Is This Allowed?
 

A friend of mine's daughter will be a freshman in the fall. She has not decided where she will attend. However, from one of the schools that she was accepted to, she received the following invite:
The University of Somewhere Chapter of Alpha Beta Gamma (an NPC sorority made up of course) would like to invite you to ABC Event on XYZ Date at A Location in your hometown. Can they do that? My first thought was that it was a rush infraction but is it? I don't know the rules these days.

KSUViolet06 - I think you are probably right. I think it is the same basic principle behind the individual chapter invitation parties held this spring at Alabama for hs seniors. I am guessing that because no one has officially sign up for recruitment, then this can be considered legal.

However, I do think it varies by campus. At some universities, it is very illegal to entertain a potential PNM anytime in the spring semester prior to fall recruitment, regardless of who hosts the party.

For clarity, the invite in no way, shape, or form was from an alumnae chapter nor is it being held in the city of the campus.

Its not hosted by an Alumnae chapter, but it is not in the city where the campus is? Who is it being hosted by then? Why would the chapter host an event outside of their university city?

It is not hosted by an alumnae chapter and it is in a very large metropolitan city near the university. I will say that it is in the South and a very competitive university but I don't want to give away too many details.

I was going to say that it probably depends on the rush rules for that campus. I know of many schools where formal recruitment is VERY laid-back. I do not advise on such a campus nor would I anticipate that a competitive southern school would have such laid back recruitment rules but it may be worth checking into exactly what the NPC rules for this campus are before assuming that it is an infraction.

Many sorority chapters at the University of Alabama and Auburn University have (officially in the past) hosted teas and events around the state, especially the bigger cities from which they draw a lot of members. Not unusual.

agreed.

when i lived in san antonio, i knew of ut-austin sororities that held "get-togethers" in and around s.a. for pnms the summer before the pnm started at ut-austin.

Ok, makes sense...I am not that familiar with competitive Southern recruitments.

At Alabama it's commonplace. I'd even go so far as to say any chapter that does not hold spring teas may be at a disadvantage come formal recruitment time in August.

To be clear these teas are all approved by UA Panhellenic and there are guidelines that must be followed. They are held in the spring before the "No Contact" cutoff date which is sometime in May. Teas may or may not be sponsored/hosted/paid for by alums. As AnchorAlumna said they are often held in larger cities (such as Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Atlanta) and sometimes in central geographical locations to encompass many of the smaller communities.

These are common where I am too but sometimes it is hosted by an active collegian. For some campuses, this is a no-no and for others, it is just fine.