U of Michigan Recruitment to Move to Winter in 2019-2020 Academic Year
 

I live in Ann Arbor, where it has a been a tumultuous few years for greek organizations and saw this news released today:

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/03
/university_of_michigan_greek_l.html#incart_2box_ne ws_ann-arbor

Why would they do this?

Well, according to the article:

So kids can adjust to college life and being away from home without the pressures of rush and pledging.

I’ve got no problem with this. It weeds out the kids who really shouldn’t be in college, or at that college. And as far as NPC groups are concerned, women won’t be bound for a year before they’ve even had one college class, and won’t be initiated and bound for life before their first semester is even half over.

Having gone through recruitment at Michigan, I think this is a great move. Aside from the typical reasons of deferring recruitment until freshmen have had a chance to adjust and figure out how to manage their time and responsibilities at college, fall recruitment has always been so dragged out at Michigan, due to observance of the Jewish holidays and football Saturday conflicts.

Wasn't a Winter (Jan/Feb) rush schedule used by Michigan back in the early 1980's? If memory serves, some of my cousins attending UMich experienced a formal Winter rush.

Obviously the new rush timing will also impact KD's Fall 2018 recolonization. Anyone know whether KD will still take women this Fall, or move the colony to Spring 2019?

Formal rush was definitely in the fall in the early 1980s, and has always been in the fall to the best of my knowledge. However, many chapters participated in informal winter recruitment at that time, because everyone was still working to build back numbers from the Vietnam War Era, when 7 sororities closed due to low membership. My chapter was down to only 5 members in 1975, and was still rebuilding when I joined in the early 80s. Several more groups did close in the 80s because they just hadn't been able to recruit sustainable numbers. The 1970s were a tough time for sororities at Michigan. Your cousins probably had so many informal recruitment options that it seemed like formal in the winter!

I would guess that KD will colonize after formal winter recruitment, not in the fall.

Does anyone know if Theta has announced a recolonization date yet?

Snow. Cold. Yikes.
But otherwise, can’t say it doesn’t make sense.

Not that I've heard, but I think they'll have to wait until after KD colonizes, because the stack was announced before Theta closed the chapter.

I am wondering if anyone is renting their house. AGDee probably knows.

KD will colonize before the switch. We are colonizing this fall, 2018 and will have representatives on campus April 3-9. I feel like they wouldn't go through with that if it is pushed back. The switch will happen in 2019-2020 school year it says.

Help me fully understand if the following is the way Michigan will run sorority recruitment during the next few years:

Fall 2018, Michigan will have regular Formal sorority recruitment, still including freshmen women. KD allowed to colonize.

Winter/Spring 2019, Michigan will allow cob/informal sorority recruitment, including any freshmen women interested in participating.

Fall 2019, Michigan allows what type of recruitment by sororities?

Winter 2020, Michigan begins new winter Formal Sorority Recruitment era.

I would assume they would have a semester in which sophomores and above can receive bids. Whether it’s organized in any way or just informal will probably depend on what the numbers of the chapters look like at that point.

Thanks! I didn't read the article, so I missed the dates! Best wishes to Kappa Delta!

What this will mess up is housing. So instead of having sophomores living in, it will have to be Juniors. They will sign leases in October of their Freshman year for Sophomore year. That leads to 21 year olds living in the house and being mad that they are 21 and can't drink in their own home. It will also mean that smaller chapters might have to have seniors living in too and we all know how that goes.

On unhoused campuses, I get deferred. When you have to fill a house, it makes it really painful.

No idea who's renting what houses- I think a whole bunch of fraternities have been suspended so there should be houses available.

Can’t the lease signing be pushed to the spring semester? That seems awfully far ahead anyway - almost a year in advance and barely initiated.

The current norm seems to be signing in the fall...dorms are trying to fill their beds, sororities are trying to fill, apartments are trying to fill. Part of the reason recruitment numbers are declining is due to fewer graduating HS students and fewer potential members/residents. On my campus, the dorms and apartments start offering bonuses to students as early as September...and we have no choice but to have our housing contracts ready to go on Bid Day. The local apartments at my daughter's campus were doing this, too.

One of my sorority sisters is a provost, and she told me that the projected number of Michigan HS seniors in 2026 is 15% lower than it was in 2016. That means empty beds that everyone will want to securely fill for the next year as soon as they can.

So in other words, it’s the baby bust’s baby bust.

You got it.

I totally agree that this is a major problem. The other factor to consider that I see at some schools (campus culture varies) is that if a lot of juniors go abroad and often all the same semester, filling the house becomes a nightmare when you are left with less than half the junior class and all the seniors!!

What about telling women who want to go through recruitment not to sign leases in October? I know that my alma mater has deferred recruitment and while there are some students who sign leases in late fall, the majority of the students have usually committed by end of February. If there are more places to live than than students, the students are in the best situation possible. They can pick and choose. Freshman should wait longer than 6 weeks to decide a housing situation for the next year. The people you meet the first few weeks may not be the people you should sign a lease with, I can see some wisdom in waiting.

You would think that advice would work, but it doesn't! These 18 year olds are easy prey for the "Early signing bonuses! Sign now before the best units are filled!" hype that comes from both the dorms and the local apartments on our campus. Even our current members sign before they've been released from the house -- and all the chapters have the same issue.

And, many don't understand the legally-binding nature of a signed contract. They will assume they can get out of their leases, and/or get their security deposits back so they can move in. Tough lessons learned at the age of 18, but they have no experience with this and many don't consult their parents before signing. I can't tell you how many similar conversations I've had with freshman and sophomore members along these lines.

I tell you, it's maddening! I'm guessing this is one issue that IU doesn't have, what with the campus culture of living in the house!

And then if they don't get a bid they have no where to live the next year. The fight for affordable housing in Ann Arbor is ridiculous. Freshman on campus for one month are signing leases for the next year. I do feel for the women sloshing through campus in their winter boots with their pref dresses on too- but they manage at IU.

The chapters are getting too big there, as they are at some other schools. This will help keep the chapter sizes smaller.