back to the second round and we did let the family member know if we released their daughter, granddaughter, or sister. Legs that were invited to pref were automatically put at the top of our first bid list. Because we didn't have as many legs comming through, we also payed special attention to girls that we recieved recs for b/c if an alumna takes the time to send in a rec for them they must be a great girl! :)

Also, I know my mom wasn't too supportive of me rushing and didn't pay for any of my expenses related to sorority but I think she's now realizing what I gained and learned through Alpha Xi. I would love my daughters to be my sister too but I want them to be a part of the chapter that is the best for them.

My mom thought this way when I went through recruitment. My mom never pressured me into joining her org. She wanted me to go to the house I best fit with. For a while, LOTS of people thought I was going to go the Legacy route.

For me.. I have the hardest time fathoming that parents get this way. (The parent only willing to pay for a specific org.) Maybe its because Greek Life isn't the same in New England as it is in the South. *shrug*

As for our chapter, when we find out we have a legacy (which isn't all too often) we try to make an extra effort to make her feel welcome and to get to know her. But also, we do explain that just because she is a legacy doesn't guarentee her a bid.