What Would You Change About Recruitment?
 

I was thinking about recruitment and things I did and didn't like about it. Now this is going to sound lame, but even as a PNM, I wished that the sororities wouldn't sing songs to all the PNMs as a group about how much they wanted them and of course, it wasn't true. Lines like, "and you're going to wear our (name the shape of the pin)", or "you were meant for ABC", as innocently as they may have been sung, added to the heartbreak of several women when they were cut the next day. As PH advisor, I would see the PNMs' faces when these lines were sung--they would just beam, sure that the line was meant for them.

Does that bother anyone else? Are there other little things that upset you?

I would think that every school would have some little differences, but what I would change is:

1) I really didn't like sitting on a chair while the sisters looked up at me - I don't see a viable option, but it was just awkward.

2) When you're going from house to house (or suite to suite), there should be some time allowed at a mirror, so at least you can TRY to look your best!

i never took to heart that the sisters were singing the "why don't you join us"or "when you are a ____" to me. i just enjoyed the song, but i can see how others might think that, but i would hope that would not be changed. but then, i also enjoyed the yard songs and dances that we all did for the pnms before we ushered them into our houses at fsu. busby berkeley would've been proud!

i agree with honechile . it was a bit uncomfortable to me when i was a pnm to sit on a chair while the sisters sat on the floor. and balancing those plates and cups on my knee could be an adventure too. i always felt bad that we pnms got to eat and drink and the sisters could not.

I would relax the strict-silence rules just a tad. When I was an active, we were not allowed to talk to PNMs AT ALL outside parties - even to explain to them that we weren't allowed to talk to them. :rolleyes: The rho chis repeatedly explained the strict-silence rule to the PNMs so they wouldn't misinterpret why Suzy Sister, who was so nice at the party, now literally would not give them the time of day, but I suspect we (the sororities collectively, not just AEPhi) have lost a few PNMs over the years because they ran into sisters outside parties and felt they were being snubbed when the sisters couldn't talk to them.

I would make sure the schedule contained adequate bathroom breaks. It wasn't so much a problem at my school, where rush was held in the student center and there is time between parties to hit the ladies' room (they actually turn one of the men's rooms into a ladies' room during rush, to ensure there are adequate facilities). But from what I've seen on GC, at some schools you could have a situation where there are a lot of sororities on the day's schedule, you accept a drink at each house to be polite, you know it's rude to ask to use the restroom so you don't, and by the time you get to your last house you're doing the potty dance.

And carnation, I couldn't agree more about the songs about how "you're going to wear our pin". To me that sounds a little like promising a bid. A PNM is sure the line is meant for her, then she is devastated when she is cut. Thinking back over the AEPhi rush songs that I remember, I can only think of one that says anything like that, and my chapter only sings that on bid day - when it is appropriate.

The real swaying factor for me loving Tau Delta was our novelty party. We actually DID stuff with the sisters. Pinata, limbo, brownie decorating, making leighs, pictionary, eating food. The skit/song wasn't about hwo they're the best or whatever, it was just about their sisterhood and what they do together and individually. At the other novelties I went to, there wasn't really a "theme" and the "Activities" were to get signatures from members and dance..which I hated because I hate forced interaction and I haven't got a rhythm bone in my entire body. I think that should aslo be frowned upon by panhel...more interaction w/ PNMs, less requiring PNMs to make an impression upon the girls in the house.

I think that perhaps condensing recruitment would be better too. As it is, it takes 3 or 4 weeks to get through, and its rough on the girls and rough on the Rho Chis and the RC's.

I also think that legacy information needs to be released and found more efficiently! The sign up sheet only asks if you are a legacy, it doesnt ask WHERE TO, which meant that us PX's had to find out and hunt down girls and recruitment chairs.

There needs to be a rule such as 1) if you do not show up to opening ceremony/first PX meeting, you do not go through recruitment. It takes too much time, legwork, and cell phone time to hunt down girls who don't show up. 2) if you DO NOT COME to OPEN HOUSE, you are no longer in recruitment, again, too much excess time spent on a girl who is irresponsible.

I wish Rush here was a bit more structured. Seriously, we are just given a date for a open and the rest is up to us. Also I think it would be nice to have Rho Chi's and to have girls signs up for rush and be able to visit EACH sorority.

