What is "dirty rushing"?
 

I've heard a lot about different groups "dirty rushing". What does that mean? The one thing I know about is being promised a bid. Why would a group do that with no intention of offering that person a bid in the first place? Is it just mind games? What are some other ways to "rush dirty"? Just wondering.
Thanks
Heidi

Ahh, dirty rushing.... http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/mad.gif One of my best buds lost out on being in a sorority cause of dirty rushing, so the whole subject really @#$%s me off.

Promising someone a bid is the most common type of dirty rushing. Other things are:
-spreading rumours about other sororities
-cornering a rushee and pressuring her to join
-socializing with rushees outside of rush (if you didn't know them previous to rush)
-buying things for rushees

Why would a group do this? The only reason I can think of is to try to cut their losses. They may not be sure if they want her, but they don't want her to go elsewhere in case they need her to fill quota/total. 75% of the time they don't need her and she gets dumped on her head.

Also, I think sometimes newer members may not be totally informed and dirty rush without knowing it. In my friend's case, she was promised a bid by our RA (!) who had only been a sister for a semester. She might have really thought she could get my friend in, I don't know. But obviously, ignorance is NO excuse.

Wowza! I guess I'm lucky, because:
a)I wouldn't have known something bad was going on if it had &
b) none of that happened to me
I'm sorry for your friend. It's too bad that goes on
Thanks
Heidi

at my college we are forbidden to say anything to/in front of freshman girls bashing any of the sororities. i've actually had a couple of (pretty bold) rushees ask me to list the various reputations of the sororities on campus... we just basically aren't allowed to say much of anything. of course, the girls just hear it from the guys anyway.

it's kind of hard to explain what defines your sorority without comparing it to other groups, though... i mean, i'm sure each of the houses thinks its girls are genuine, fun, etc.

There are eight social fraternities here at Rose-Hulman. We encourage you to rush all of them. That's the only thing we can say in regards to any fraternities here during the long-ass 7 week rush. Sure dirty rushing goes on, in all houses I'm sure, but it's not that bad. For the most part, people don't get too uptight about it. The thing that sucks though is that if a guy is dirty rushed, and he wanted to get that house in trouble, he wouldn't be allowed to join a fraternity for a year. That's almost like blaming a rape victim for the crime, on a much smaller scale of course.

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Steve Corbin
Lambda Chi Alpha
Theta Kappa Chapter
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech.

Does having a lot of girls pick your sorority 1st on their prefs actually DO anything for the group, or is it just an ego boost for girls already in the house?
Thanks for the answers!
Heidi

i don't think we actually find out whether the rushees listed our house first or second... we just turn in our bid lists, and then 'grown ups' do the bid matching and give us a list of our pledge class. we do know, however, where a particular girl was on our bid list, so we know if we got our top choices or if we were scraping from the bottom of the barrel. i guess it hurts if most of the top of our list ends up somewhere else, because it means that they put another house first.

My biggest pet peeve:
"You know we're going to give you a bid"

UUURRRGGGHHHHH - I have heard so many rushees sit in parties and say that they aren't really interested in our group (or any other) since they know ABC is going to give them a bid. It really ticks me off because the girl gets dropped by us first thing - I mean come on --- with that attitude who needs her?! But also because she has closed the door on her options - she doesn't know if she'll be a better fit with another group because she's been led to believe that ABC is going to give her a bid. It is done to cut their losses - this way at least they'll have a couple of pages filled with names for bid matching!

One of our new girls said that we were dogged by other groups on campus (except Tri-Sig) during rush. They can't handle us getting quota 3 years straight. Guess they need to get over it too because we are still going strong!

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"Alpha Chi Omega - If you only had 2 wishes, what would your second one be?"

The way the bid lists work is as follows:

1. Quota is determined by taking the number of returning rushees (Preference Party, preferably) and dividing it by the number of houses on campus.

