University of Alabama Recruitment 2020
 

This year is certainly going to look different from the past, but that won't stop girls from finding their homes!

Schedule:

August 5, 6 & 7: Early Move-In (on-campus only)
Saturday, August 8: Convocation
Saturday, August 8: Open House
Sunday, August 9: Philanthropy Day I
Monday, August 10: Philanthropy Day II
Tuesday, August 11: Philanthropy Day III
Wednesday, August 12: Sisterhood Day I
Thursday, August 13: Sisterhood Day II
Friday, August 14: Sisterhood Day III
Saturday, August 15: Preference Day I
Sunday, August 16: Bid Day

Sadly there will be no "run home" this year and bids will be given via email rather than the traditional envelope. To everyone going through this year I wish y'all good luck!

Is it all virtual or a mix??

Trying to picture an email bid card. And I thought that computer punch bid cards were bad!

First I realized I forgot the extra 0 in 2020 so we will be going through recruitment in the Roman Empire ;) but in terms of what is virtual or not ,recruitment is working like this:

Open House: Virtual
Philanthropy: Both days are virtual
Sisterhood: Virtual
Pref Round: Virtual
Bid Day: Bids will be available virtually and by phone. From the Alabama recruitment guide it was not clear if PNMs would be allowed at their new homes or if it'll be socially distanced.

I feel bad about the lack of physical bids, my own envelope bid is a prized possession of mine.

Don't know if I'm dumb or wise beyond my years, but I read 'University of Alabama Recruitment 202' as being the advanced level of recruitment. In other words, 'Recruitment 101' is under normal circumstances, and 'Recruitment 202' is the next level of difficulty due to COVID :D:p

Trust me, people can give all the advice about recruitment ever, but nobody could have been prepared for this year! Since many of the panhels at several schools have required intro vids, I've seen some that have done well, especially since the PNMs can do as many takes as needed.

Kappa Delta has lettered masks on the UA Panhellenic social media page! So cute!

I’m confident that I read/heard somewhere that that they will still get bid cards! They will probably get them whenever they get their bidday gear.

AST is now selling official sorority-themed masks and gaiters through our online store. https://ast-emerald-boutique.myshopi...face-coverings

I'm sure there will be many lettered masks as the weeks and recruitments go on :)

Just talked to PNM going through at Alabama - she has watched 10 “open house” videos with 8 to go. She loved a couple (& even teared up a bit), thought 3 of them were nice but not her cup of tea, and the other 5 were still really great. Even though it is virtual, sounds like a typical first day of recruitment!

It'll sure be interesting to read the recruitment stories from this year!!

Our niece is rushing her first year on the member side at Bama. It'll be interesting to hear how it goes for her! :)

Can imagine a story going how the wifi cut out during a round or a sister cutting off during a conversation! It's going to be something else.

Fixed it for you. :)

Well, my BFFs daughter, who is from Pennsylvania, did round 1 at Bama yesterday! Overall, she was impressed with most of the houses. Got her list back this morning and she has 11 out of 12 invites, and her top choice is still there! She’s a happy camper 😍

Looks like with the addition of SDT in formal recruitment this year, there is now a maximum of 13 houses for Philanthropy round! A super young lady that I have been advising (more like a sounding board, not really advising anything since my chapter isn’t at Bama) has 5+5+3 parties during Philanthropy days. She said it should still be only max 7 for Sisterhood round.

Some of the chapters posted their first round videos on Instagram!

If anyone can share, I'd love to hear details of how the virtual portion goes - are they zooming with just one active, are they with several members, etc.? I believe the first round are the PNM's viewing pre-recorded videos from each chapter.

First round was just pre-recorded videos, on both sides. This round is Zoom with individual conversations. The young lady I am helping said in her 1st 2 parties, there was an active member assigned to talk to her after their philanthropy video. On one, a girl bumped in part way (came into the the physical room & took over the conversation from active #1’s computer). In the other, there were a 2 active members on the Zoom call and another bumped in. Not sure if that was a physical or virtual bump. Hope that makes sense.

Either way “my” PNM is having a lot of fun! I’m sure it is more fun for her because she has a full party list, but I don’t think she is missing any of the “feels” that she would have from an in-person party.

Heard from one of my PNMs that the system crashed earlier today. I would love an update from someone on the alumnae/adviser side.
BTW, she said that first round was wonderful and she enjoyed herself very much.

All this talk about Alabama and I’m wondering...are they going to be on campus in the fall? If so, it’s going to be hard to keep the group sizes small if the girls are living in and doing chapter, etc...just curious.

Yes, the campus is open

This is interesting! When was this decided and how did it all come about (I'm assuming it's Covid-related)?

Good for SDT! I hope they do really well.

