Asking to sit during Rush?
 

I am an incoming freshmen and I am thinking about rushing. Due to a childhood accident, I am disabled. If I stand still, you cannot tell; but when I walk, I have a funny way of walking, and I cannot stand for a long time or walk for more than a mile without being in pain. If recruitment has as much walking and standing as I think it does, I will probably have to sit down at some point Would you frown on a PNM requesting to sit down during rush? I don’t believe any sorority would discriminate just because of my leg (and if they would, they’re not a sorority I want to be a part of), but I’m also scared that the recruiters will think I’m being lazy. I know no sorority is the same, but if the general consensus is not to ask, I have no problem with taking some Tylenol and soldiering on (I’ve lived with it for almost 18 years at this point, a few nights of pain won’t kill me :P).

Contact your college panhellenic recruitment chair and explain the situation. She should then make sure the chapters know and are prepared to accommodate you. Once your recruitment counselor is assigned she should also be made aware - and if I were you I would double-check with her on the first day. I am sure everyone would want to do all they could to work with you. Good luck.

Most parties involve sitting. Your biggest problem may be the walking from party to party depending on your campus. Your Greek life office should be able to make accommodations to assure that you can participate in recruitment. Good luck! :)

I totally agree with SWTXBelle in making Panhellenic aware of your needs.

Also, remember that you are a guest in the sorority's home/party... They should want to make you comfortable. I don't think your request is in any way unreasonable.

Best wishes to you.

Ditto to above. Also, we were told that if any PNM wanted to sit, sit. Many of the groups first round actually had us sit, but in the few that didn't there were always places near by.

When you register for Recruitment, the form should ask you if you are in need of any accommodations due to a disability. You will find that colleges and universities are very pro-active in ensuring that they welcome all students and also meet the legal requirements. It is likely that you will be contacted to discuss your individual needs. If you aren't, or if for some reason the form doesn't ask about accommodations, contact the Panhellenic Office.

If you need specific accommodations, such as a chair, please share that information. The typical sitting arrangement could be on the carpet, especially in the first round. If it is difficult for you to sit down and get up from the floor, please make that known. You should be able to talk about any aspects you think might be problematic for you.

Now is also a good time to contact your university's office of disability support services, to discuss any general accommodations you may need (PE classes, scheduling classes so that you have time to get to classes, etc.). At the university where I teach, students work with this office to determine an individualized accommodation plan, which they can share (or not share, as they choose) with professors. Students usually want to avoid any extra attention being directed toward their disability. especially if it is not readily noticeable. Try not to worry about that. I think you will find that everyone will try to be very accommodating, but you will probably need to be proactive because recruitment is so busy and someone might forget at some point, even if you've made arrangements.

AOIIAngel said most parties involve sitting. This will vary greatly between schools.

When I was in school, an unhoused campus, the only time there were chairs in the room was on Philanthropy Night and Pref Night.

On Spirit Night there were pillows on the floor to sit on; but, only during the video.

If your campus is housed, it's much more likely that the chapters already have a habit of having PNMs sit if near seating, the couch for example.

You definitely need to contact the local Panhel to notify them of your issue.

Agreed with all of the above. (The "Canadian-context" answer would be that they have a duty to accomodate you unless they would suffer financial hardship in doing so...), but of course, the more advance-notice that people have, they better they can be sufficiently prepared for your visit.

When I was an active, there was a PNM who was temporarily restricted to a wheelchair because of an injury. Most of our rush parties at the time took place in the student center, which has elevators. She was not used to steering her wheelchair around by herself, so her mother was allowed to accompany her. Mom pushed her wheelchair from party to party, and sat off to the side during each party. (She joined our chapter, and was out of her chair and walking reasonably well by initiation.)

So, definitely talk to your college Panhellenic rush chair. She and her team should be more than willing to work with you to arrange for a rho chi (or whatever term is used at your school) to drive you from one party to another (or to take you by wheelchair if you're on a car-unfriendly campus like mine), and to alert each sorority that you will need to sit down during parties.

I'm glad you're preparing in advance. Make sure you know how you're getting from party to party, which is more my concern than the parties themselves, where getting you seated shouldn't be a problem. If your plan is to drive from house to house, remember that parking may be extremely limited, so you'll want someone dropping you off and picking you up, if Panhel isn't prepared to take care of your transport. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Although your story isn't exactly unique, it is different enough that I'd be interested to know how you and your school work it out.

Thank you all for your help. I have been trying to find out of the sororities have houses or not, as well as when Rush is, where it will be held, etc. I'm also contacting the school about accommodating my class schedule (I don't require a special room). So far there is no update about Fall 2012 rush, but as soon as there is I will make sure I contact the PHC. You girls have all been very helpful, and hopefully I will be able to participate on GreekChat as a full-fledged sister. :)

I love hearing stories about people being REASONABLE and working to help the situation, not hinder it. YAY!

I understand you not wanting to share more about yourself or your school since you will be pretty easy to spot in a crowd, but you might see if you can find any GCers who attend or did attend your school and ask them some direct questions privately. Your questions should be easily answered from your school's Greek Life website, but unfortunately they aren't all what they might be.