25 African American women among 2,261 who received bids in 2015 rush
 

Crimson White:

25 African American women among 2,261 who received bids in 2015 rush

The University of Alabama’s new sorority recruitment tradition of being the largest in the nation continued this year for the sixth time in a row.


The number of women who registered for recruitment this year increased by 7 percent, bringing the total up to over 2,400. Of those who registered, 214 self-identified as minority women, a 13 percent increase from last year.


"We are very proud of our young women and their commitment to continue to move forward with resolve, energy and enthusiasm,” said Dr. David Grady, the vice president for student affairs. “While numbers are not the only measure of success, they do indicate that we are making progress. We will continue to focus on creating and sustaining a welcoming and inclusive campus for all students."


This year, each sorority gave bids to at least 120 freshman and seven upperclassmen, but some sororities exceeded that quota in order to place all of the women who went through recruitment.


UA Panhellenic President Olivia Acker attributes the growth to the already immense size of the Greek system at the University.


“It offers every single person who wants to join a Greek organization here the opportunity to find one that fits their needs,” she said.

The sororities doled out 2,261 bids to the prospective participants, ending with a 93 percent acceptance rate, about a 10 percent increase from last year.


“We were very proactive this year in making sure that the women who do want to participate in active recruitment know there are no barriers to deter them from coming to the university and joining a sorority,” Acker said.

Article continues: http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2015/08/bidday-2015

***ETA: Article was moved -- new link:
http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2015/08...ase-13-percent

The breakdown is interesting, though...it looks like last year, 21/21 black PNMs were placed, and this year, only 25/34 black PNMs were placed. I also would love to know which chapters took black women.

In summary, I don't see much of a change from last year.

In 2014, Alabama PHC had an overall placement rate of 90.2%. The African American PNM placement rate was 100%. In 215, the overall PHC placement rate went up to 92.5% while the African American PNM placement rate fell to 73.5%.

Is that an alarming trend? Maybe. Maybe not. That AA PNM sample size is just too small (21 in 2014, 34 in 2015) to really tell a story. A handful of PNMs dropping out or not getting placed skews the stats way too much because it's such a small pool.

However, the real story is that in the past two years 46 African American women found a home in an NPC sorority at Alabama. That is a move in the right direction.

Not placed and cut are 2 different things. Do we know if the unplaced women dropped or were cut?

I would assume it would become newsworthy (due to last year's events) if the cuts were made in a manner that was unfair. However, if they were cut in the same manner the non-minority girls were cut, then it was a fair process. In the case of many girls who are cut, it is based on grades or standards. It would be wrong to place girls based strictly on race if the other factors were not equitable with the overall group.

My guess (and I don't know nuthin bout nuthin) is a few more black girls went through rush because it's not a guaranteed fail anymore, went through a round or 2, didn't dig it or didn't like their returns, and then dropped out. I would further speculate that the chapters are giving women of color the benefit of the doubt to try to diminish the aspect of tokenism. Having that 1 black girl from 3 years ago isn't super cool and they know that. That doesn't mean you have to pledge a girl who's not a fit, but it does mean you might bump her up on your list from no to the flex list or from the flex to the yes list to see how it goes at the next round. Just like you might the super smart (or rich or athletic or musical) girl who isn't terrible but didn't sparkle.

But I do think we are one day closer to it not being news. And that will be a good day.

As I've said about this for years, I wonder if the shrinkage rate between those who accept bids and those who actually make it to initiation is the same proportion for the general rushing population. The same can be said about those who are still active at graduation.

The article says 6 dropped out, and 3 were not placed, so I'm assuming it means cut.

But really, the point is, we are just talking about really small numbers and it doesn't mean much at all.

Is this accurate? Everyone was placed?

Does anyone know chapter total at Bama now? I believe most chapters are now over 400.

No, everyone was placed who made it to prefs and either maximized their options or didn't maximize but lucked out.

Not sure but I THINK chapter total is 365. It was adjusted last year after recruitment (and was discussed somewhere on Greekchat). It will probably be adjusted again very soon.

From what I saw on Instagram
Alpha Gamma Delta
Tri Delta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Those are the ones I know if

Article was moved -- new link, new headline:

Minority Bid Numbers Increase 13 Percent

http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2015/08...ase-13-percent

Yes -- the three who were "not placed" were either released during rounds or were PNMs who (after pref) did not maximize their options.