Are you a legacy?
 

I was thinking about legacies the other day and was wondering how many people who are legacies actually join the fraternity/sorority that they are a legacy at.

I wasn't a legacy to a GLO, but my cousin was in my chapter when I pledged (I guess you'd call that a connection). Her sister wasn't a Kappa, so my cousin didn't go where she was a legacy.

These are the possible choices:

1. Pledged legacy GLO;
2. Didn't pledge because you released legacy GLO;
3. Didn't pledge because legacy GLO released you;
4. Didn't pledge because legacy GLO not on campus.

Are there any other choices?

My mom was a Delta Gamma.

I'm a Delta Gamma! Yay! We have 5 DG legacies in my chapter...which is pretty good for my school!

My mom was there at my initiation to put my pin on! It was awesome!

My aunt is also a DG.

I knew there would be more possibilities! I did mean "cut before pref." If a legacy is invited to a legacy GLO pref, then the choice is hers, so in that instance, she basically released the legacy GLO. I thought of another one. If the legacy ranked the legacy GLO #2 and didn't get a bid from #1, quite possibly she could go bidless on Bid Day.

I am a double legacy of Phi Kappa Tau and a legacy of Alpha Epsilon Pi, but neither house had a chapter at my school.

I'm not a legacy. Where I go to school, there aren't many legacies that go through. But, when one does, you take notice.

I am a legacy in phi mu but I chose not to accept the bid. I just wasn't comfortable at the parties. My cousin is an Alpha Sigma Tau and if my school had a chapter of AST I might have considered them.

My Friend's Story
 

My friend is a DSQ and SGR legacy (her mom is a DSQ and her cousin is a SGR), but she chose to rush ZFB because she felt that the sororities where she was a legacy weren't for her. I always tease her about it saying things like "You just had to work for your bid, didn't you?" She has yet to receive a bid from ZFB, but from the way things seems to be going, it's only a matter of time.

I have a question about legacies...we always say that if your mom, grandmother or aunt was in that soroity, you're a legacy...but it is possible that a niece could be older then her aunt...if the niece gets a bid...does the aunt become a legacy?

Good question...similiarly, I'm a GFB who wants her mother and aunt to consider AI. Are they legacies?

Technically, they wouldn't be (we spell it out on the rec form) but it also doesn't matter at the AI level...............

I am a Sigma Kappa legacy through my mom and a Delta Zeta legacy through my grandmother. Sigma Kappa isn't on my campus and I didn't find out about my grandmother being in DZ until after I joined Phi Mu so I don't know if it would have helped me during rush (I COBed)

I doubt it. In fact, I think that in many organizations, you aren't considered a legacy if your aunt was an XYZ -- only if your mother, grandmother or sister was (plus stepmoms/stepsisters if they choose). For Tri Delta (at least according to our national website), only daughters and sisters are to be considered legacies.

Not unless she suicided #1 (which is, in effect, releasing #2, her legacy GLO). In most NPC sororities (including AEPhi) all legacies who come to pref automatically go on the first bid list, so if the legacy listed #1 then #2 on her pref card and didn't match to #1, she'd match to #2.

Another possibility for the guys: You got a bid from your legacy fraternity but decided to accept a bid from a different org.

Anyway - I'm the first in my family to go greek, and no one in my husband's family has gone greek (aside from a couple of them joining professional fraternities) - so any daughters I have will be AEPhi legacies, and any sons I have won't be legacies anywhere.

What if the legacy GLO meets quota? How can the legacy then get a bid? If quota is 20 and the legacy didn't match with the 1st bid list, then, assuming she is the only one of the 20, #21 (the 1st one after the quota break) would be offered a bid. If she accepts the bid, then legacy GLO has filled quota.

Actually, that would work, because all NPC sororities do one thing the same- they place all their legacies at the top of their bid list and then put the quota # of women in alphabetical order. So all of the legacies would be on top!

The legacy GLO couldn't meet quota without considering her, unless she'd matched to another org.

