Northwestern Rush Documentary
 

I searched to see if I could find any discussion of this video and couldn't come up with anything but if another exists please let me know. The video said it was posted to YouTube at the very end of February.

"Rushed"

Wow!

The comment about Theta being "blonde southern girls supporting George Bush" did make me lol.

I also thought Anonymous' comments on Facebook were very accurate - girls seem so surprised when they meet someone like them and never realize that's orchestrated.

The documentary could have been good if it had focused more on the active with the brown t-shirt instead of the stereotypical rush chair.

Ummmm what?

I just finished watching this and saw some comment made by someone with my same username....who would have my same username?

Also, who would have it and comment on stuff at my school....not ok.. I just made an account and commented on it *germanblonde15*

I wonder if someone knew my aim and used it...hmmm...

Is there any way I could get this removed... its really hurtful to some groups.

This is aweful...I may have to change all my usernames now...b/c someone else is using it. Not Cool!

If that person is on GC, it's really the wrong thing to do...

What's wrong with being skeptical? People SHOULD be skeptical of any collegiate activity that they have to spend significant amounts of money on AND make a lifetime commitment to.

I appreciated "Anonymous." I think she was disgruntled, perhaps jaded, and I believe those voices need to be heard, too.

I do believe the PhD they interviewed was on point.

The Greek System AS A WHOLE (Including NPHC, service/professional orgs) needs to be studied and discussed critically.

I'm glad that Allie got a bid. She seems really cool -- perhaps she can be part of the change that Anonymous would have liked to have seen in the system.

Or maybe she got jaded, too. *shrug*

Me thinks you doth protest too much.

Did you really feel like Allie was mocking it?

I don't think having an opinion on a practice makes it "mocking." I comment on dumb stuff all the time...doesn't make me a worse Greek (at least I don't think so, others are sure to differ, lol).

great documentary!

I more got the impression that she (like so many of us) thought the whole process was kind of ridiculous but was willing to go through it to see if there was a group that fit her because she totally thought sororities themselves were worth it. I don't think she was mocking the sororities at all; she was mocking the recruitment process... and the process IS kind of riduculous (it's just the best thing we've come up with thus far).

Absolutely because then we could gloss over what really happens during recruitment and pretend it's all happy sunshine and ponies land. Give me a break, anonymous was actually honest. I know for a fact that when I told a friend (who was a sigma kappa alum) what I'd loved about one chapter I visited, the same thing managed to occur at sigma kappa. Exactly what happened with the interest spiel in this documentary.
Recruitment is ridiculous and shallow and we all know it. There's no way you can get to know a person from spending 45 minutes collectively over one week, especially when you do have 300 girls coming through. Does it really matter that one woman was brave enough to come straight out and say it? It's not like they're not judging us either. As much as we tell them not to go through with preconceived notions about each chapter, it's going to happen.

I also liked Allie's cynicism because that's the way I felt during recruitment but at the same time I still wanted to be in a sorority.

Umm, hi. She's 18.

I personally really enjoyed it and wouldn't mind seeing a longer version of a documentary--maybe following several girls around, discussing the costs, etc.

Rush really is shallow, and anonymous was on-point with everything she said.

Agreed. I wish more girls saw this BEFORE going through recruitment... too many girls come into recruitment thinking that it is all rainbows and sunshine, and then wonder later, "Why not me? Was I not good enough?" Maybe. But more likely, you had unrealistic expectations about sororities getting to know the real you in the 5 minute conversation that we had with you. The whole process is superficial, but it's what we have. I feel like every PNM should be critical about each group they see and the process they're going through to find that group - this is a group you're about to commit yourself to for life!

I also thought that Anonymous was pretty entertaining... I know that her (Inter?)National Office probably wasn't happy about her talking about information that's typically considered ritual, but it was kind of nice to hear someone say the things that we all know are true about the sorority side of recruitment...