See, I never thought of it that way. I remember the one sorority pointing at the girls and saying, "We want you!" I just brought it up the next year during recruitment practice and telling everyone how nice it made me feel. Then again, I did end up pledging the sorority that didn't do any of that stuff, and that just made me feel comfortable.

I don't like it when the rush booklet says:

Do not worry about recommendation letters.

That one statement can end up with a lot of great girls having to be dropped during rush.

My experiences with friends who are Greek, my time on this board, and knowing as many people as I do know, when a friend of mine has a daughter or if a former student of mine is going through rush, i make certain to really sit down and talk with them. Most often, they do not have parents who are Greek. I do what I can to help the ladies find letters of recommendation and introduce them to the alumna that I know. I let them know that I am availalbe if they have questions, and always encouraging them to check with the school they are planning to rush at.

yes to eliminating the don't worry about rec. letters!!

yes to calling it rush!!

yes to emphasising that their commitment is for a lifetime!!

trojangal and FSUZeta, I agree with you about the don't-worry -about-recs statements. Even when a brochure or web site tries to convey the message, "GET RECS," a lot of them end up muddying the waters, as I think the University of Kansas (KU) does:

A letter of recommendation is not needed or required by Panhellenic to participate in recruitment. Each individual chapter has its own requirements for letters of recommendation, some chapters require letters and others do not. A letter of recommendation can only help a prospective member. You can try and find an alumna to write a letter of recommendation for you, but if you can not find one, do not stress. Plenty of women who participate in our recruitment do not have any letters of recommendation and still have a great recruitment process.

Okay, that paragraph is on a web page with lots of info on how to get recs, addresses where they are to be sent, etc. For people who are clued in, or who pick up on clues, the message is there: "try to get recs." But people who are totally new to the idea of NPC, and maybe a little shy about appearing to ask for favors, may miss the clues, not get recs, and . . . well, I hope they have a "great recruitment process," but in general, at a fairly "competitive" large Midwestern school like KU, chances are the "process" will be "greater" for those with recs.

Of course, things are different on some really laid-back campuses,
but for places where recs are a good idea at the very least, or a necessity, I wish the message could be clearer!

I so agree about the recommendation letters! I like to tell PNMs that if their recruitment material says "don't worry about recs", cross out the word "don't". Even where recs are not a necessity, it shows that the PNM is proactive and willing to put in an effort.

Another thing I'd change: Make the parties longer, especially where there are fewer sororities. I've seen round 1 parties as short as twenty minutes. That means sororities are making decisions about PNMs based on maybe 10-15 minutes of conversation, maybe a resume, maybe a rec, and maybe the opinions of a sister or two who already know the PNM. And PNMs are making decisions about which sororities to return to based on maybe 10-15 minutes of conversation with maybe 2-3 sisters out of possibly 100+. Longer parties means more exhaustion, but they give the actives and PNMs a better chance to figure out if the match might be there before any cuts are made. (Note that I come from a campus with 5 NPC sororities, so longer parties are not unreasonable.)

Yes, yes, yes! The rush booklet (yes, I called it rush--like it ought to be! :p) that I received from UK a month or two before I went through said specifically that recommendations are the responsibility of the individual chapters. So I thought, "Great! I don't need to bother getting recs!" Thus I turned down at the very least 5 recs to different chapters on campus...all because I believed the booklet. Dumb, dumb, dumb. (Note: I did get my first choice, but I would've been really really angry had I not...because I would've wondered whether having recs would've made a difference.)

Also, whoever said PNMs should have time to access a mirror and a potty between rounds is right on the money! We had 10-minute breaks between each round, and many times I needed every last second of that time just to get to the house I was supposed to be at...and it was 90-degree August heat. I'm sure I smelled great and looked even better. :rolleyes: Seriously, I would have been so much more comfortable had I been able to blot my oily face and retouch my lipstick before going into the next house...not to mention getting a restroom break, 'cause you can only drink so many icy beverages before you gotta go! That's why I never looked down upon a PNM who asked to use the restroom, because believe me, I could understand.