Say Suzy is a legacy to XYZ and also preffed ABC. She lists ABC then XYZ on her pref card. She's on XYZ's first bid list because she's a legacy, but she happens to be dead last on ABC's second bid list. (Somebody's gotta be.)

During bid matching, ABC makes quota before Suzy's name could be moved over to the first bid list. Once ABC makes quota, an attempt will be made to match Suzy to her second choice, XYZ. Because she's on XYZ's first bid list, she'll match there.

(I hope this makes sense. I haven't had my coffee yet...)

Not a legacy to any group. I'm the first in my family to go to a (supposedly) 4 year school. A distinction of which I am rather proud, but I hate that it might hinder me in some cases.

Not really a GLO legacy, but my grandma was very active in PEO (State President of Nebraska when I was born). I asked her what PEO was and she was very interested to know if I'd been asked to join.

I have a feeling that if Grammy hadn't had a stroke last year and was still her old self, some poor Florida chapter would be getting reamed out for somehow overlooking her legacy. *shakes head*

In any event, before her stroke, Grammy was very proud that I became an Alpha Phi, and even sent me a congrats card when she heard about my initiation! She had great respect for the Alpha Phis at UNL, where she attended school.

Now that I think about it, I am the first from my mom's side to go to college, so that would make it very difficult for me to be a legacy.

I see. So, Greek Life always gives legacies every opportunity to pledge their legacy GLO before their legacy GLO can fill quota. This is all so fascinating . . . but confusing!

I can see that working if you handmatch your bids like we did at Mississippi State but how will a computer know it must include a legacy who didn't get her first choice?

I have a ? about this legacy stuff as it relates to UGA and other big schools. How does all of this change when you have a ton of legacys going though? Say I have a daughter one day and she goes through with a bunch of other DG legacys. What can you do to ensure that your legacy gets picked over another. I hope I am making sense...

am the first in my entire family to go Greek. When my brother went to college, he pledged Tekes, but dropped before initiation. I was very sad, as I wished that he had the same opportunity that I had, but it was the best for him.

At my school, legacies for any house are always pretty closely watched. We have at least 3 that I can think of at the moment in my chapter. One of my friends was a legacy to ADpi and ended up pledging. Later, her mother went through initiation, so when she has kids, her daughters will be triple legacies!

Most orgs have a legacy rule, something like "All legacies must be invited back to the first invitational round. If they are invited to Preference, they must be placed on the first bid list." I see how this could be complicated if there are more legacies than quota, but you've got to realize that in a situation like that, orgs can and do cut legacies after the first invitational round. Legacies can and do release their legacy org. Basicly, the system is designed so that if a legacy makes it to Pref for her legacy org, the choice is up to her as to where she pledges. I guess it's up to the orgs to make sure that there aren't more legacies than quota coming to their Pref, 'cuz if quota's 25, there's no way they could get away with putting 30 legacies on their first bid list.

As for what you can do to ensure that your legacy gets picked over another, it's the same thing that you'd do to make sure that your daughter gets picked over another if she weren't a legacy. Groom her.

Carnation, I'm unfamiliar with computer programs, as our school matches by hand. But doesn't the computer know that after a group has filled quota, it moves all the women left with that org as first preference to their second preference...

To use aephi alum's example, the computer would run through and match the women to their first choice for as long as it could. Then, just like in the Green Book directions for hand-matching, wouldn't it have some sort of scenario in place to break grid lock and move to Suzy's second choice once ABC has filled quota? The only responsibility would be up to the orgs to make sure the women are placed properly on the bid list. And the comptuer wouldn't have to know to take a legacy who didn't get her first choice. Suzy is on XYZ's first bid list because she's a legacy. XYZ can't fill quota without Suzy unless Suzy matches ABC first, so once ABC's quota was filled, the computer program should know that Suzy and all other girls who first-preffed ABC should be moved down to their second choices.

