Sororities that don't have strong Formal rush?
 

I was wondering. A lot of our emphasis here seems to be on chapters that are in big Greek systems.

Those sorority chapters mostly don't have to recruit, girls just flock to them. In fact, they usually have to cut heavily.

But what do the NPC nationals do for their chapters tha are on campuses with much smaller systems?

What is the strategy they give?

Becaue a lot of times on those campuses, Formal Rush is NOT a big deal at all. On those campuses deferred Rush is the standard.

ITs been my experience that the girls are as bad at Recruiting as the boys, so I was wondering exactly what each of your nationals has in place for chapters in smaller Greek systems.

In other words, how are they supposed to go about getting new members lol.

In the words of our old recruitment chair, "Continuous Open Bidding is your friend!"

At my school, formal rush is more of a pain in the a$$ than anything else. Most freshmen don't want to go through the hassle. I've never been through it myself, and I was a Rho Chi last year, so this year will be my first on "the other side". But from what I've heard, it's just akward on both sides.

But what do they tell you to do?

I mean just posting signs for "info" nights can't be the end all be all.

Dorm Storm? What?

We have wish lists, and then we have events and invite the people on our wish lists. I have no idea what dorm storm is. Most of our girls are involved in a lot of things, so it is easy to make the wish list full.

Well, I come from a small school with a rush that is just as huge (percentage-wise) and just as competitive as the big state schools. (See the thread Rush at Washington and Lee) Part of this stems from the fact that people who want a great liberal arts education and strong Greek life flock to the school.

Another thing is--every freshmen hall is automatically assigned to a Rho Chi. The Rho Chi holds informational rush meetings even BEFORE registration for rush. She'll get the hall together one night for pizza or something, invite everyone to come, and will just talk about how much fun rush is and how it's a great way to meet upperclassmen (because of rush rules and deferred rush, often hard to do at our school). By the time of registration there has already been a meeting or two and most women are getting sort of curious at least... The Rho Chis do a great job of presenting rush as fun and overlooking some of the stressful and competitive qualities of it... Mainly because very few woman are cut from all of the houses in rush; it's pretty easy to find a place if you are truly dedicated to it....

James,
My school was an in between. We weren't big, and Greek Life wasn't considered bad or good, it just was. At my campus there wasn't much Greek unity, I guess you could say, as a matter of fact formal recruitment is really hard because every one wants the same girls because not many go through (although our numbers are growing every year, this yaer quota was 40, the year I pledge 30). Anyway with only seven sororities you can imagine it is tough! Our nationals really just helped us with COB and improving our formal recruitment skills in order to be more competetive with the other chapters. It is tough, but we manage, even if we are a smaller chapter.

You have deferred Rush, and the rushees still stay interested into their second semester?

Is the arrangement of the Rho Chis in the Halls formal with the school? That's amazing.

At my school there are certain years where rush is great and others where it just stinks. So we go for the wonders of cor. The main thing is that many of the time we setup a table in the union with info about an event. We also take the list of girls who dropped out of rush and try to contact them. Also we invite people we meet in our classes. Also we use our chapter website as a way to get interested people to one look at us and too have info to contact us with. Other ways that we get girls is just the whole signs factor. I personally did not go through formal recruitment, but adpi was having a recruitment weekend where they just ran a bunch of events all in one weekend. So I saw signs around then went by the table at the union and desided to sign up as in an interest in going. So that friday night I went to an event and then just started hanging out with adpi's. After a bit I was offered a bid. I know much of the time on my campus we will take perspective members out to just whereever we decide to hang out.

For the first question, yes, most definately. I think it increases interest, because although many people do come to the school with the express purpose of pledging, a lot of people who never saw themselves as Greek warm up to it when they see how friendly the Greek system is and all the advantages it brings. I probably wouldn't have rushed first thing fall term myself. I think it's a big advantage, because it gives us time to break down bad Greek stereotypes.

And yes, the arrangement of Rho Chis in the halls is formal with the school. Set up through the Panhel advisor and the Dean of Freshmen's Office. Way cool, eh? It helps to encourage Greek life as the typical and fun thing to do.

Thats a fricking brilliant idea. Especially if it could be co-run with fraternities. (If us guys can get our collective stuff together).

Is that all the Rho Chi's do? Are they just there to promote Greek Life? Or do they have another function also?

How long do they stay with the Freshmen Hall? As in days, weeks, the semester?

Fill us in with more details as you get a chance. Thanks.

That is such a great idea!

The Rho Chi's are basically there to provide all the information about rush. Let me try to describe my experience with my Rho Chi's freshmen year. BTW, all of the W&L dorms are co-ed by floor, so on my hall there were only females.

I had two Rho Chi's. One was actually my Dorm Counselor, because the DCs are strongly encouraged to also be PXs. A few weeks into the semester, my DC/PX let us know thru email that we would be having a meeting to find out more about rush. (During the summer, we'd already received a mailing about summer and fall rush rules.) We had the meeting at a local pizza shop that's really popular with the college crowd (great idea--escape from the dining hall!). The whole hall came (after this meeting, a few of the people who decided they were not going to rush did not come to the meetings). The PXs gave us info sheets about the dates of rush and some of the things that would happen. They described how it was a great way to meet people and other things. They described what was needed to register for rush--5 pictures, simple form, and $25. The low fee is a big thing because you get a nice long-sleeved t-shirt. A lot of girls look at it like "Well, if I don't pledge, it's a free shirt!"

So throughout the semester we had meetings. One right before our fall break, because registration is right afterward. Then there was another meeting before Thanksgiving to discuss clothes in detail. After Thanksgiving there was a meeting to explain strict silence over Christmas and during rush week. They gave us lots of sheets explaining everything and answered any questions we had about how it all worked, what to be scared about. Then during rush week we would all meet on hall and walk over together to sorority row. It definately worked very well because you already knew and trusted your PXs long before rush. Plus, my DC/PX was very very close because she lived on hall with us and was always there for us.

Hope that helps.

We have deferred recruitment, and to keep the interest of Greek Life for freshmen throughout the fall, we have social events with the Rho Chis and the freshmen women. Sometimes they are more educationally type things, others are just coffee and bagels as a study break during mid-terms. Cards and emails are sent out to keep freshmen informed of Greek Life and to keep the idea fresh in their minds. It's led to a slight increase in recruitment.

Just to point out ... deferred rush is not the opposite of formal rush. Deferred refers to when you have it; formal just means you have at least two NPC groups on campus to do rush together instead of on their own. You can have mega-strong deferred formal rushes, as Breathes from Washington & Lee suggests. And you can have fall formal rush and still have an abysmal turnout.

I come from a very big school with a very small greek system. There are 3 NPC sororities on campus. Fall Formal rush is a big deal for us because we get the women power of 60 girls recruiting and the money form Pan Hell. BUT... only half of our fall pledge class comes from Formal rush... we get the other half during COB when the girls who knew they wanted to be in our sorority come out or when the new girls bring thier friends.