[. For people who are clued in, or who pick up on clues, the message is there: "try to get recs." But people who are totally new to the idea of NPC, and maybe a little shy about appearing to ask for favors, may miss the clues, not get recs, and . . . well, I hope they have a "great recruitment process," ,
but for places where recs are a good idea at the very least, or a necessity, I wish the message could be clearer! [/B][/QUOTE]

COSIGN

IMPO, I think that the sororities should tell the interested female students they see during summer registration/orientations to find their NPC alumnae group in their hometown. For women w/o a clue about the Greek system and the need for letters, it is devastating to be told oh, you're great, can't wait to see you back tomorrow, etc, then be dropped like a hot potato or cut hard. It's very difficult for these women with excellent grades, great community service, and good character to understand why they get dropped b/c they don't know about it, they may not have been in a community very long, no Greek family members/friends, etc. And, unfortunately, there are some Ro Chis who just don't know how to deal with that type of situation and don't know what to say or do with that young woman. So then, you have girls, wondering why "Am I not good enough, How come they didn't take me? What did I do wrong? "and nobody to answer them.

I agree with everyone about telling the rushees that recs are their responsibility.

Get rid of the PC terms and go back to rush, rushee, suicide and pledge. Most people still use them, and more to the point, it is still what is actually happening. When we completely get rid of quotas, totals and timed parties, maybe then we'll be able to call it "recruitment"...until then it's just wishful thinking and a complete misnomer.

Freshmen should not be permitted to pledge unless they have gone through at least one round where they are required to meet every sorority - and I don't mean 5 sisters at a table on Activity Day. (That is, there should not be a COB only period in the fall semester unless it is limited to upperclassmen.)

Get rid of silence rules except for the actual time of rush. Same for rush counselor disaffiliation - the bigger of a deal is made of it, the more the rushees want to find out. This all being said, make penalties for dirty rushing (like promising bids or pressuring someone) much worse than they are now - either huge $$ fines or no social activities for a year.

I never did see anything wrong with calling it rush, but then a lot of efforts to make things "PC" annoy me. Recruitment makes me think of companies coming to campus looking for new employees.

I agree. The "big job" for the Panhel VP this year was to change all the words in the recruitment handbook from "Rush" to "Recruitment" and "rushee" to "potential new member". No, sorry. These girls aren't potential new members, they're potential pledges. The use of the word "member" even with "new" ahead of it, implies an initiated status, full knowledge of ritual, and complete maturity in sisterhood. In my eyes, these girls are pledging to learn these things, to make them selves worthy of knowing and practicing ritual, and they are earning the right to be trusted with said knowledge. I wouldn't trust a girl to be called "member" after only knowing her from a total of 2 hours during recruitment. I know it is semantics or what have you, but when I was a pledge, I understood that my oath was being tested, that my word had to be proven to have value through discretion, loyalty and secrecy before I was worthy enough to be called Sister.

Also, your "new member period" here consists of the time between your initation and the initiation of the next group (mine ended in March). Girls pledge Jan- first week of march, are initiated, and then are considered "new members" through spring quarter, fall quarter, and then during recruitment of the next year to the initiation of the next pledge class.

I forgot about the potty!! When I was Chapter Advisor, I found out that the PNMs had to go to the TENTH FLOOR of an older building (read: 22 steps to a flight), and then walk down for the first few rounds!! I don't know about anyone else, but when I climb 220 steps in the non-windowed stairwell, I look nasty! AND, (since my chapter is on the 10th floor), we were NOT permitted to put a mirror, a bench, tissues, and/or bottled water out for these PNMs who just made the climb!! I can remember a Panhel Advisor meeting, and the DZ, Kappa, Theta, and Theta Phi Advisors just gaping in amazement! If I did nothing well while I was CA, I am happy to have had that little business changed!

As for the potty, let's face it - we're women. MANY PNMs have no choice but to use the facilities during rush! It's supposed to be fun, people, not a trip to the Gulag!!

Ick. Yep. Hi, that was me. Had to walk up the 10 flights of steps for the sorority that wasn't in the same building as everyone else. Forced to walk because the elevator was stuck (with PNMs on it!). I HATE steps. And I think i didn't give that sorority a fair shake because I was so annoyed at having to take the steps, and never went back after first round because I didn't want to do the steps (we had the weird hybrid rush for my rush where there were no cuts until Pref invites (which sucked!).

I never quite understood why the hell girls aren't allowed to use the can during recruitment. Do they think girls will be swayed by ABC using Charmin and XYZ using Cotonell? Seriously folks, it's JUST SORORITY RECRUITMENT!

I think I won my battle when I was able to prove that the largest sororities were all on the second & fourth floors or off-campus at the time!

This is also why I go ballistic when the @#$%^&* elevator is broken, and I do the stairs, and no one offers the poor alumna a seat or a glass of water!!

