University of Alabama sorority rush to be both in-person, virtual this fall
 

https://www.al.com/news/anniston-gad...outputType=amp

Interesting that they're still planning to host a hybrid recruitment. Does anyone think that parts of virtual recruitment could last long after COVID is gone? Perhaps the virtual portion isn't even replacing rounds but somehow is included in addition to the traditional recruitment process to allow more interaction between sorority members and PNMs prior to decision making?

Just a thought.

I would be afraid to take a member who wanted to do an all-virtual rush. Would she even show up for any events or meetings?

Good question. But then again, she might have a good reason for doing so (e.g. if immunocompromised and taking extra precautions in the short term). It would likely still make for a tough recruitment, though, when going up against others who are there in person.

Yes, I think some portion may stay. I think a lot of schools with larger and longer (4 round) recruitments really liked having the first day be virtual. Chapters like the simplicity of not having to host so many in person parties with so many PNMs coming through quickly and PNMs were less intimidated to start recruitment this way. It will be interesting to see what stays. Of course, without a pandemic we never would have tried anything like this!!

Well, we all know that most chapters at big schools have to make massive cuts ahead of time anyway.

Florida State will be virtual Round 1 (2 days) and in person after that, with extra days in the middle rounds to reduce crowding. Prefs will still be 1 day, in person.

Bama has registered 1000 PNMs so far v

Auburn is doing the same thing.

Yes, I believe this may be a permanent change. Compare: virtual screening of videos with your team, to be done in air conditioning, dressed however, munching and drinking whenever you like, and hanging out with a few frends......compared to two exhausting days of repetitive small talk with 2200 candidates, while dressed up with full make-up and hair, during days of 98 degree heat and 99% humidity outside with the 75% chance of pop-up thunderstorms.
This is a win-win for both sisters and PNMs.
I understand that PNMs may feel short-changed because they didn't get an in-person visit, but the most popular groups are going to have to release 80% or so anyway the first round.

If virtual stays the norm, especially first round, how is it decided which chapters are "most popular" and therefore those which must release the largest percentage of candidates?

PNMs aren't doing their choosing on where to go second round based on an in-person level of acquaintance, so that level of 'popularity' measurement has changed.

Nebraska will also be virtual for the first round of primary recruitment. This is similar to back in the dark ages at Nebraska (stopped some time in the 2000s I believe) when the PNMs did not visit each house first round but rather saw short presentations from each chapter in the Union. Invites for the second round were issued to the PNMs the morning after presentations. This meant PNMs did not see the inside of each physical house and did not have conversations with each chapter as there were fewer parties than chapters in the second round. I thought it cut down on tier chatter and helped women focus on where they were invited to.

PNMs do still rank on first round.
Release rates are determined by historic return rates. That part is no different. No actual data here, but I'd bet the so-called "highly esteemed" get that from word of mouth, not necessarily an in-person visit.

On the other hand, "tier chatter" and a look at a carefuly constructed and sanitized video is all you have to use when ranking.

Ironically, NPC Chair Carole Jones just released her final online post as chair. It is entitled "A Reflection On Increasing Access And Equity In The Sorority Experience".

The post explains the NPC Board of Directors has commissioned five recruitment reform projects for the next year, including recommendations for "a new best practice that encourages a virtual first round whenever possible."

[If someone with better computer skills than I will please link the Carole Jones item into this thread, I'd be grateful!]

Is memory serving correctly that one or two GreekChat members served NPC on its Access Equity Advisory Committee [or AEAC] and if so, might they please chime-in with their thoughts.

She is merely virtue-signaling if she think that virtual first rounds will cause greater inclusion.

I don't think Carole Jones is virtue-signaling. She is explaining the year-long work done by the NPC's AEAC, whose work is now being reviewed by the NPC Board of Directors.

[again, if someone would please link Carole's 6/8/21 post here as I cannot....]

She does mention that moving the first round into a virtual round decreases chapter and panhellenic costs in the areas of meeting/recruitment space rental, transportation and matching recruitment attire fees, as well as recruitment decor costs.

The focus of recruitment ought to continue to trend toward meaningful conversations between PNMs and members, not on what type of impressive car picked up Susie Rushee for open house party or which expensive hotel the Rho House used for first round party versus the Red Roof Inn Meeting Room used by the Psi House.

Perhaps I might infer the NPC Board's ideas of Access and Equity to include increasing Access and Equity between all NPC recruiting groups. That, to me, makes sense of the NPC Board's thought to continue decreasing costs thru adding the virtual first round.

Women are already upset when they get dropped after the first round when they’ve actually met people in person. Can you imagine how much it will piss people off to get dropped virtually when there’s no medical reason for it? Not to mention how much both sides can hide in a virtual rush?

As far as inequities among the sororities, unless NPC changes the current quota/total system to one where sororities are only allowed to bid to total, some will be bigger and some will be smaller. If it’s a house issue, the only thing that will work is getting rid of unique houses and putting everyone in identical dorm suites or townhouses. Again, some will be prettier and some will be “homier.”

That would eliminate some chapters from rushing.

Well, yes, I suppose that decoration, clothing and food costs will go down if virtual rounds are instituted. Also, I do see the benefit of not having thousands of women traipsing in heels and sundresses in high heat and humidity (or snow conditions for spring recruitment).

