Maryland Recruitment as a Rho Gam
 

Since PhoenixAzul started a thread as Rho Chi, I decided it was time to start mine! I am a senior member of my chapter, and a Rho Gamma this year! I am so excited to be a Rho Gam because mine was awesome and I want to "pass forward" the favor of supporting and helping PNMs.

Maryland has a pretty unique Greek community. We have characteristics of both northern and southern schools. We are a frills campus in that we have pretty elaborate decorations, door chants, coordinated (but not identical) outifts. I wouldn't say that our campus is super competitive, as our number of women who are cross-released is pretty low (last year 11 out of about 500 were released from all 14 chapters). Total is 95, and quota is usually in the low 20s.

One thing that makes Maryland's recruitment unique is that every chapter participates in informal recruitment in the fall. It's because quota x 3 does not equal 95. We are hoping to keep quota as high as possible (which means retention) so that only chapters that need to "catch up" participate in informal recruitment and do not have to compete with larger chapters. My goal, albeit a lofty one, is to have all of my PNMs go to preference and then decide whether or not to drop out.

The Panhellenic Association is giving the PNMs their invite lists right before the parties instead of during the "off" days in between rounds to help retention. This makes it easier on the Rho Gammas, plus the PNMs are dressed and ready to go, so the thinking is that they're more likely to stick it out one more round if they are dissappointed with their invite list.

Recs are basically unheard of at Maryland. MAYBE if you're a legacy you should get one, but chapters will check up on the relation, so it really doesn't matter.

Greek life at Maryland is well-regulated and focuses on vision, but we still have fun, I swear! We have 6 full time employees in our Greek life office, as well as a bunch of part-time advisors and residential fellows supporting us.

Maryland has 14 amazing NPC chapters:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Phi
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Phi Epsilon
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Phi Sigma Sigma
Sigma Delta Tau
Sigma Kappa
Zeta Tau Alpha

Our schedule is as follows:

Tue Jan 23: Last day to register for recruitment
Recruitment orientation
Wed Jan 24: Classes start
Thu Jan 25: Recruitment kick-off (we meet our PNMs this day)
Sat Jan 27: Round 1
Sun Jan 28: Round 1
Tue Jan 30: Round 2
Wed Jan 31: Round 2
Fri Feb 2: Round 3
Sun Feb 4: Preference
Mon Feb 5: Bid Day

Round 1 is in the student union. PNMs will visit all 14 chapters. Each chapter goes for one of the days, so we only have to rent out 7 rooms each day instead of 14, and chapters only have to set up 1 of the days. The PNMs will visit 7 chapters each day during round 1.

Round 2 is philanthropy and house tours. The PNMs can go to a maximum of 10 chapters for this round. They will go to the chapter houses and get a tour, plus help with a philanthropy project at each chapter.

Round 3 is skit round. PNMs can visit a maximum of 6 chapters this round. Again, this round is at the chapter houses and chapters will decorate the non-sleeping floors of the chapter house for a themed skit. This round is definitely "frills".

Preference is also at the chapter houses and PNMs can visit a maximum of 3 chapters. It is in the afternoon so it does not interfere with the Superbowl, which is kind of weird, but better than the alternative that we tried in 2005. In 2005, we had preference (a Saturday) the day after skit round (a Friday), which was hell taking down the skit decorations and putting up pref decorations overnight, and the PNMs had to wait a whole day between preference and bid day (a Monday) to find where their new homes were.

I will be discreet and generic, because I do not want any PNMs to be hurt by something I say. I will reveal my affiliation and where my PNMs end up on bid day!

I can't wait!

hooray! another R.C. thread :). Any idea how big your group will be?

I don't know how many women have signed up yet, but we usually have around 400-500 women register. There are 34 Rho Gammas, so I could be looking at anywhere from 12-15 PNMs.

I am so excited for this thread!

I am an alum of UMD and a member of a sorority there.

It's been a long time ago since I graduated and the greek system has changed A LOT and back then I would absolutely consider it a competitive school. Maybe not Ole Miss competitive but still very competitive.

I will tell you my affiliation at the end of this thread too in case anyone cares.

I am going to try *really* hard to figure out all the houses and see if their "reputations" still hold up.

Even though we all know reputations aren't always true and to follow your heart and give it a shot...

Have a great rush!!

Don't keep any details out. I want to hear everything!!!

I'm not exactly sure what I will be reporting in this thread, probably how many women I get in my group, when someone drops out, where everyone goes at the end, warm fuzzy stories, funny stories, and my affiliation at the end. Anything else that I would put in here? I guess I'll see what PhoenixAzul puts in her Rho Gam thread.

Of course I will not give a play-by-play of what every PNM is thinking about every chapter during each round.

YAY!!!! UMD Recruitment!!!! I still remember Recruitment time in College Park like it was yesterday. Meeting new members at the chapel and then running down the hill......I was a recruitment counselor back in the day, except we were called Rho Chis still then.....LOL (dating myself, much?) I hope you have a fabulous time being a Rho Gamma and that all your girls find homes. Maryland greek life was so awesome when I was there!

