Bid Question
 

I know this has probably been mentioned somewhere on here before, but I have never heard of this happening in my 25 yrs. of volunteering, but wanted to see if anyone else had ever heard of this situation. My daughter attends a school with four chapters on campus and they hold deferred recruitment. She had a friend from HS who went through recruitment. Her friend was a legacy to chapter A, had many friends in chapter B, my daughters chapter was C and the other chapter was D. Her friend felt like she would be assured a bid to chapter B because she had many friends in this chapter. Prior to pref night she was dropped by chapter B. She attended her legacy chapter and my daughters chapter for pref. She ended up suiciding my daughters chapter. Now here is the part I cannot comprehend, her friend had a falling out with her roomate first semester and changed rooms. Her ex roomate matched with my daughters chapter. Panhellenic approached my daughter's friend and her roomate and asked them prior to bid distribution, if they could be in the same group? They both said "No." My daughter's friend ended up getting a bid to chapter B, the group who dropped her before pref. Can anyone explain this? I certainly cannot.

Something here got lost in the translation. I've NEVER heard of Panhel getting involved in rushee-to-rushee disputes (unless it involved a murder charge). How on earth would they know about it in the first place??

I think this is some very creative storytelling by your daughter's friend to save face.

My guess? She "fell through" (wasn't high enough on your daughter's group's bid list) and got a snap bid to Chapter B. Not sure about all the storytelling, but it sounds like someone misunderstood something Panhel was saying.

How did she get a snap bid if she didn't attend pref. and went to her legacy chapters pref.?

Her friends mother called me just after Panhellenic spoke to her daughter, bcause her daughter was going to leave if she didn't get a bid anywhere. She wanted to know how prevelant Greek Life was on campus and would it make or break her daughter for the next 3.5 years.

This is possible. Even if Chapter B is a "selective" chapter. The way RFM works, high recruiting-strength chapters are forced by Panhellenic to make the most cuts, so they might miss quota and need to snap bid a few women.

Thanks to all of you for clearing this up for me. I was so confused. My daughter just called a few minutes ago to tell me her friend has dropped Chapter B and will not be pledging and is leaving school at the end of the semester.

There is something off about this, I think. If the friend wanted to be in Chapter B and got a bid there, shouldn't she be happy? And why didn't she get a bid from A since she is a legacy and did attend pref there? The bid from B seems a little left field for me. Now, I know things can be a little more informal on a smaller campus since I advised at a school with just a few chapter, but this still seems odd.

She probably feels embarrassed that Chapter B dropped her but now gave her a bid. Nobody wants to join a group that doesn't want them. She didn't get a bid to her legacy group because she didn't rank them.

How can you suicide and get picked up by another chapter? I think a story has been told to cover the truth. Maybe she received no bid and may be finding blame (ex-roommate) for the cause. She may be protecting her mother from the truth.

It is possible to suicide, not match, and get a snap bid. It is also possible that this girl didn't actually get a bid from chapter B and is saying she turned it down to cover it up. I do agree it's strange that someone who got a bid from a chapter where they had a lot of friends (with no indicators that she did not like this chapter) would turn it down.

I don't know, I do have a sorority sister who joined after being released by AOII at a big SEC school. Apparently the CPC then allowed each chapter to pick up a couple more girls...must have been an early RFM thing. She suddenly was asked to join. AOII was why she went through recruitment as a sophomore, but she almost didn't accept the bid and is still a little bitter about it today because it felt like a slap in the face to her. She's a great sister and dedicated alumna, so I'm so glad she decided to accept the bid. I can see how hurt feelings could get in the way of someone taking a bid from a chapter where all your "friends" cut you the day before. If the rest of the story is true, she probably doesn't understand that her friends aren't the only say in who gets a bid.

What a terrible shame that this young woman is going to actually leave school over not getting her choice of sorority... what a waste. Hopefully she will take some time to get her priorities straight.

Agreed.

I double checked the Green Book just to be sure, but you're correct, although Quota Additions require a PNM to have maximized her options, snap bids do not (as they are matching the PNM with someone NOT on her bid list, the PNM gets no benefit from SIPing.)