I think guys recruitment should have some organization, like the girls, but not complete like the girls. I feel it is better for the guys to see all the houses, not just one house. What happens alot is guys only meet one house and rush them, then they wish they could have gone another house because it wasn't what they thought. Many of my friends from different house wished they would have gone TKE, because they are honestly the most real during rush. Other house pull a lot of shade stuff and ended up losing a lot of members. In some ways to, i kind of like bid matching, even though it seems like you dodn't get the house that you like, but it seems girls are always happy at the end

I agree. On my campus, instead of calling the girls rushees, since Potential New Members is too long to say, most people call them "recruits" which just makes me think of the army. Plus, how many freshman girls who go to a school where Greek Life isn't big (I'm not talking about places like Ole Miss and Clemson) and are honestly familiar with terms like recruitment, and new member?

There are like 4-5 types of recruitment forms you can have and I agree there needs to be some form of structure even in MSR (minimally strcutured recruitment). One of my schools has PSR-partially structured and its going to hurt the 2 smaller chapters since PNM's dont have to go through to each chapter! They go where they want after day 2 and then at day 4 there is bid matchingl... how we dont know this is new and we have no lists really so we can have different girls each day! crazy!

1) I would eliminate frills recruitment or put a limit on all dec's or money spent and have house checks. Some rich chapters I know spend like 5K on rush!

2) BUT I dont agree with the strict silence. I love it! Yes its hard but if rho chi;s can explain it well then hey the PNM should understand. There is ALOT of dirty rushing! and strict silence helps! We had a chapter promise bids to girls and had them drop out of rush, screwed quota from 25 to like 8 that fall and then they got like 30 girls b/c of that right after. SO .... more clear and structured it is the fairer itis for all chapters.

we got one of these during rush, but i SWEAR every sorority was like "oh, the costs on that sheet are totally wrong"
even though they sent in those numbers the summer before rush (i just did it yesterday)

Also, we have a budget of no more than $400 on recruitment. We are a school with about 15,000 undergrads, so we're no huge southern school, but I cant IMAGINE spending more than $200 on rush!!



i hated:
1) our suites arent air conditioned
2) having 6 girls staring up at 1 me
3) the songs...im sorry, i think they are lame
4) answering the same questions OVER & OVER
5) strict silence

hmm...thats about it. im in charge of recruitment this year and i have some AWESOME ideas, I can't wait!

Compared to some campuses, $5,000 is cheap. Panhellenic sets our budget at $6,000. I know for a fact that one house on campus spent upwards of $25,000 and it mostly came from alum donations. They only turned in receipts that totalled $6k. There's no auditing. I would love to do away with the ridiculous and frivallous spending on Recruitment. (At the same time I am envious of those houses that have alums who are willing and able to give that kind of money. Must be nice!)

Did anyone really chose a house because of the floral arrangements? Or professional lighting and sound system during the skit? How about the engraved napkins? Let's set budgets at $200 max to cover printer paper, toner, nametags and other office supplies. That's it, no more. No special outfits for actives or PNMs. Just come as you are and get to know each other. Drop the silly skits and limit the songs to Hello and Goodbye. The rest is just pointless. (But I'm enough of a realist to know that in order to be competitive, we'll keep doing things as we. At least until we are forced to change, either by the Administration or NPC. I sincerely doubt change will ever come from within.)

Let's drop the silly rules like for us accidently crossing the threshhold of a door to wave goodbye. Strict silence is silly because it is better to know the PNMs ahead of time and them to know your GLO in order to make good choices. But at the same time, we must enforce the rules on "real" dirty rushing (like promising a bid and then breaking the PNMs heart) and inappropriate/unsafe rushing (like taking PNMs out to parties and bars).

For our campus, I'd love to add more parties to each round so that there are less PNMs in each. As it stands it is way too crowded and the noise makes it almost impossible to hear yourself think, let alone hold a conversation. From the rumors I've heard, the number of PNMs going through will dramatically increase this year and there's no plans to increase the party numbers. Another thing, I'd bet the Fire Inspector would have a fit if he ever showed up during Recruitment.

As for Recs, most PNMs here know they need them. Not because they're required but rather because it's so competitive. They also know it's their responsibility. But I'd like them to know that 1 Rec is good, 2 better, but 5+ is excessive. We get so many in that we simply don't have the time to deal with all those extras and it doesn't improve anyone's chances to inundate a Chapter with Recs.