Any updates on how things are going? This is my first year without any rec girls going through. Hoping that the first day of Sisterhood round went well! Any feedback from PNMs?

I know of several who dropped out when they got their results.

It's been near 90 daily in Tuscaloosa according to the weather app on my phone, I, for one, am happy that the zoom and video calls are happening because I couldn't imagine how terrible it would be to be out in the heat, dressed up, hair done, scurrying from house to house, wearing a mask, and taking Covid-19 precautions. Same with the rain, it's on the forecast on sisterhood round 3 and maybe preference and I couldn't imagine the mask, the humidity, the makeup smearing everywhere, and the dampness of the rain. Very grateful for zoom recruitment and I'm sure that things will go back to normal soon :)

Wondering if anyone here has background on the “optional” videos? A girl that I am helping is having a phenomenal virtual recruitment experience. She’s adorable, checks all of the resume boxes, had alumnae recommendations AND MADE A CUTE VIDEO! And got back 13 Philanthropy parties and 8 Sisterhood parties to some very traditionally popular chapters........ Talking to some of the girls on her hall it seemed that the ones that did the optional video had more invites to Philanthropy. Optional does not really mean optional!

Any word on how many PNMs went through recruitment?

Sounds like your mentee was well prepared. You made such an interesting observation about the optional video. Is your mentee from OOS?

I relayed to a group of moms whose daughters' schools had not begun rush yet, tips I had heard about unfortunate judgement calls by Bama PNMS. Like the PNM who remained in bed for her video chats with chapters. Or the girl who turned off her video and audio feed for a couple of chapters. Or the PNM who did her video chats in her pjs with bed head. Of the one who was eating during her virtual visit with one chapter. Or the one who started carrying on a conversation with her roommate and ignored the sister trying to talk to her.

I wish you were kidding but I know you're not. This reminds me of a few times when I've interviewed people remotely. Despite stellar credentials, I remember the woman who showed up in a sweatshirt or another who got up during the interview to go to the bathroom and you guessed it - she had on pajama pants.

How is it that people - adults interviewing, much less girls going through rush - don't realize they're "on" in the same way they would be in person???

I also heard about the PNMs that didn't take the zoom rush seriously. News travels fast. I wonder if the combo of not taking the video chat portion seriously and not submitting the "optional" video is the reason why so many girls are dropping out this year or being dropped from rush. I feel like I'm hearing that this is happening much more than in years past. Hoping that the girls who are still participating have a great pref and find their home. Can't wait to hear how it all ends up this year since it was all virtual.

How are they doing the Zoom chats if their roommate is also a pnm? I can't imagine trying to engage and focus on a conversation with a roommate doing the same 6 ft away. It must be incredibly distracting!

I keep thinking about all of these online classes about to start under the same scenario and wondering how they will all make it work.

Conversely...how are the actives doing Zoom chats if they share an apartment with girls from other sororities? Theres only so many places you can go to get away from people? It all sounds really, really hard!

Headsets or earbuds might help.

They are doing them in their bedrooms, closets, bathrooms or any other place where there is not another person. The chapters that I am familiar with gave instructions on buying single color tablecloths that you tape to the wall and then use one of the zoom backgrounds that the chapter created. The virtual backgrounds match the clothing/theme for the day and help everything look "clean" during the breakout sessions and when they do big "everyone" views.

For the chapter I work with, we were not allowed to put the girls in alumnae homes if they had roomies that wore different letters. Seriously, I know some girls that share bedrooms and are recruiting in closets and bathrooms. No one can tell because of the virtual backgrounds. During work week, they got the kinks worked out on their zoom spot. Now, with roomies, it is a little bit of a trust and honor system that the girls aren't "talking." Spoiler alert--they are. This is a year more than ever that it's important for PNMs to be on their best behavior on every single call.

This reminds me of taking the AP Spanish Test in the 1980's...40 kids in a room (all wearing headsets) and having to talk at the same time. In Spanish. I literally sat there for a full minute saying "Uh, uh..." because I was so distracted.

For chapters that are competitive with each other, yet friends and roommates, I foresee lots of "listening through the wall..."

SweetHomeSTL, Curious as to how your girl’s rush has ended up. Is she attending her favorites for Pref today? Hope she’s had a great experience and hope she finds the perfect sorority home!

Unbelievably - yes! She had 8 Sisterhood parties & had a really tough time ranking her favorites but ended up asked back to her top 2 today. Still loves them both, so I will be FaceTiming one happy girl at 1:30 tomorrow. :D

I think this virtual thing was REALLY up her alley! Not that she couldn’t have done as well in person, but she has time to take notes & mentally process every party in turn without running back and forth in blistered heels and 100 degree temps & humidity. This class of 2020 as a whole is making a lot of lemonade out of their lemons!