I liked it. I can't say for certain, coming from a small school, but from what I hear from my sisters who went to big schools, everything they talked about was spot-on. And maybe this is what separates me from the masses, but I think a healthy dose of cynicism can be beneficial. I say this knowing almost for certain that many of my chapter sisters and I wouldn't have made it past first set in any house at most big schools. If any of us had gotten bids, we definitely would never have been Kappas. I can tell just by the looks on the faces of sisters from other schools. I can tell by the reaction that I got the first time I wore my letters while taking summer classes at a Big 10 school where Kappa's a top house. It was like we found a back door into our group, which can be something wonderful. So really, I just have the cynicism and the love, and they coexist, and I think I'm better off for it. I will encourage any daughter of mine, should I have children, to rush. If she goes to a school where Kappa is I'll make sure she's got her legacy letter and I'll hope beyond hope she likes Kappa and they like her. But I'm sure as hell going to teach her that rushing isn't all sunshine and puppies. And at least she'll be a little better prepared.

My potentially unpopular 2 cents.

You know this is why I sometimes question the concept of "dry rush". Because while it's important to not get people who just want to party....as a member of exec in my chapter I really wish we knew in advance how each pledge would act under the influence of a party atmosphere....are they going to be creepy date rapists? will they start fights and shit talk other houses and cause rivalries?

Then again I also understand the reasoning for dry rush...

wait a minute....what on earth does what I just said have to do with this topic?

Well said, KappaKittyCat. You touched on a reality that sometimes gets forgotten: every NPC and NIC group has some chapters that are "top" on their campuses, and others that are very different from the "top" ones. Sometimes it's easy to think too locally about Greek life.

Even with alum hindsight and experience, I occasionally have to surpress a "whaaaat?" reaction to some GC posts. There still can be a sudden jolt when news of recruitment difficulties (low numbers, hard to make quota / compete) or serious trouble with the law is posted, and the GLO(s) in question are ones that are "top" house or milk-and-cookies / straitlaced ones at my campus or at the university in my home town.

This is the problem with this video. Yes, there are groups out there who focus entirely too much on which girls will make the "hottest" pledge class, but I think it's disrespectful to the entire system to say that this goes on everywhere. It is a superficial process, but it's superficial on both sides. If the girls coming to rush weren't thinking about being in only the "top" sorority on campus (i.e. Ole Miss,) then we wouldn't have this obsession. Unfortunately, no one has been able to come up with a better solution. I think explaining the ins and outs of rush to a rushee may make them feel better, but in the end will it change the outcome? Probably not since the most important part of membership selection is private and secretive. At many chapters, including mine, we were simply trying our best to get to know the girls in a short period of time. How about highlighting the pressures on a chapter that force them to make quick, unenlightened decisions? Can you really blame a group for adapting to the circumstances?

I feel like the guy who created this video was trying to make it appear like a look at the process from an outside, unbiased view but really he was just trying to perpetuate his own anti-Greek system view.

I agree, many of the things the rush chair pointed out are completely true, but I still have to wonder how someone who was so involved with her chapter could become so cynical so fast (it says she was a 2006 graduate) and feel the need to 'warn' pnms of the horrors of recruitment.

I also agree that if someone followed around more pnms and had more interviews with people in different positions it would make a great tool for educating pnms about the REALITY of recruitment, instead of showing the process in a consistently negative light.

Coming from the perspective of a pnm it kinda dampens the excitement for recruitment. Didn't really get the point of the "I say [insert greek letter here] - you say ho/slut/Bush supporter/ etc segments. Aesthetically I would have liked to have seen it follow Allie through all the rounds- skiping straight from the round one montage (sp?) to "she joined Tri-Delt" left me with a wth feeling. But 'interesting' on the whole, I guess.

Ditto about following Allie through the rounds. I also was kind of upset about the focus she said we have on physical beauty, because that definately has not been my recruitment experience.