2. A chapter's first bid list will have all the names in alphabetical order. There is no ranking.

3. A chapter's second list (or second and third) will have the members ranked in order of preference based on whatever standard of selection that chapter uses.

4. Advisors and Greek Life office officials conduct the bid matching, either by hand or by computer.

5. The lists are kept on-hand for a few weeks in case of any disputes and most are destroyed, to the best of my knowledge.

I've posted some lenghty messages regarding the ins and outs of bid matching itself. They can be found using the search feature.

Barbara
Rush Forum Moderator

No - the point of promising bids is to try and ensure that the most girls will put XYZ as their first choice. No one knows the placement on bid lists - just the advisors. But what happens is that if 100 girls all put XYZ as 1st, then XYZ pretty much knows it can make quota. The problem with this is - Susie Q. puts XYZ as her first choice (and sometimes as the only choice) thinking she has a bid, and then XYZ doesn't pick her because she if further down on their bid list, and they've already got their 50 girls (or whatever is quota - I'm just making these numbers up). Its very confusing to explain - but Barbara always does a good job. Check out her other threads about bid list placement too.

Hi HeidiHo!
Here's the MAIN thing to remember when you are trying to assess whether someone else might be dirty rushing you:

No ONE sister has the right to speak on behalf of the entire sorority. Period! The slightest exception might be made for the president and rush captain - if they indicate that they like you it's usually a VERY good sign - but those are the two people in the chapter who would never be so careless as to commit a rush violation.

One girl can't promise you a bid, because she has no idea how her sisters will vote/decide. One girl can't tell you how everyone feels, because she doesn't know for sure.

Good luck!

[This message has been edited by Texas Alum (edited December 29, 2000).]

Dirty rush can make you really not want to be a part of the system. Now, to understand my experience you need a timeline. I was at A school for my freshman year and went through informal rush second semester. The Rho Chi's were a joke, they only showed up when we all had to, they were not available for questions and I saw mine twice, the first and last days. I loved 3 houses but knew that one would only be able to COB me in the fall due to "promised" bids. The next house (2) dirty rushed like there was no tomorrow. I was promised so much, told who wanted me as a little by pref. Needless to say, no bid.

I then took a semseter off before transferring to B school. In the spring I tried informal rush again. I loved 3 houses again (two of the same from A school). Once again, I was promised a bid and the numbers seemed to fit for me. Guess what, no bid. The intersesting thing is that the sorority that did this was the same on both campuses.
So in the fall, I went through formal rush as a sophmore with my roommate. We were dirty rushed from the beginning. They wanted us so bad that we almost had to avoid them on campus. I still liked two other houses but was told some weird things about them by XYZ. We both got pretty scared and I ended up doing something stupid: I suicided pref night. Yep, I was dumb. So, I became a member of XYZ because I was scared. Don't get me wrong, I love my house but if they hadn't pursued me in the way they did, who knows. I may have gone the two other pref parties.

Hey AXOAlum -- I'm glad to hear my girls weren't dogging your sorority during rush and I'm sorry it happens at all. But congrats on being such a strong chapter!

You all will love this... my campus is ridiculous. I know of many incidents of dirty rushing. Rho Chi's will "accidentally tell you what sorority they are in. THe girls in other chapters dog each other hard (trust me, I remember rush and what they said about each other). One group actually snuck in on another's bid session and got caught, but since we dont have a rule against it they didn't get in trouble. One group I remember even invited me to their house after rush was done for the night (I wasn't the only girl). Some groups have their rho chi's call them from a cell or on a cell and tell them what the girls think, which girls are really cool and should be rushed hardest, etc (my best friend since high school was a rho chi and busted one of them doing this so she was immediately dismissed and a HUGE fine incurred). These are just a few things!! Well thought you might want to know what can really happen!

There is only one True way to found out about the Group you want to be with for the rest of your lives. Rush them all and find out who you feel most comfortable with, and the same ideals.
While they may be number # 1 on campus, they may be one of the better known Greek Org. You must go with what you indivdually feel the best with, you have to live with them, play with them and be with them.