But, look, human nature tells me that the chapters will need to pull out all of the stops to make sure their chapter video stands out (see AnchorAlumna's post above). I wouldn't be surprised if chapters went towards the trend of expensive, flashy, high-productions videos like we saw with Alpha Phi at the Arizona State University (pink jeep, hot air balloons) and Delta Gamma at the University of Miami (speedboat, sailboat). Or try to one-up each other by including prominent people or celebrities in their videos like Alpha Phi at the University of Alabama (Bama football player). Those videos cost a lot. Probably more than cake and punch and matching shirts.

Also, the move to virtual may force chapters to cut based largely on resume and/or social media reviews (Insta stalking) of the PNMs ahead of recruitment.

I'm concerned that both the PNMs and the chapters will place additional focus on cultivating an online image as a means of getting past the first rounds. We're already dealing with social media influencers who make it look like they're living their best jet set, high fashion lives. Moreover, I can envision PNMs setting up their social media "filming studio" (ring lights, better cameras, etc) to make sure they look top flight during their virtual rounds.

All of this seemingly flies in the face of no-frills, values-based recruitment. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Obviously. They would have a year or two where they wouldn’t take new members and eventually it would even out.

Please note I am not actually advocating this concept.

In many cases, virtual recruitment helped some weaker performing chapters do better overall in getting to quota. It cut down on the rumor mill, the tent talk, etc. I don't think a first round virtual is all that bad. I do think that lots of things have changed because of the pandemic, and participation issues will surely be an issue when everyone is back at school and has to attend 4 things a week after spending the last 18 months all virtual. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

IF they used in-person Zoom chats between PNMs and small groups of sisters representing their sorority, that would line up perfectly with the effort toward meaningful conversations.
BUT...reviewing a PNM-made video with the PNMs viewing the slick, professionally made sorority videos is about as shallow as it comes.

Sorry, folks, but RFM has by far been the most successful method of leveling the playing field among all the sororities, "high tier" to "low tier."
We have more chapters than ever pledging quota and filling up to total. Chapters that were dying because not enough women would pledge are thriving and able to pay their bills and give their members a good Greek experience, no matter where they fall in the Greek Rank scale and the on-campus cool factor.

Many campuses now have specific Panhellenic rules about videos (both during recruitment and those released before for PR purposes). I'm not one for very complex rules, but I do think the general gist of trying to keep videos simple and substantive is a plus!

I'll admit the idea of an all virtual recruitment scared the heck out of me in the weeks and months leading up to it. But once it started, it really wasn't that bad.
I completely agree with the statement above. I know the university where I advise is considering virtual for the "open house" round, and I believe it is for these exact reasons. And if virtual means no door stack practice at midnight the night before recruitment starts, I'm good with it.

I've seen all sorts of doom and gloom recruitment changes- skits, no skits, bed rush, quota rush, crafts, frills, no frills, three pref parties, two pref parties, a blizzard that cut an entire round out, and now zoom/virtual. It all has worked out in the end.

This year should be interesting in that none of the sophomores have ever been in-person for recruitment and the juniors have never done recruitment in-person from the active member side. My seniors are going to really need to step up!

Bama has reached 2000 PNMs.

The PC sizes are gonna be huge! And registration isn't even over yet, it would be nuts if they reached 3k.

Yikes....Bama's recruitment registration doesn't close until July 15th. I imagine that PNM number will go up quite a bit. I speculate that we might see some bigger registration numbers on account of many young women electing to sit-out of their first year of university last fall [due to COVID].

I'd guess that a big reason for making round one online from the jump is pure CYA; it sets up the framework for all-virtual in case crap happens and they're forced to scrap in-person rush activities again. I agree that whatever happens, the chapters and PNMs will adjust and things will be fine. Online rounds aren't ideal, but neither is a traditional first round. Even if all it does is make life a little easier during rush, I'm all for it. And I'm kind of sick of the "Ha ha, I lose my voice every rush!" ridiculousness, tbh. The system needs to be smarter about shoving people into mega-crowded parties where they have to scream to be heard and the flu or worse is lurking around every corner.

Ironically, I came across this letter today. It looks like virtual first-round recruitment is being encouraged by the NPC for a few different reasons. Whether they're legit or not, I don't know. I'm simply posting NPC's statement.

https://npcwomen.blogspot.com/2021/0...Ri7T7xmpFB7gfo

I think this is bullshit. I can hear the excuses now. “Oh sorry I missed Turdy Tau’s online rush party, my service went out.”

Hahahahahaha! Turdy Tau!

33girl just won the GC internet for the day (if not year)!

Thank you for posting the NPC's recent recruitment statement, ASTalumna06.

Looks like I missed your previous post. Glad I could be of service! :)

LMAO @ 33...tried to quote it, but idk where it went. My niece would try this with online school if she thought I wasn’t paying attention. “The connection is bad”...go in and see if it working...”yeah, nice try...”

Constant vigilance.

I remember reading that there were internet issues at several school last year-Bama and FSU for sure.

In all seriousness the only way a virtual first round would work is if they make all the rushees come back to school and sit in their dorms. In case NPC missed it one of the more stressful things about the pandemic was the fact that a lot of people live in areas with crappy internet service.

If it is just the first round that is virtual, the PNMs will have to be on campus. There would not be enough travel time for those who did not live adjacent to campus to arrive for the in person 2nd round.

From what I've seen from several universities, early move in and recruitment orientation take place in the same week.