WaterChild's Fall 2007 Recruitment
 

I went through formal recruitment last August. I had plans to share my story during the actual process, but I couldn't due to the circumstances that PNMs are put under during rush week at my school. After we arrived and moved into the dorms that we lived in for five days, our Rho Chis were under orders to take our cell phones from us and ensure that we didn't have internet access or any other contact with the outside world during the week. This made the recruitment process very difficult for most girls. Directly afterwards, I was still too stressed out from the week. Now that I'm home for the holidays and have some spare time, I've decided that I want to post my story.

Since I'm currently an active, I'm going to use code names. I've decided to go with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream flavors. There are nine sororities at my school:

Chunky Monkey
Phish Food
Half Baked
Cherry Garcia
Pumpkin Cheescake
Karamel Sutra
Dublin Mudslide
Everything But The...
Chubby Hubby

Not in the same order:
Alpha Phi
Alpha Gamma Delta
Gamma Phi Beta
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi

Day One- Arrival
 

Recruitment at my school takes six days. The first day, everyone arrived, moved into dorms, met Rho Chis, and said good bye to parents. My roommate and I got along great right away. Like me, she’s super down to earth and into academics. She is also way into following the rules. So, she listened to our Rho Chis and refused to discuss any of her or my experiences at recruitment parties.

Wait a tick! They actually took your cell phone and restricted your access to the net? I know the word “tyranny” comes from the Greeks, but this seems like it’s a bit much.

are you serious!? that seems so extreme..i wouldnt be able to function without my phone..or the internet for that matter! yea...I wouldnt like that at all, i would feel like i couldnt be trusted or something. But anyways, im excited for another recruitment story! :)

Yes, they did actually take our cell phones. We weren't warned ahead of time or anything. It was pretty terrible for all of us to not be able to call home during this stressful time.

Good lord, that's insane! It's not like you were a sequestered jury deciding a capital case, it's sorority rush, for goodness sake! What were they afraid you were going to do? Call someone at another school and tell them what color streamers and balloons they'd used for decoration?


ETA: Cool points for having "Everything but the..." in your list :)

I love the Ben and Jerry's names, and YES that's insane about the cell phones.

LOL, back in the dark ages nobody had PCs or cell phones so when you rushed and they turned off the dorm phones, that was it. No contact with the outside world. We were so excited to finally be rushing that nobody cared, though.

I remember waiting in line at the pay phones in the dorm lobby to call home, listening to hysterical girls crying.

Might as well have been hazing.

Shocked as well they took away cell phones. Just seems wrong.

I'm almost done typing up day two. I'll finish and post it after work today.

The reason that our cell phones were confiscated and our internet was banned was to help us make our own decisions during the process. We also weren't allowed to talk to anyone else on campus, and we weren't allowed to discuss any of the houses or anything that had to do with recruitment with the other PNMs. The Rho Chis basically listened at our doors to ensure that we weren't. It was pretty ridiculous.

How many girls dropped out because of stupid things like this?

I don't like the idea of an atmosphere of repression. Yes, you should make your own decision, but come on! Listening at doors? Why not just bug the rooms????

She never said they didn't....

what the hell? I don't really feel they have right to take away your cell phones. It's personal property for crying out loud. What if some kind of emergency at home happened and the family wasn't able to reach their daughters.

I can't imagine the financial liability and moral responsibility if there were an emergency and someone needed a phone to call for medical and/or police help. (The university and the sororities would be put out of business...no matter how much insurance they had.) On a lesser note: There are kids, at 18, who need to vent and seek advice from a friend or parent. Unbelievable.

Maybe this is why some moms go down to their D's college for recruitment week and stay in a hotel? To offer moral support in the allowable way? I think restricting phone use/internet access is a bit excessive.


I am hardly a helicopter mom and my D is most definitely not clingy nor does she call me about every little decision. That being said, there were a couple of times during her recruitment that she wanted/needed advice, reassurance or simple congratulations.

This still boggles my mind:eek:

Wow. Just wow.

Earlier this year, my little's dad had a heart attack and was in the hospital for a few days. Her cell phone was getting iffy reception, so her mom wasn't able to reach her for the first day he was in the hospital, and when my little found out, she was so upset that she didn't know sooner. If the reason she didn't know was because someone had actually taken her phone away... it's completely unimaginable. This PanHel is totally setting themselves up to be sued one day.

I think the fact that you refer to her as "D" makes it clear that you are.

Absolutely not. My H and I don't fight our D's or our S's battles for them. We don't write or revise their resumes, applications, or essays for any employment position, college admissions office or any selective program. We never complained about teachers, asked for grade changes. We didn't edit their papers or help with science projects other than to take them to the library to research topics. In short, we never engaged in any of the other typical behaviors that define helicopter parents.

D and S are simply abbreviations in our case.