I hope that makes sense-- computers are not my strong suit.

k i just need an explanation...

lets say quota is 40 (i understand that it is more or less depending on the school but just bare with me...). okay quota is 40 and you've got 10 legacies. great. so you've got the 10 legacies at the top of your list and then you've got room for 30 more. okay so a girl who's last name starts with A (that loves the group but...) may not be as into the sorority as a girl with a last name that starts with Y (who is completely and utterly sure that this is the one and only group for her) so the girl that wants it the most wouldnt get a bid because her last name just so happens to start with "Y" and quota was met at "T." okay. thats kinda sad...but maybe i'm just not understanding this right so...somebody bust my bubble or something...

4runnerstar,

It's only the first bid list that's in alphabetical order. If quota is 40, then the first bid list is the 40 women the chapter would pick if they could have any 40 women they wanted. It would include the 10 legacies and 30 other women.

The second bid list is a contingency list in case women on the first bid list get matched to other sororities. It's in the order that the sorority wants the women in case some of their "top 40 choices" aren't available.

So Ms. Y would probably be on the first bid list. Ms. A. might or might not be. If Ms. Y is on the first list, whether Ms. A matched or not wouldn't affect whether Ms. Y matched or not.

No worries.

Say quota is 10. Each chapter creates two lists from the women who preffed them. The first list has ten names on it in alphabetical order. These are the chapter's top ten choices, and because they're on the first list, there's no ranking to them. The second list isn't alphabetical, but numerical, ranked in the order that the chapter would like to have them if they don't get their top ten.

Say Amy and Jess were on ABC's first list. Amy put ABC first on her pref card, so she gets an ABC bid. However, Jess ranked DEF first, and DEF had Jess on its first list. Jess gets a DEF bid. ABC then crosses Jess's name off of their first list 'cuz she's already matched. They still have nine more spots to fill but only eight names left on their first list, so they move Mary, who was #1 on their second list, up to their first list. Get it? And if Mary has ranked ABC first, then she gets to be an ABC. On the first list, it doesn't matter what order the names are in, because if a girl wants to be an ABC and she's on their first list, then she gets to be an ABC.

Now if ABC fills quota before they get to Sally's name on their list, then the people/computer doing the matching looks at Sally's second choice and matches her there.

This is really confusing, I know, but your Rho Gammas will explain it to you again.

Okay heres my question....lets say someone is rushing at Ole Miss, LSU, or UGA where the amount of legacies is huge. Lets say that quota is 60 and the amount of legacies that preffed one house is 65. Would the chapter have to rank the legacies in order of preference, and then the first bid list is in alphabetical and the left over five would have to be at the top of the second bid list in preference order or would there be some other thing that has to happen.

I doubt the chapter would get itself into that predicament. Can you imagine the VERY irate g'mom/mom/sister who just knew her legacy would be a new member because she went to legacy GLO's pref?!? :eek: :eek: :eek:

Because of this pref-legacy-new member connection, legacies are given the utmost consideration BEFORE pref. Greek Life keeps the GLOs updated on the quota amount after each round in part to keep legacy GLOs informed so that they can make their decisions early enough.

This rarely occurs primarily b/c the chapters will usually release the legacies they are not as interested in but I would imagine that chapters that find themselves in situations like that usually inform the legacy connection of the situation beforehand (as in before rush starts they inform the legacy connection of the number of legs going through and that they are working with national officers on how they will comply with the legacy policy).

I was not a legacy. My sisters are, but there was no greeklife at one sister's school. My other sister was too shy to rush. I was not happy, but what could I do.

In my chapter we had two sets of biological sisters. One sister's biological sister rush but chose another sorority.

I wasn't a legacy, and I don't think my little sister will rush. She's still got two more years of high school left though . . . that's enough time to work on her.

My chapter has three sets of biological sisters, including one set of twins. The twins both rushed at the same time, and one went to Tri Delta while the other one went to ABC. The one who went ABC ended up depledging, and the year after that she joined her sister here. :)

I think we discussed this situation before (and yes, I'm too lazy to do a search right now!). I was Rec Chair when we had a few undesirable legacies come through. Their legacy connection MUST be informed prior to pref that they will not be invited to pref. Inviting a legacy to pref = bid. That's why it's SO important to get to know the legacies ASAP, so they can be released beforehand if necessary.