While I know it is not easy, your first choice may not be the right one! We are all different but we are all the same!

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Tom Earp LX Z#1
Pittsburg State U. (Kansas)

I think that it is kind of funny that girls will come to our event and talk about how they know that another sorority is going to give them a bid and they pretty much ignore us. At that point we pretty much drop them from our list. With a couple of girls off of our list we can work on the ones that we really want. Then on pref night they get all upset because they 1) didn't get a pref card from the sorority who they "knew" were going to give them a bid or 2) they are mad because they think that we screwed them by not giving them a pref card.

My advise to rushee's, DON'T talk about other sororities at rush events. Focus on the sorority that you are there to see.

our IFSC rules concerning dirty rush:
-any time more than 4 members of an org are together during rush, it's an unofficial event, and if there are ANY unaffiliated freshman, sophomore, or junior males around, no alcohol can be present and you can't speak for any other organizations
-100% dry rush, even if events are held at clubs no members (even 21 or older) can drink
-2 different-org rho chi's at every event
-speak only for own org and greek system in general - ie "we're the largest on campus" and not "everyone else is small"

pretty much, the rho chi's and rushees are the regulatory control - we don't have very many problems with dirty rush, because the rules are pretty cut and dried.

Actually the whole process of giving bids varies from school to school. I don't really think you can generalize. At my school, for instance, in the fall when we have "formal rush" We do have 2 lists, but they ARE ranked. And those who match the bids are Rho Chi's, but I don't know if any of you are familiar with Rho Chi's. Anybody???

at iowa, girls are seperated into rush groups with each group given a rho chi that deaffiliates and guides the girls in her rush group to each chapter on campus and basically answers any questions with out being biased. bids are matched by panhel here.

Girls that go through rush at my school are also divided into groups and given a Rho Chi who is disaffiliated with her sorority. When it comes to giving out bids we give panhel our A and B list and an alumni from each sorority HAS to do the bidmatching.

Reading through this makes me wonder! (Thanks OTW for bringing this up in another thread!!)

If XYZ says that they will give you a bid, how are you supposed to act if you know you are being dirty-rushed?

Also, once they say that, and let's say you REALLY like XYZ, and put them as #1, but also list other choices, will you generally still get a bid to a house (maybe XYZ, maybe another house)?

Sorry for so many questions guys, just wondering for future reference! Thanks!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Originally posted by newbie:
If XYZ says that they will give you a bid, how are you supposed to act if you know you are being dirty-rushed?

I would look at them all innocent and say "I thought you couldn't guarantee a bid? Isnt' that against Panhellenic rules? I guess I'd better check with my Rho Chi to be sure." That will shut them up in a hurry.<grin>

Also, once they say that, and let's say you REALLY like XYZ, and put them as #1, but also list other choices, will you generally still get a bid to a house (maybe XYZ, maybe another house)?

You should get a bid to one of you 3 preferenced chapters. You can find out more about the bid-matching process by doing a search of these boards (search on my name, if you wish). I've explained the bid-matching process in detail in several posts.

Barbara
Rush Forum Moderator



[This message has been edited by PnguinTrax (edited June 12, 2001).]

Thanks PnguinTrax!!

I have a question though...wouldn't that be interepreted as being a goody-goody? And let's say you REALLY liked them...would they still give you a bid? If they "promise" you a bid, are they actually thinking of giving you a bid, or just teasing? I'm kinda confused about that. Thanks a lot PnguinTrax!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

newbie- about your last question.
33girl explain it this way earlier in this thread- "Why would a group do this? The only reason I can think of is to try to cut their losses. They may not be sure if they want her, but they don't want her to go elsewhere in case they need her to fill quota/total. 75% of the time they don't need her and she gets dumped on her head."
hope that helps http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif
Heidi

OUCH. Thanks Heidi!! Wouldn't it still be considered goody-goody, though, to point it out to them? So ssorry for the bunch of questions http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. I really hope that all the potentials on GC, and I, in the future, won't be dirty rushed http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. That sucks that it even goes on!!