This is my campus, and taking the cellphones is very new, in the past year or two. I think it is strange and crazy but you know what? That's obviously what the collegians want or it wouldn't be structured into recruitment. There are lots of things we do here that people think are odd, and some I agree with others I don't, but it is the way we do things and if we're not criticizing your methods, don't criticize ours. I cannot imagine that there isn't a central number provided by Greek Life to receive emergency messages or anything like that; and when you think about it if a child goes into the military they aren't allowed these methods of communication either, and perhaps the term recruitment is going a little far ;)

All that said, I won't reveal any hints or spoilers WaterChild, nor will I get offended by anything you say, I'm a grown up.

how bout we let the child tell her story?

p.s. i call BS on the phone confiscation.

Agreed on letting her tell her story.

I don't agree on the phone thing, but that is their campus' choice. They must have their reasons. I am sure that there is something set in place for emergency situations.

Now on with the story....

Amen, sister.

So their cell phones and internet was taken away. It's not the freaking end of the world. As far as emergencies go, I'm sure there would have been a way for loved ones to get a hold of the PNM.

We've seen firsthand how the internet can make or break the PNM. Why is it so bad if the collegians want the PNMs to make their decisions without any influence from the outside world? Could a PNM really go through recruitment without cell phones and internet? Oh wait...that's how it used to be before cell phones and internet!

I wonder if the girls who dropped out as a result of the rule are kicking themselves in the ass now everytime they see the new members and their letters. :rolleyes:

So everyone...just quit criticizing the campus already, keep your opinions to yourself...and on with the story!

I do think taking away cell phones and internet is a little strange, but the method also has its positives. It's almost like a PNM retreat---no one is allowed to spend hours on the phone with mom or BFF from home or being a hermit in your room surfing the internet for hours. It forces the PNMs to be social and make immediate connections with other PNMs upon arrival to college.

I would think that if a PNM's family needed to get a hold of her in the event of an emergency, they'd have the phone number of a Rho Gamma or RA, knowing that they won't have their cell phones, and vice versa, someone in charge would be able to notify the PNM's family if she had an emergency.

Day Two- Nine Houses
 

After a long day of work and several hours of baby sitting, I'm finally posting. It's rather long- sorry.



My roommate and I got up extra early to ensure that we were cute enough to make good first impressions. I’m pretty shy, so I was worried. I wore olive green Bermuda shorts (it was August, remember), a white polo shirt, and brown leather sandals.

Half Baked- I was actually expecting the girls to be loud as they greeted us at the door, but they were a fairly calm bunch. Going in, I knew nothing about the women of Half Baked. I chatted fairly easily with the members that I was paired with as they were very friendly but I really didn’t have much in common with them. I was struck by how easy it seemed after I had stressed out for weeks about recruitment, so I came out feeling like they would be a fairly good match for me.

Chunky Monkey- The Chunky Monkeys were much more boisterous than the woman of Half Baked. I liked this a lot. I was in the marching band during first semester, and I knew that a friend of mine from home who attends the same school that I do was friends with a Chunky Monkey who was on the marching band’s drum line, so I went in with a good impression of this group. Also, I had a recommendation from my neighbor. I had a fairly good time at this house until I got into a conversation with someone about musicians and she struck me as extraordinarily uninformed. It sounds snobby, but because of this I left Chunky Monkey feeling unimpressed.

Dublin Mudslide- I really didn’t know anything about this group prior to recruitment. I felt comfortable as I was brought to a couch to talk with a member. However, the Dublin Mudslides had a strange rotation. Instead of talking to two or three girls over twenty minutes, all the PNMs talked with five actives. It was very confusing and the conversations never really went anywhere because we were constantly meeting new women. One of the women that I met and I discovered that we had a strange connection. I had spent the summer before working in the store of a gardening store. The company also owns a giant greenhouse about ninety miles south of the store that I worked at. One of the Dublin Mudslides worked at the greenhouse, so we knew a lot of the same people. I didn’t know what I thought after I left.

Karamel Sutra- I really, really wanted to be a Karamel Sutra before recruitment began. My aforementioned friend from home is a Karamel Sutra. At a University super early orientation/ registration for incoming freshmen during the previous March, I stayed at this house. However, I was exhausted and having a bad day. I accidentally got in an argument with the Karamel Sutra president and also the girl (not my friend) who was hosting me. I was hoping that this would be forgotten, but the girl that met me at the door during recruitment was the same girl that hosted me in March, and she introduced herself as just that. During our conversation, she made it quite clear that she was not interested in the possibility of me becoming a Karamel Sutra at all. I had a great time talking with the other women, but I was afraid that that night during the spring would prevent me from getting a bid to Karamel Sutra.

