Another Tricky Question from the sorority side
 

First let me mention that I'm not a newbie. I just changed up my SN to be a little more discreet. And I'm a local sorority member.

I met up with some of my sisters today where we started talking about fall recruitment. Some of my sisters mentioned that there may be a decent amount of girls coming to our recruitment this fall from an NPC sorority who recently had their charter pulled. XYZ sorority members were given the option to disafiliate or go alumna. Apparently there are newer members of XYZ that want the full collegiate sorority experience so they'll join the local on campus and disafiliate from XYZ.

I know that some of my sisters will be okay with this... and others that will definitely not be okay. Some will feel that they will be awesome assets because if they had any experience in an NPC, in regards to chapter regulations and formalities, maybe they could help us. And the other sisters will feel like sloppy seconds.

Part of me feels that I want to give these potential new members a home and a great college experience. Another is a bit uncomfortable with a potential new member knowing the ins and outs of sorority processes before they rush another.

As an active alumna of my house, how can I advise my sisters? What signs should we look for in a woman that will be a great asset to the house regardless where she came from, or if she mearly wants to wear someone's letters?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on the following, but my understanding is this:

1. If you are released from your pledge b/c your group leaves campus then you are immediately eligible to be given a bid from any NPC group on campus (in other words not limited to local groups).

2. You can be an initiated member of a NPC group and a local group unless something in the locals bylaws prohibit it (I'm not aware of and NPC regulation against belonging to a local only to another NPC).

There is nothing wrong with the uninitiated women seeking another chapter - it's no different than if they quit prior to initiation and went through recruitment again. Putting aside what may or may not be their organization knowledge that could help a local chapter - these women should not be viewed any differently than any other woman looking to join a sorority. They are looking for sisters and if the meet the qualifications of you group (grades etc.) then they should not be seen in as being "seconds".

I know this is sometimes hard for collegiates to understand because they feel such loyalty to their own group they don't understand how these women can give that same enthusiam to their new group. What they need to understand is that they may not have formed these bonds at the time the chapter was closed and/or they may not have felt the type of sisterhood your chapter has. If they did, they would have choosen to become initiated members of the original group before it was closed.

GC'ers are always telling the PNM's that they need to keep an open mind - sometimes it is the sisters/chapters that need to remember this. Whether it be a situation like this or it's a triple legacy coming through - each qualified woman should be treated with respect and equal consideration. Ahh, we're that perfect world when we need it!

I read it that the initiated girls in an NPC wanted to join this girls local sorority.
I could understand that girls in the local would not want people that have already been initiated into another group NPC or not. I don't know. I think it would be weird b/c they would have to hide the ritual of their old sorority from their new "sisters." I also understand the sloppy second thing. I don't know. I'm sorry I'm rambling, but I don't think I would like it.

Well, here's the opinion of a non-sorority member. I can definitely feel you on the sloppy seconds thing, but when you think about it, they are starting over again. Now that they are disaffiliated, they'll be going through rush with a clean slate, just like any other PNM. So if they pick you, don't be upset about it, just be glad that the girls you get want you, now that they have the opportunity. They could just pout and say, "Our sorority was the best, to hell with all the others, we just won't go anywhere b/c none of you can measure up." I'd be very glad they didn't see my group that way.

As far as telling someone's sincerity in joining for more than "the letters"--Ask whoever you're talking to what she thinks of the sorority's goals, the girls she's met, etc. Ask her how she sees herself living those out. You might even ask if she can see herself meshing into a new group of sisters, but you might not feel comfortable going there with her. Look straight into her eyes as she answers--actions can betray you, but if you don't see sincerity in her eyes, you'll know what's up.

In a normal situation I would be all for you giving these girls a bid or atleast seeing what they are all about.

However: These girls are not leaving their GLO on their own wish. Their GLO lost their charter and now they are seeking a group they can join I would fear that they do not have all good intentions. I would feel as though my chapter was not good enough for them the first time around so now that they have no where else they can go they are coming to my sisterhood. A sisterhood that either didn't extend a bid to them or extended a bid and the PNM did not except. Always keep an open mind they are new member of the chapter. and some may have honorable intentions. But they did just drop their own letters instead of sticking by them, could be a result of being new, it is something I would keep in mind they had a sisterhood and at one of the first signs of trouble instead of going Alumn and doing things to help their GLO get back on campus they bounced out.

