Quote:
Originally Posted by Army Wife'79
I think you had a good analogy however, let's take it a step further. On your resume under "references" do you put people you have known for a nanosecond, or people who only read your resume? Of course not. You put people who know you well, know your skill sets and can vouch for your character.
That is why when my D went thru a SEC rush, she only had 3 recs. People who knew her well: an aunt, a boss (a veterinarian) and a neighbor who she knew for 3 years and did petsitting for. When a friends Mom found out she didn't have recs for all groups, she offered to secure them and WE TURNED HER DOWN. (you can clean the coffee off your monitor now). Frankly, not being "greek wise" we felt it unethical for total strangers to recommend my D when they didn't know if she was a psychopath or serial killer or whatever. I honestly thought the 4.45 gpa and resume would make her stand out because the websites talked about scholastics etc.
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And I agree with your point. From an advisor's prospective I dislike "info only" recs from alums who have never even met the PNM. The alums probably know just as much about the girl as we do from her Recruitment application. How can you say this girl would be an asset to our organization if you've never even met her?
Years ago I made a personal decision to never write a rec for anyone I didn't know. One of my first years advising I had an active beg me to write one for her "rush crush". I did and she ended up becoming a member. I spent the next 4 years dealing with a variety of standards problems with this young woman. I felt it was my own fault and I vowed to never go through that again nor subject any other Chapter to that possibility.
The problem is that not everyone follows this policy and there's no way we can change it unless all the NPC groups address it at the same time.