I can't even imagine having only $200 for a rush budget! For a COB budget, sure, but not for Formal Rush!

I'm thrilled to see how many people are sick to death of saying "Recruitment" and are using the word "Rush"!! It is sooo liberating to not use NPC-speak!!

But as for the same questions over and over: all Rush Chairmen should tell you how to handle that one by now! You just say all the answers right up front, then get down to getting to know the PNM!

(ps: Zillini, I swear my teeth go on edge when I'm at a rush function that doesn't use the engraved napkins! They're there, they were in budget, use the #$%^&*() things!!!)

At my school, the rush budget was set to $200, that included all nights of rush, PLUS decorations and food for Pref. That was pretty difficult to do, and people had to get really creative with stuff. This year, they finally changed it, so now our rush budget is a whopping $450, $200 of that comes out of the school budget that the school gives you, and the remainder of that has to come either out of members' pockets or out of carryover.

Yes, I think they do, which is why it's a problem -- it'd be really good for the Greek system if PNMs weren't easily wowed, and didn't take those details as signs of a super-strong institution, and just chose based on sisterhood. But marketing works. When a group appears professional, organized, and wealthy, which is what those detail can do, it works.

Of course, the fact that it works is the reason why stopping the madness has to come from Panhellenic, not from chapters. Think of how the chapter's philanthropy fund would benefit from the $20,000 currently spent on ballons and flower arrangements.

As I was reading about the recruitment budgets, I thought the same thing about Philanthropy. Then I thought.. how about if chapters' recruitment budgets were based on their philanthropy efforts? So, you could only spend half of what you'd earned for your sorority's philanthropy the prior year? That would at least help them get their priorities straight, I would hope!

I'm all for no frills recruitment. Terminology doesn't really bother me one way or the other, although I find PNM's to be a difficult term to use.

I always hated recruitment and I wasn't good at it. Talking to people I don't know isn't a strong point of mine if I'm not in the proper mood to do so. I always volunteered to serve the punch. Then I could observe everybody and get a feel for what was happening in the room.

I think NPC has come a long way in the area of recruitment with all the different types they are promoting. I think what works on one campus doesn't work at all on another campus and I'm glad they've built in flexibility.

The only problem I see with this is that I know that my sorority chose our philanthropy because they DIDN'T want money, they wanted manpower. We wanted to see PHYSICAL results of our work, not just financial. Sooo...would you do something like a "this is how much you would have earned had you been paid for your services" type of thing?

I dont agree with a recruitment budget based on philanthropy donations b/c any one can write a check but the hours you put in are more meaningful!

One of my campus's has 8 NPC chapters and quota is like 18 on average. They have smaller parties of like 20-30 pmn (there are like 10 rounds of parties and you get 2 breaks as a chapter) over 3 days with some breaks in the day. Their budget is like %$600 but its a no-frills recruitment. so the panhellenic tells the chapters what types of food they can serve each day (like juice and finger food, cookies, etc...) 1 day is house tours, one is a philanthropy day, and the pref. its sooo much nicer than the frills before. There are no skits and only chants when the PNM's are exiting on day 1 and day 2 so its not so over whelming

New NPC rules have made silence rules less strict. This should have been implemented last recruitment, but I know that some find it hard to make the change or are worried that chapter members will go from super strict silence to no-silence if given any lessening of the rule. But the NPC idea is to allow Suzy Sister to say hi, talk about class and tell Rita Rushee (just doesn't have the same ring as Rita PNM!) that she can't really talk to her. NPC is aware that strict silence was causing some women to feel alienated by the chapter members.

As for terminology - Recruitment doesn't bother me - it's just so long to type/write. Same for PNM - but I actually kinda like it better. I can't remember what the new one for "pref card" is but it's pretty long to. My pet peeve when it comes to names - calling chapters houses. I joined a chapter of Alpha Xi Delta - I didn't join a house of Alpha Xi Delta. If the house burned down and you built another one - are you still a member if you joined a house??

I agree with the rec stuff - while NPC and most Recruitment Rules says officially we as chapters are responsible for finding our own recs for each woman we are interested in - we all know it's not true. I guess that women need to realize that going through recruitment (which is why I guess recruitment is really the better term) is like going on the biggest job interview of your life. You wouldn't go there looking like you just rolled out of bed (which I've seen), you will have a completed application/resume (another pet peeve - you didn't do anything while in high school bu sleep and go to school???) and you have personal recs. Personally, I think recs from teachers/professors, clergy etc. are just as important as those from chapter alumnae who may or may not know the PNM. They often give more insight as they were written for college applications or the like.

