Not a cookie cutter girl!
 

Hi ladies,

I'm feeling somewhat disturbed about something Panhell at my school wants to do during recruitment. As the FRC (and RVP for the moment) I'm not sure if I'm over-concerned, or if I should do something about this-
On Philanthropy Night, all four sororities wear similar shirts with our Greek letters spelled out on the front and a quote about philanthropy on the back. Each group has a different color. This year the panhell budget is so large that they want to order shirts for the women going throught Formal Recruitment which will be similar to ours (I don't know deets) and have them wear them on Philanthropy Night.
I feel concerned because I don't want these women to think that they will become cookie cutter images, and lose their individualism.
Let me know if this is a valid concern, or if I'm being the control-freak and worry-wart that I am...
Oodles of Pi-lovin'
Ashley

Has there been a big concern that PNMs have stressed out over what to wear for Recruitment? That's the only good reason I can see doing this. The cookie cutter image is just so wrong in the first place, but what about the waste of money? That's the bigger sin in my book.

If Panhel has so much money in their budget, I could probably think of much better ways to spend the money than on T-shirts that will be worn for ONE day!

1) Whatever the Greek Week or similar charity is could benefit.
2) A scholarship or two, maybe for a junior about to become a senior.
3) Promoting the Greek System in more positive ways.
4) An All-Greek Mixer.
5) A Panhel Study Break.


Gosh, these are right off the top of my head - I'm sure others can come up with better ideas!

ps - violets for showing some true concern, AshleyPi!!

those are some great ideas honeychile!!!

A campus near me does something like that- the PNMs wear the same t-shirt to the first round parties of FR. (I think they pay for their shirts in their registration fee, though.) One PNM asked an ADPi, "Is it hard to remember us since we're all wearing the same thing?" I thought the ADPi had a good answer-- "It helps us to focus on who you are as a person and really get to know you better."

Make sure if this t-shirt business passes that you add that topic to your conversation workshops.

Also you could consult the Collegiate Panhellenic Relations Director (CPRD) before any vote is taken.

Now, that I could live with - concentrating on the person, not the clothes - if they do go ahead with this.

Is this big on a lot of campuses?

My university didn't have the PNM's wearing similar shirts to us, but each chapter did have a similar shirt (Panhellenic Spirit) that we all wore on the first day of recruitment, but each chapter had a different color of writing on the front of the shirt (ADPi was kind of a turquoisy-blue, Gamma Phi Beta was purple, etc)....At times I would think THAT would be more confusing than EVERYONE wearing the same shirt...along those lines, I think they idea of when everyone's wearing the same shirt and the concern of the PNMs is that they all blend together and the sorority woman mentioning that it helps them to focus on the individual herself and not what she is wearing is excellent!

I can see the benefits of having everyone wear the Panhellenic shirts for one night (it's a nifty keepsake from recruitment for the PNM's, I guess), but I agree with honey...the money would be better spent elsewhere, I'm sure.

Those ideas are great. I have a meeting planned with the Greek Advisor for next Monday to discuss this issue, but if it doesn't work I love the 'concentrating on the individual' idea. Thanks a ton and keep the ideas coming!!

Pi love and mine,
Ashley

Ashley, I love your quote!!! (not to get off subject) I think that should be a recruitment shirt....maybe Bid day even?!?

Met with the Greek Advisor...
 

Harumph!

I met with our Greek Advisor today about the T-Shirts and he said that some of the other chapters are very excited about giving T-Shirts to PNMs. We will have a recruitment roundtable on Friday and I need more reasons of why we should not require these girls to wear the shirt!! Please help me with more ideas!!

Love and Loyally,
Ashley

PS- I got my signature from Greek Chat posts. I wish I could take credit, but alas... no

What in the world are the reasons why some people want them?

It seems like an unnecessary expense. In truth it IS more difficult to remember who is who when you meet so many PNMs a day. Besides, when they join a sorority, won't they get tons of shirts with their new letters on them?

You need to get to the bottom of where the money for the shirts is coming from- is it from the PH budget or do the PNMs pay for them?

I still think you should contact the CPRD for your district. If you tell me what district you're in, I can PM you her info.

WLFEO

I'm in Kentucky-- I'm not sure of the district...

AshleyPi-
I tried to PM you but it wouldn't work.

bump! Has any thing else happened with this issue?

At our first round of recruitment, all PNMs wear the same shirt-they pay for it with their recruitment registration fees. THis has made the day be much more relaxed for the PNMs because Baylor is a very fashion conscious environment. ALl the sororities wear their "jeresys" basically huge polyester shirts with each groups letters on them. THis gives off the impression that we need to start getting to know the girls, not their clothes first.

*Update*
 

Well, we met together (all of the recruitment chairs plus the Greek Advisor and the RVP for Panhell) and decided to order T-Shirts to give them on Preference Night to wear to the Warehouse (student center) on Bid Day.

One of the biggest concerns ended up being the girls who would not receive a bid. Hopefully this will alleviate some of the stress. I still wish we could have donated it to a charity... cough...RMH... cough. Oh well, thanks for all of the good wishes, and send a few more because formal Recruitment begins on Thursday!!
L&L,
A