Cherry Garcia- A woman who I have done some work for and who I have a tremendous amount of respect for wrote me a recommendation. This woman impresses me so much that I really hoped that I would love this organization. However, this group didn’t rotate at all and the girl that I was put with and I completely clashed. Neither of us knew what to say and both of us were miserable. When I left this party, I was afraid that all the women of Cherry Garcia would be just like her. I didn’t ever want to set foot in that door again.

Chubby Hubby- A girl that I have known since I was a small child is a Chubby Hubby. I really liked her when I knew her back at home, so I had a good feeling about this group. I had decent conversations with the actives. Nothing was awkward but nothing stood out to me either. I didn’t really care either way about the Chubby Hubbies after this day.

Phish Food- During my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I completely despised one of the cheerleaders. I found her incredibly obnoxious and not very bright. I knew that she had been a Phish Food at my school. I did find out right before recruitment began that she had transferred to another school. If she had still been there, I probably would have refused to consider Phish Food at all. I was still a little wary because I was afraid that all the members would be obnoxious and dim. I don’t remember very much of this party, but all I wrote in my recruitment journal was, “Better than I expected…”

Everything But The…- I didn’t really know anything about this group besides the fact that they are small in numbers. This showed especially during the party. My roommate and I were paired with one member. I thought the member was very sweet, and I wanted to talk to her, but my roommate kept asking rude questions. I left thinking that I wanted to know a little more but I was a little swayed in the opposite direction by my roommate’s disinterest.

Pumpkin Cheesecake- By the time that I visited this house, I was exhausted. The members were as well. I met several women that I really liked. One of them is a music major like me. After a long day of meeting people with different interests, it was nice to finally meet somebody who understood what I would be doing in college. I thought that this might be an okay fit for me.


After the day was over, we went to do rankings. We could return to a maximum of seven houses the next day. I watched other’s reactions to houses a little too closesly and ranked the sororities as follows:

1. Half Baked
2. Karamel Sutra
3. Pumpkin Cheesecake
4. Chunky Monkey
5. Phish Food
6. Dublin Mudslide
7. Chubby Hubby

8. Everything But The…
9. Cherry Garcia

VandalSquirrel - please don't take a discussion of the cellphone policy personally. Debating the merits of different policies is part of the game, no matter which campus uses them. I do think Panhellenic should be upfront about the policy, so no one is surprised. If I called my daughter for several days on her personal cell phone and received no answer I would PANIC.
Did the collegians really ask for this, or did it come from the college? And do you think it helps? Do you think there is less "tent talk"? And do the pnms who are now pledges think it was a good idea? If it is a new policy, it is probably under scrutiny. You indicate you think it is "strange and crazy" - so that said, do you think your campus will continue with it?
And for what it is worth, back in the day rushees found phones to use, even when the ones in the dorms were turned off . . . :rolleyes:

Can't wait for the next installment . . .

I second that. I would feel the same way.

Just last week my mom tried calling my lil brother on several occasions throughout the span of a week and received no answer, nor did he call her back. She FREAKED OUT. She finally found the number to a friend of his to check up on him at his apt to make sure he was OK because she was really worried and he lives far from home.

It turned out he was fine, just lost his cell phone and later found it in his truck.

If Panhellenic is going to do this, they need to inform the pnms AND the parents in advance in case of an emergency.

And maybe this was already mentioned and I missed it, but how do they restrict internet access? Do they take away their laptops or make them move into dorms without ethernet cables or something?

Anyway, good story so far.

agree with the other moms. i would have been in a panic if it had not heard from my child in a week and did not know that their phone had been confisctaed. i would think that taking the phones away might had increased the tent talk, since the pnms only had each other to share observations with.

We were given an hour or so to call our family and friends and tell them that we would not have phone access. Our parents had been told ahead of time not to call us, but instead that if they needed to contact us in case of emergency to call the Dean of Students.

I don't think that anyone dropped because of this. If they had, they would have had nothing to do for five days while everyone else on campus was rushing.

Fate?;)

My thoughts, exactly!!!

OMG, we must be twins. I can't deal w/ people who are musically stupid AT ALL. I think I probably would have just made the Tori Spelling face and stood there in shock.

As far as the cell phone policy, I can see the value, but I definitely think the rushees and not just the parents should have known ahead of time - not been told an hour before.

Day Three- House Tours
 

Since my entire recruitment group lived in a hall in one of the dorm buildings with our Rho Chis during recruitment week, the Rho Chis woke us about in the middle of the night as they received our schedules for the next day. It was rough being woken up in the wee hours of the morning, but it was nice to have the opportunity to sleep off any upsetting news. It was upsetting news indeed that I received that morning. We could attend a maximum of seven parties. My list included:

Everything But The…
Chunky Monkey
Phish Food
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Chubby Hubby

I was incredibly disappointed that I would not be revisiting Half Baked or Karamel Sutra. I went back to sleep and when I woke back up in the morning I wore a flowy white skirt, a yellow polka dotted tee shirt, and a pair of gold flats.