I will not even do into the drama of a 5-generation legacy who's had relatives on Grand Council! :eek: I would not wish that situation on my worst enemy!!

Actually, I found out after I had accepted my bid to Alpha Phi that my grandmother is a SIgma Kappa and joined at Georgetown College in Kentucky (not sure if they still have a chapter there or not). I'm not sure if I wold have gone that way because I didn't know and Alpha Phi just felt more like home to me. My real little sister knows she's a legacy and wants to be an Alpha Phi, but I told her to go where she's happy.

Legacy does not arbitraily mean that you will get Associated!

It gives the person a step in the door! If they are a Troll, they will not be Associated!

Rush watching must:

ANIMAL HOUSE!!!!!:)

I was a short OTTER!!!!!!!:cool:

Two years ago, we AI'd the mom of a then-collegiate Gamma Phi from UGA in the spring...then a few months later, her other daughter rushed at UGA and pledged Gamma Phi. I was the mom's sponsor -- she is now our Alum Chapter's VP - Programs! and on her AI form I described her as a "reverse legacy!" It was my own term but thought it fit the situation! We have another mom of a current collegiate Gamma Phi who is interested in AI -- another "reverse legacy" - Yay!

I was not a legacy -- my grandmother never went to college -- my mom went to college for maybe a year -- if that long -- and she said she went thru rush and had a bid from Kappa but decided not to accept it because she was going to leave college to get married. It was the early 50's and that's what many women did back then.

My much younger (24 years!!!) biological sister went to Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles and they did not have a Gamma Phi chapter. She pledged Theta.

I have two sons and one wants to attend the Air Force Academy in 7 years -- he just turned 11 and starts 6th grade in the Fall. Colorado is where Gamma Phi's Hqtrs is and our Theta and Tau and Beta Rho chapters are there, so maybe he will meet (and marry?!) a Gamma Phi Beta!!

My 9 year old wants to be a paleontologist -- not sure what university is best for that & if it will have a Gamma Phi chapter....

i am an AOPi legacy as my older sister is an AOPi at transylvania university.....she was the first person to go greek in my fam, i am the second....it would've been super cool if we both could be in the same GLO, but i just felt more at home with the AGD chapter at my school. i would love love love for my mom to be an AI, but i wouldn't even think of putting her in the position of choosing bwtn my GLO and my sis's....so for now, she can just sport the "AGD Mom" key chain i gave her in her Christmas stocking. ;)

I am a legacy to both D Phi E and SDT...but I have neither at my school...so I'm hoping when I rush, I find my new family! :)

Not sure if Alpha Sigma Alpha considers aunts legacies, but if so, I am a legacy to ASA. However, I did not know this until after I pledged Alpha Gam, and to be honest I am glad I did not know. Went through much more unbiased. I also feel I ended up in the right place for me...can't wait to have some legacies of my own someday.

My Dad is a Sigma Pi alum, so my brother will be a legacy there. He starts college in Fall 2004, and seems interested, so we shall see.

I am a ZTA legacy through my mom, but we do not have a ZTA chapter at my school. I really love what I have learned about ZTA through my mom, she used to be an advisor for the chapter at Stetson. So, if I had gone through rush at a school w/ ZTA I would have looked very very closely at it. My Grandmother is a Chi Omega, but in Chi O, only sisters and daughters are legacies, so I am not technically a legacy for Chi O. My Great Grandmother was an AOPi and so is my Grandmom on my dad's side. A few girls in my pledge class are chapter legacies through their moms and we have 2 pairs of biological sisters.
My little brother is a Pi Kappa Alpha legacy through my dad, a Lambda Chi legacy through my Granddaddy and an SAE legacy through my Granddad. Most of the men on my dad's side have been SAE's or Pikes. Pretty much everyone in my family on both sides who went to a 4 yr school went Greek. I love it b/c they really support me!