As for frills no frills - NPC gave recommendations about that in the late 80's - of course they are just recommendations and some campuses have made the change while others have not. At my alma mater recruitment budgets are supposed to be about $10,000, but everyone spends more than that - some spend 3 or 4x more. I've never understood that, but until there is someway to make them stick to an actual budget it will go on. FYI, alumnae doantions are supposed to count into your recruitment budget. Only the use of items you currently have (say from prior recruitments) don't count.

The only way I can see to curb recruitment budgets is to not allow the chapters to recruit out of their chapter houses except during the "open house" round. If all other rounds were on campus in similar rooms and you were given a list of specific things you could have - then that would get it under control. But of course it won't happen.

I love the songs and most campuses have rules about so called "hot boxing". While it is different from campus to campus I would say 6 to 1 is a no no anywhere. Bid promising is another pet peeve and I have told any chapter that I'm at that I will have the persons pin if I find them doing it. It isn't fair to the PNM or to the chapter. One person cannot and should not try to speak for the entire chapter. Beside the fact that they can't really guarantee a bid and if the PNM doesn't get one they have just hurt the entire system.

As always, I have lots of opinions!!

:D

Haha, kicking ass and taking pins.

The bid promising thing really irks me too, especially when it's not said "outright" but said in every other way.

Another rush pet peeve is the lack of honest information the girls can recieve because of talking Panhellenically. We had a group on campus (widely considered the best) that had an unfortunate situation earlier in the year and were put on social probation for the entire year (pledging mixers were OK, sisterhood events, no go). And my PX partner and I told the girls straight up about it, and what had ACTUALLY happened, so that they didn't have to hear it from the anti-greek grapevine. A couple of people thought that I shouldn't have told them that, because it could be seen as discouraging. Nope, not discouraging, just telling the truth. I hate the rumor mills, and since I had sat on the governance board for that infraction and I work for the paper, I knew what was up FOR REAL...so I let them know as much as I could let them without breaking confidentiality. That chapter still took quota and then some, and they're still a fabulous chapter.

Great topic!
1. Much better information for pnms especially for those where recruitment is frighteningly large. Chapters miss out on wonderful women who simply haven't a clue about about the process. NPC shoud make a recommendation about types of information that shoud absolutely be available to pnms.
2. Upfront and honest information regarding financial obligations.
3. Recruitment back to rush please. There is nothing offensive about the word Rush-and honestly it is a far more accurate word for the experience.
4. More alumnae involvement with rush. In addition to rho chis (or whatever they're called). Some alumnae women should "disaffiliate" to be able to counsel and advise rushees.
5. Better training for rho chis. Unfortunately these women can often be a source of mis-information and or prejudice. They have enormous power, especially the first few days and even a raised eyebrow at a certain question can color a rushee's opinion of a certain chapter.

Nice idea, but what about colonies / new chapters who may not have a local alumnae chapter yet?

I LOVE this suggestion. I remember our RhoChi's were really anxious to get back with their chapters and party with the new members. Having non-affiliated adults to take on some of this burden would be a stellar idea....especially at the larger schools. It'd almost be like having a PNM's mom there to cry with.

I also like what you mentioned, ariesrising, about the information sheets. This would not only help out keeping groups straight, it would eliminate a lot of the small talk that takes up time in short parties!

I wish the rush application had been a bit more... "intensive" just so that matching went better. I remember getting asked the same questions over and over at some houses (such as "where are you living? what's your major?") and wanting to shoot myself. I would have rather only spoken to 2 sisters each day and had better conversations with them than 6 sisters reviewing the same thing every time. Even if the rushee's nametag had that info on it (we had name tags) like place of birth, major, name, would help b/c then the sister could say "oh, i see you're a (insert here) major, why did you choose that?" and it would make things a little less... interview-like and more conversational.

I wish Rho Chi's had prepared me for the gauntlet. I am the only female greek in my family and I had no clue what was coming. When we were standing in front of the house and all of a sudden I hear loud chanting and the doors opened and I saw all the girls, I almost started to shake I was so overwhelmed. It is VERY intimidating at first.