Newbie,

You don't have to act goody-goody, but you should be aware enough to know that they are being dishonest. A person cannot, on behalf of the chapter, tell you that you will get a bid. After all, the entire chapter votes on potential members and they do so anonymously. A member can, for example, tell you that she thinks you'd make a great member, but a single member cannot speak on behalf of the chapter and tell you that you will get a bid.

It is against NPC rules to promise a bid to a member. You can report this infraction to the Greek Life Office after the party and have the situation dealt with according to NPC policy.

There are chapters out there that want to keep as many girls coming back to as many parties as possible. To that end, they will say and do things that are not right. If a chapter promises you a bid, don't believe them. Don't call them a liar, obviously, but take the statement with a grain of salt and a healthy dose of reality. Like I said earlier, your opportunity to receive a bid is based on the entire chapter's vote, not just one person's opinion. In my experience, girls that are promised bids and, as a result, intentionally single preference (suicide bid), are usually left standing on the sidelines come Bid Day.

Go in with your eyes open, go with your gut feeling and preference a group that really represents who you are and can offer you opportunities for growth. I've said this many times - look for the group that is already like you, not the group you want to be like.

Good Luck!
B.

Barbara is a wise women. Some chapters will promise bids prior to pref night to get high returns. Don't fall into this trap. Keep your mind open to all possibilities.

Most importantly, NEVER even think about "suiciding" a chapter (even if they tell you to). I work with several different chapters and have consistantly seen a certain GLO have an unusually high number of "suicides" during bid match at all of them. Only about 25% of them get into the chapter. The others don't get in at all. It is the low percentile of women who get a bid from "suiciding" - if you do this you will most likely be getting a phone call on bid day saying you don't have a bid.

Thank you for the info TxGirl and Barbara!!! You guys are awesome...thanks again for the advice!!

Edited to ask, what do you say to them if they DO promise you a bid? Also, is it true that you shouldn't mention the dirty rushing at all before Rush has ended, since other sororities will find out and then they will think that you're only going to list XYZ on your list?

[This message has been edited by newbie (edited June 19, 2001).]

Something along the lines of "I'll remember that on Bid Day." Which you will...you'll remember they're the jerks who tried to dirty rush you.

As far as whether to mention it while rush is still going on, that really depends on what the campus climate is. But I personally would tell the Greek Life advisor instead of a Rho Chi. If your Rho Chi happens to be a sister of a chapter that thinks dirty rushing is OK to do, I doubt she would pass it on. Hate to sound cynical, but that's the safest bet.

Thanks 33girl!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif So I should sweetly say, "Thanks, I will remember it on Bid Day." Also, if I told the Greek Life advisor, would they mention it to other sororities?

Most likely she/he will take it up with Panhellenic after Recruitment has ended. Although it is possible she/he may contact the offending chapter immediately regarding disciplinary action. I don't think the Greek Life Office would call the other chapters to tell them of infractions alledged against another chapter. That's just not professional.

Barbara




[This message has been edited by PnguinTrax (edited June 20, 2001).]

In the bid-matching prosess, since you said the girls on the 1st bid-list are usually listed in Alphabetical order, and they add the matches until their quota is filled, does this mean that someone with Zigfried for a last name would have less of a chance of being matched to that sorority than someone with the name Aardvark?

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***Tinkerbell***

~~~Don't worry, be happy!~~~

The first-bid list will not be any bigger than quota, the girls are just listed alphabetically to keep from showing who had the best scores. The second bid list will be ranked in order of scores so the rushee's last name has nothing to do with it.

If you feel that you are being dirty rushed, tell your Rho Chi immediately! On my campus Rho Chi's can't file rush infractions, but they have to record the incident and the time it was brought to their attention so that they can report it to Panhel.