Everything But The…- When I walked in, I was delighted to discover that the girl who met me at the door was the same girl that I had liked the previous day. This time, we got to actually talk one on one. She gave a very thorough tour of the house. I liked the house a lot, and I especially liked the fact that it has a back yard. The rooms were cute. As I was given a tour, I could completely see myself living there.

Chunky Monkey- I was met at the door by an adorable, bouncy redhead. She was really enthusiastic about her home and we got along really well. She introduced me to her big during the tour, and I liked her a lot too. The whole house was super cute. A lot of it had been redone recently and it had certainly been redone well. I was so excited about Chunky Monkey, I tried a little too hard and I felt like I was coming across as fake the whole time.

Phish Food- Instead of individual house tours, this sorority gave group tours that lasted one third of the party. One third was spent chatting with a member, and one third was spent playing spoons with a group of members and PNMs. During the game of spoons, the person without a spoon had to answer an icebreaker question drawn from a little cup. It was cute. The house was simple, but sometimes I like simple. It had little touches that I found nice. I really liked the girl that gave the house tour to my group.

Pumpkin Cheesecake- I’ll start by saying that this sorority has the most beautiful and enormous house on campus. I’d actually gotten a tour of this house during a campus visit the previous spring, but I really enjoyed looking at everything again. Unfortunately, the member giving me the tour and I really didn’t click. We had quite a few awkward moments, and I was disappointed because I really loved the building itself.

Chubby Hubby- This sorority didn’t have a house during the fall semester due to a slight tragedy that occurred just before recruitment began. (Well, everyone can figure out which one this is now). So, their recruitment was held in a conference room in the Student Union Building, which is right by Greek Row. This party was a little weird. We played a game of bingo and talked a little. I was actually paired with the best friend of the girl that I know from home. We sat with the girl that I know and her PNM. Before she went to college, this girl was incredibly intelligent, down to earth, and had gorgeous dark brown hair. This time, the girl had platinum blond hair and her personally seemed just as artificial as the shade of her hair. I felt let down by this. As I looked around, most of the group seemed really fake to me.

After all the parties were over, we headed to rank. The next day, we could attend a maximum of four houses.

1. Chunky Monkey
2. Phish Food
3. Everything But The…
4. Pumpkin Cheesecake

5. Chubby Hubby

Bummer about Half Baked and Karamel Sutra, but it seems like you enjoyed yourself a lot more than you thought you would at most of the remaining houses.

I'll wait until the thread is over to address any more cellphone/internet controversy. I'm an alumna so I am not involved in any of the decision making by the local Panhellenic, and I trust that the chapter representatives and chapter advisers are fully informed and making decisions that they feel are appropriate. I've asked sisters who came through in 2005 and 2006 what the phone and internet policies were then, and will have a better answer with more details.

Back to you Waterchild...

Day Four- Philanthropy Day
 

I'm speedy tonight. Here's the next installment.

My Rho Chi woke me up somewhere close to 2 in the morning to hand me my schedule. On it was only:

Everything But The…
Phish Food

What? Where was Chunky Monkey? I thought it had gone so well. I was horrified that only two sororities had invited me back. Even the two that I hadn’t liked as much didn’t want to see me again. I went back to bed and cried myself to sleep. I debated just dropping out because I was afraid that the other two groups would drop me as well, and I didn’t want to be completely rejected. However, I woke up in the morning, put on a brown sundress and some heels, and decided to face the day.

Everything But The…- I was met by a tall blond tall girl and taken into the dining room to begin working on the craft. It was rather simple. We were just coloring pictures. The girl and I had a lot in common, including choir, an interest in rock climbing, and a few of the same favorite movies. I felt really comfortable talking to her. I then was taken into a living room to meet another girl. I discovered that she, like I, was in the marching band! We chatted a bit about that. We got along very well also. Then, we watched a short film about the Everything But The…’s philanthropy. I wasn’t very impressed with it.

Phish Food- As I walked in, a girl who had gone to my high school that I had never actually spoken with met me at the door. We have a lot of friends in common, and it was really comforting to finally sit down and just talk to someone who had come from the same place that I did. (I was the only girl from my graduating class to rush at my university.) We actually got along really well, and the time flew by at Phish Food. I didn’t even do the craft I was so into our conversation! During the party, I also heard about Phish Food’s philanthropy. I was excited because it’s something that I’m really passionate about. I was also told about a motto of the sorority, and I was touched deeply by it.


After the parties, we once again headed to rankings. I ranked the two, even though it didn’t really matter, and I hoped that neither would drop me. We could attend a maximum of two the next day at preference.

1. Phish Food
2. Everything But The…

Thanks VandalSquirrel for holding off on the cell phone thing.