[TSteven]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

i have seen it happen. college guys meet incoming freshmen girls and decide to give them the 4 1 1 on which sorority they think they should pledge. some girls, either because they want to impress the guy, or think that he, being a college guy, knows it all, or for some other reason, takes what the guy says to heart and decides it is abc, def , ghi or nothing. she also shares this information with her friends and with her rush group.

the guys don't take in to consideration that the girl may not fit in with the recommended sororities or that she might not be deemed bid-worthy by the top tier sororities-his fraternity may not even be able to get a social with those sororities, but he will still recommend them. don't know why guys care, except that it makes them seem in the know. hopefully, most girls won't heed the advice, but the seed has been planted and it is hard for young women, eager to get into the college social scene, to ignore.

Oh boy. I guess I am guilty... well sort of. Over the summer before my sophomore year, I was asked by five incoming female freshmen (fresh-women? fresh-people?) from my high school about the chapters at UK. (At different times - I was kind of speaking more like their big brother because at the time, not many from my high school went to The University of Kentucky)

In my defense, I really don't think I ever said one negative thing about any chapter. However, I am fairly certain that I would have spoken "more highly" of some chapters - especially ones that I would have had personal experience with from the previous year. (i.e. mixers with etc.) Most likely, I regurgitated superficial data like "last year's homecoming queen is an ABC" or "there are two XYZs cheerleaders". I am happy to report that "my girls" (all of which were part of the same friendship/social circle as it were) made their decisions based on what was best for them. Between the five of them, they pledged four different chapters. I would say they were all good fits with their chapters. And that all five of them are still friends to this day.

Originally Posted by 33girl

Most of the time these guys that tell women to join the "hottest" sorority are underclassmen, in my experience. By the time they get to be juniors or seniors, they aren't quite as shallow (or have gotten shafted by the "hot" sisters) and give better advice.

Not only that...if it's a guy telling his girlfriend that, the last thing he's thinking of is her...he wants to impress everyone with the fact that he's dating an XYZ.

I totally agree. What I told my friends (the summer between my freshman and sophomore years) was based on my own personal - and at that time - limited experience and observations.

And just for the record, I was never shafted by the "hot" (or hot-challenged) sisters

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

BACK ON TOPIC - The inability to mix with some fraternities is a real problem for struggling chapters. Fraternities hold a lot of sway with the ability to mix, and all other considerations aside, a fraternity chapter of 80+ is not going to be interested in having a mixer with a sorority of 20 - 30. PNMs going through rush will notice social pictures during recruitment - again, contributing to the inability of the group to successfully recruit enough quality pledges to turn it around.

I think this may be where I have been questing the sway that fraternities (in general) might have. When I was at UK, (and I think it is still the case now) most of the sororities had more members per chapter than most of the fraternities. With there being 22 fraternities and 13 sororities, it was "easier" for every sorority to be "matched" with a fraternity at any given time.

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

It's amazing how who you date can impact a sorority's ability to mix with certain fraternities. If you are dating the right member (or members if we are talking about several girls) you may well be able to plan a social event with a fraternity you might otherwise not get to - but that's a very singular situation.

I would add that it isn't just who you date, but also who you (i.e. members of the chapter) know socially. Generally speaking, the more friendships (contacts) chapter members have with members of other chapters, the more "popular" that chapter is viewed.

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

One change for the better I've noticed since I was an active back when dinosaurs roamed the earth is there are more sorority sponsored social events - so instead of having to wait for a fraternity to invite you the sororities are throwing more of their own events. This can result in good p.r. with a variety of fraternities - if you have a cross-section of fraternity men invited, and they get to see the sorority sisters in a good light it can help with their perception. I know of at least one instance when a non-top tier sorority ended up having a mixer with a top tier fraternity simply because several of the fraternity members had been at a sorority event and had a really good time. That's the kind of thing that can help build momentum in changing a chapter's reputation.

One of the toughest things to fight is the feeling of defeatism a poor recruitment can give a chapter.

I think this happens with Sigma Chi chapters because of our Derby Days. Generally speaking, we are exposed to all the sorority chapters in a fun and social way. The same can be said for any sorority or fraternity that hosts a Greek wide event. Simply put, the more positive exposure you have with more chapters, then a more likely "better" (for lack of a better word) social standing.