Goodluck and keep us all updated.

This is something that I think about a lot, based on a friend's experience in rush. She didn't get a bid, so now she's restarting a sorority at OC. So when it came to present to Panhel, they all asked her "Why didn't you join one of our groups?". Well, the short answer is "you didn't invite me." Recruitment places a TON of power in the hands of the chapters, and even though a girl might desperately want to be an ABC or a TBS, the chapter doesn't give her a bid just because of her wants. It's a two sided process. These girls might have been deciding between two chapters and got matched with the OTHER group and not YOUR group.

I don't think it should be looked at as "YOU didn't pick US first time around, so why should we give you a chance?" it should be "WE didn't pick EACHOTHER the first time around, let's give them a chance."

That's right. Remember that recruitment is a "mutual selection process". We all know that we cannot and should not reinvite every woman to every round. The women in questions may not have been reinvited to certain chapters due to release figures etc. I know that we have released women that were "on the bubble" so to speak and would not have released them if we had been able to invite a few more women.

Some of these women may also have been COB and not have had the opportunity to meet all the chapters. We had a woman that joined out chapter that had been a new member of a group that closed two semesters before. She was an outstanding member and was eventually our New Member Orientation Chair (AXiD term for "pledge trainer").

Another thing to remember is that when a chapter leaves campus and women are given alumnae status they are usually not involved if the group comes back on. I know that this is usually the case because they want the group to be completely new and to start over without the baggage of the original group. So if these women are freshman and initiated, they would have a chapter on their campus but would not be able to be involved with it.

Of course if you are going to throw the group coming back to campus in a short period of time into the mix then there are other options for these women as well. If they were not initiated into the "old" chapter they would still be able to pledge the "new" chapter if it was desirable by both sides.

Thank you for the responses.

For the record, my chapter has initiated women that were originally in another house but DA'ed but still wanted to be involved in greek life. They were wonderful additions.

The difference between this time around is that there is a possibility of former members from another coming en masse, as apposed to one from here one semester, and another from here in another semester.

I guess some of the sisters are worried about potential backlash from the potential new members, their "former" sisters and the entire greek community itself.

Our chapter has a bit of a history with the deactivated chapter, which makes the whole thing pretty touchy for all of us.

I agree with the point that was made where if the sisters were new members and then were initiated and then given alumna status, that they probably didn't get the full experience. Especially when this group COB'd year 'round. (So for all I know, these women could have been in the house for a matter of weeks.) I suppose it will help my chapter if they realize this, so I will definitely bring this point back.

Another thing you may have to consider is why the NPC group got shut down or lost their charter. There's a HUGE difference between being shut down for low numbers and for something like hazing or alcohol/drug violations. If it was shut down for any negative reason, you have to ask yourself if you'd want to bid on a lot of girls from this group all at once. They may end up being more of a liability than a help to your sorority.

Much like a large pledge class has the potential to do, if you pledge a lot of these women at once, they could use their numbers to change things about your sorority in a negative way (possibly by trying to make things like their old chapter). It is possible that they would be great sisters, but this is something that needs to be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

F&*# NO.

They had the chance to join your group when they went through rush. If it wasn't good enough for them then, you shouldn't allow them to use you as a second choice now.

For clarification:

Our group doesn't participate in formal recruitment. So if they knew about us, they found out after the fact.

The now closed NPC COB'd year 'round. So if one of the girls decided to join a sorority late in the semester, we were already done with recruitment.

Invite them to recruitment and offer bids to the ones who you feel would make good sisters.

Another possibility is the defunct NPC will start their own local, despite any threat of penalty from the school or the NPC chapter's IHQ.

remember the mutual selection thing? they had a *chance* but perhaps due to cutting on either side of the rush process, bidding to this local didn't happen to these girls.

This isn't like the "cut once cut always" stuff - this to me, is the same as someone dropping out of Gamma Phi Beta and joining Alpha Gamma Delta (random NPC examples) on the same campus.

I don't know, the idea of this just doesn't sound good to me.