Here is the thing....
Many reps are deep seeded (especially at Northwestern).
Usually it's not many girls who make a rep like that.
Some reps are from single events that happened so long ago that no one knows that is where they came from, except alums.
As you can see, Allie didn't even fit the reputation that was on the video about the sorority she joined. Of all the girls in that house that I know, I only know one person who could be interpreted in the stereotype. (She goes a little overboard sometimes.) The others are some of the most calm and collected people you could know. That policy really goes for every house in the way I have known them. It is maybe one person per 20-30 people in the house that gives the rep.

(At NU)
The reps are also in the process of changing with the changes happening in the Greek system.
There has been a lot of pressure from the administration to change the party attitudes.
This has resulted in quite a few Greek houses to be put on probation for a year and still others potentially being kicked off of campus.
Could you imagine not being able to do anything somewhat social for a year, much less go underground?
There has been a war path, and I plan not to be in the way by just not being in the situation in the first place.

Like all documentaries, there are a lot of facts being presented, but also you have to be smart enough to see the overtones the producer or director has about the issue at hand. Obviously he has an anti-Greek sentiment, while attempting to present this as a documentary of what it'd be like to rush a sorority. It's sad to see that's how the process is, but the ideal alternative-having each girl meet each girl in the house, have a small get together with each sister of the house, is quite impossible. I hope somebody comes up with a better system of selecting girls.

I was not too involved in our Spring rush this quarter, which was a traditional rush and I pledged during an informal rush quarter [winter], so I don't have too much input on the frat's system of rushing. I think we do a fair job of meeting all the potential guys though IMO.

I always found it really funny when people who go to colleges that accept fewer than 20% of their applicants and charge $40K a year (with fewer than half of the students receiving any scholarships) have the chutzpah to call the Greek system "overwhelmingly elitist."

Hi pot, meet kettle!

I can see your point.
The problem is that there can be a lot of division based on money.
The school honestly is a school of higher end labels and if you are one of those people that are not part of that group....I could see why they would be a little ticked. I will say that the school, overall, does do a good job with making sure that everyone there can afford it and gives money when people ask for it.

One thing I have seen is that the school is divided with people "for greek" and people "against greek" with a small percentage in between. Though the sentiments lie with being anti-greek, he did represent some of the feelings and opinions of the school.

Honesty, I think that a lot of the anti-greek sentiments are from a lack of understanding and/or a bad experience.

The whole greek system represents some of the best students on campus, but it is definitely a closed and private system. Whenever there are groups like that (Masons, Elks, etc.) people start to think impossible things, usually not good ones. Most people who want to be in the system can IMO. It is stupid to have your heart set on one certain place because you will end up where you are meant to and be happier with it.

My point wasn't about financial aid.

Look, I went to two universities that could be considered "peer institutions" of Northwestern. The things that were said about the Greek system being elitist, "buying one's friends," etc., were the exact same things we had to face up against during Recruitment. The irony--or maybe hypocrisy--of that situation is that it's hard to call someone else out for being elitist when you're attending an Ivy or another highly selective institution.

That's what I was discussing--and then you went off on this weird tangent.

Same here. I thought that it was well done and informative.

I take your point, but at the same time, there are different kinds of elitism, and there's nothing inconsistent about finding some more distasteful than others. The Ivy League is completely up-front that they pick most of the class based on who they think is going to go out and conquer the world with brains, talent, etc., and then round it out with athletes and legacies. If Anonymous is telling the truth, then her sorority not only judges women primarily on their looks and clothes, but also HIDES that fact and pretends that it's all about being BFFs.

Both my alma mater and Anonymous's sorority are elitist institutions, but I feel quite differently about them. Personally, I'm very comfortable with Ivy League faculty members judging my SAT scores to see whether I qualify for an academic challenge. I'm not comfortable with fellow college women judging my hotness to see whether I qualify to be BFF with Anonymous's sorority sisters, especially if they won't admit that they're doing it.