|
I don't want to get your hopes up, but this happened to a very close friend in my pledge class, who was someone I'd known in middle school from a summer program, and then was in my rush group freshman year. She and I ran to the house together and were the first ones there after receiving our bids.
The circumstances were different - basically she was a top student who did not perform to her or her parents' expectations her first semester in college. Basically a very smart girl who did a little too much staying out late with that first taste of freedom, and when the grades came in, her parents abruptly said "no more dues." Instead of getting a job to pay her own dues and work out a payment plan with the chapter, she decided to depledge the week before initiation and get her act together. She parted on excellent terms with the chapter and her pledge class - basically everyone was heartbroken. We all loved her, but we understood her decision (we had fun but were not an over-the-top party sorority, so we also were concerned about her grades (she was super, super smart) and partying too hard), and our officers very specifically told her that they hoped she'd be back. We all cried our first couple of days of initiation week, we were so sad and shocked she wasn't with us.
She did extremely well academically the second semester, so her parents said if she wanted to rerush in the fall of her sophomore year, they'd support her financially as long as she kept her grades up. She went through rush all over again (I do not know the details of whether she had the option to repledge without rushing or whether she wanted to reconsider her decision), it was very hard for us to see her during rush rounds and not run over and hug her, and she repledged with us that fall and initiated with her new pledge class.
The point I want to emphasize again is that it was a big deal when she had to depledge, and pretty much the entire chapter, from President to Pledge Class Chair to Pledge Class, begged her to do whatever she could to make it back home to us. And we were totally sincere - without going into Membership Selection - given how well she did second semester, there was no real debate at all about wanting her back when she went through rush her second time.
So I guess what I'd ask you is did you get any signals like this from your chapter when you de-pledged? If so, then yes, as others recommended, you should contact the sorority ASAP to tell them you are re-rushing, before silence begins. They will not be able to promise you a bid, but if you want to rejoin, I think this is one specific instance where they should know that before rush. If they are nice girls, they are most likely not going to run out and tell the other sororities not to bother with you because you're going XYZ again. They may also know if you do have to go through rush again or not (probably yes, but maybe not).
And you never know, you might change your mind in rush - I'd at least keep your mind open, should you end up with options. Some other chapters may know what happened at XYZ, and others may just come out and ask you, but if you are not at a super competitive school, it might not hurt you too much - my friend who rerushed had a full party list every round, but I did not go to a super competitive school, and she was a real stand out in rush parties. And she didn't dwell on the past - she made it as clear as possible, when asked, that what happened then was not going to crop up again. Anyway, again, I don't want to get your hopes up, but I think the terms on which you parted with the sorority are sort of key here.
|