I dunno if this will help you, but I've done the PX thing before and I wrote a thread about it. http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ht=Recruitment

Yay, a Maryland thread!

It's already been said, but things have changed so much there (especially since I was there). Five sororities have left; one's arrived. Rush used to be in the fall. Pretty competitive. Total was about 135 with quota around 35.

Maybe aabby remembers this better than I do but weren't Rho Chi/Rho Gammas just called Rush Counselors?

One thing that I wish hadn't changed is all the sorority members used to stand out in front of their houses singing before the PNMs filed in. The whole place was a noisy riot. It was great.

I'm looking forward to your stories! I hope all your girls get their favorites. :)

We still do door chants for rounds 2 and 3 and songs for pref but we stay inside, probably because recruitment changed from September to January...nobody wants to stand outside in January. It'll be fun getting to hear everyone's chants again! Thanks for all the well wishes!

I remember my freshman year they would run screaming from inside their house and then do a huge song and dance on the lawn. And then inside was incredibly decorated.

Yes Rho Chis were called Rush Counselors.

Yes, several sororities have gone. One recolonized a few times and then closed again.

I think back in the day when tours (first round) was 18 houses. Quota was high 40s or low 50s.

And, the most devastating change of all? The Vous is no longer there.

Don't get me started!

I can't wait for more of this thread!!

PBF left in 1991
KKG and AGD left in 1992
AXD left in 1993
GFB left in 2000

CW attempted colonization in 1996 but withdrew.

What!?:eek:

The Vous was an institution at Maryland! Where else in College Park could you possibly have the pleasure of being packed into a smelly, decrepid building and have to stand in 3 inches of beer, sludge, and frat-boy urine? Kids today are missing out!

Is it Cornerstone that took over the Vous?

I think but am not sure that Cornerstone is where The Cellular used to be.

The Vous was on the corner caddy corner from Ratzies.

The Cellular used to have 25 cent pitcher nights on Monday with a $5 cover. Even before then you could show your meal card and slip the bouncer $5 and get in.

Good times.

Yeah, it is. I dont think they have it in there anymore, but they used to have a ton of old Vous memorabilia in there. My parents were really shocked by that too! I am a 2nd generation UMD alumna (both my folks went there a LONG way back in the day) For a while we had Terrapin Station as a "replacement" for the Vous which I think closed in '96 or '97, but that got shut down over the summer of my freshman year (summer '99)

From what I hear College Park has gotten progressively more dangerous since I was there. I heard something about a shooting or a stabbing outside of Cornerstone last semester? And they have a "no ghetto" policy in there now? Crazy......we heard about that when we were there for Homecoming. To think back on some of the things that I did when I was in school that were SO DUMB even then, would probably be even worse now. (ie I used to walk from the Row, cut through that area of trees between the Row and the Book Exchange parking lot to go buy cigarettes at the convenience store....alone....at night) Whatever, I still miss it though.....DP Dough, Jungle Grille, and late night runs to WaWa........man I miss it a lot.

OOOH on a totally random note......I heard Beta got booted recently? Who is in their house now?

First of all, I understand that Beta was a top house which was NOT the case when I was there so good for them for getting to the top. However, yes they lost their house and I think Lamba Chi Alpha (wasn't there when I was there) is in their house now.

I read the Diamondback online everyday and I can keep up with stuff that way.

No, actually Lambda Chi has been at #7 at least since I've been at UMD (Fall 03). Beta lived in #6. They lost their charter over the summer, so right now the house is empty but Delta Chi is going to be moving in (I think this semester but I am not positive).

Just in case you wanted to know how much the row has changed...

1. Kappa Alpha Order
2. Pi Kappa Alpha
3. Delta Tau Delta
4. Alpha Epsilon Pi (SAE used to be here but then they were kicked off)
5. Phi Kappa Tau
6. Empty, soon to be Delta Chi
7. Lambda Chi Alpha
8. Sigma Phi Epsilon
9. Alpha Sigma Phi
10. Sigma Kappa
11. Alpha Epsilon Phi
12. Zeta Tau Alpha
13. Zeta Psi
14. Zeta Beta Tau

They say they want a student ID to get in, or you have to be a "regular" or I guess you have to not look sketchy. I don't know, since I don't really go to the bars much.

Oh yes DP Dough...what's even better is that you can get it delivered from campusfood.com.

yes, Lambda Chi got Phi Sig Kaps house after they were kicked off campus for the alcohol poisoning death in the spring of my Sr. year. I still remember running into a few of my friends in Lambda Chi at Bentleys on the day they found out......all the brothers were "celebrating" indeed....LOL.....I just cant picture Lambda Chi anywhere else than the big white house (where Delta Chi is now). Good for Delta Chi. I always liked those guys a lot. I guess my DH's chapter (Zeta Psi) is doing pretty decent. Theyve been a B house the last few semesters if I recall correctly. They were a C (albiet a large C by the time we graduated) when we were at Maryland.

Oh, btw, any of you ladies watching the Maryland-Miami game right now?
GOOOO TERPS!!!!!!!!

Yeah, they actually had their own delivery people when we were at school....I think that was our Valentines Day meal the first Valentines day my DH and I were dating (we were def. the DEFINITION of "broke college kids" when we were in school) We actually went to DP Dough during Homecoming Weeked!

And I heard that about the ID thing. Its like if you dont have a student ID and you dont look like you "belong" there, its like a $50 cover

My favorite is the chicken fajita calzone. Breaded chicken, jalapenos, black olives, onions, cheddar and hot sauce. Except I get it without chicken since I don't eat meat anymore.

But yeah I can see the C-stone thing getting ugly and racist if it's left up to whether you "look like you belong."

Is Penguin Pizza still there?

Is the girl with the florescent green nail polish still work there? ha ha

Yes, the row has changed a lot.

But then the grahamn cracker has too.

Pika used to be the 711 and Sigma Chi, oh my Sigma Chi is no longer there. And that is just one example.

Could someone private message me and tell me which sororities are A tier, B tier etc? I'm just curious.

Thanks.

nope Penguin Pizza mysterisouly dissapeared one weekend my Sr year. Pike colonized in 1997 and when they did so they lived in AZD's old house (with pink carpet YEAH!) And Sigma Chi......Sigma Chi went from an A house when I joined to a C house and then to nothing by the time I graduated. Those guys burned a lot of bridges on campus by the time they left. No one liked them by the time they were gone. Hey, if anyone might know, is AGR still around? That was Rho Chi HQ during recruitment when I was a Rho Chi....lots of fun had waiting between the parties.....LOL!!!!!!

My favorite calzone at DP Dough was the one with the pesto in it, but I cant remember for the life of me what else it had.....it was SOOOO good!

Yep AGR is still there. I think Phi Delt is the new Rho Gamma HQ though.

YARGH!!!!!!!!!! we're 4 points down with 1:08 to play........COME ON TERPS!!!!

Thats it....DAMMIT GARY!!!!! LOL :p I get pretty heated about UMD basketball

Good Luck to your girls
 

Good Luck to all the girls in your group. I got to Frostburg and we start recruitment in Feb. We're not having formal recruitment this spring, as we had in the past, because the Greek Advisor is on maternity leave and couldn't find anyone to run it...

Anyways, good luck to your girls I know they will find the perfect group!! :)

Come to think of it, our Panhellenic Advisor is pregnant! I think she's like 6-7 months along by now, so she'll be pretty big once I see her again! That kind of sucks that you guys can't have formal recruitment, but I guess when there are only 3 chapters it wouldn't make a HUGE difference.

We actually have 3 recognized sororities that also participate in formal recruitment with the Nationals. But you would be surprised the difference Formal Recruitment does make even for just 6 groups. Each group seems to do best during formal. Frostburg is at a stand still with expansion, we can't get anymore National groups until all the NPC's are at total. Unfortunately, one NPC group on campus seems to be struggling each semester with numbers and it just doesn't seem like whatever they are doing is working.

Anyways, Best of Luck to all of your girls!! :)

The chicken fajita was so spicy I could barely eat it and I eat everything spicy. Maybe I got a particularly strong one. My usual DP Dough Calzone is the BBQ chicken zone. You cannot go wrong with that. So good. I knew there were franchises, but I didn't realize there was one by UMD.

I always dip it in extra marinara sauce. I don't think I could eat it without the marinara on the side.

Three more days! Any updates?

I get to meet my PNMs today!

have fun and be informative!!

Today was kickoff and I met my group today! I have 13 women in my group! They all seem so sweet. I have a pair of twins (who live together) in my group and another pair of roommates. We did an icebreaker, went over what to expect during recruitment, did a philanthropy project (Panhellenic-wide) to support the victims of genocide in Darfur, and got to know everyone. I might have scared them with so much info all at once, but they laughed at all my jokes and asked questions, so maybe they weren't scared. I will make sure they are all on the ball each step of the way. I am still high on adrenaline!

you go girl!!

My group is down from 13 to 10. One girl transferred to another group to accomodate her for tours, and two haven't shown up to anything. Today was the first day of tours in the union. We visited in no particular order:

Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Phi
Delta Delta Delta
Phi Sigma Sigma
Sigma Kappa
Zeta Tau Alpha

My girls were a little overwhelmed since we saw 7 chapters today (and will see 7 tomorrow) but I keep reminding them that this is the most tedious part. I think most of my girls are pretty enthusiastic about joining a chapter. They seemed to have fun today even though the round was tiring. I also reminded them to be polite at each chapter even if you think you are not interested because a) you might change your mind and b) you wouldn't want PNMs to do that to you. More to come. Tomorrow they rank after seeing the rest.

good advice!! good luck to your girls.

Yesterday, my PNMs visited:
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Omicron Pi
Delta Gamma
Delta Phi Epsilon
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Sigma Delta Tau

So far, my PNMs are being really good. I haven't heard any negative comments come out out of their mouths. I was really impressed with them yesterday when they were ranking---they were completely silent and trying to cover up their choices when they were making their picks so they wouldn't influence each other! The next round, which starts tomorrow, PNMs can visit up to 10 chapters, 5 each night.