Quote:
Originally Posted by navane
At San Diego State University, I believe that the chapters have to submit what is called a "patent" before recruitment. That is, they submit their themes and such to Panhellenic ahead of time so that they can lock it in and no one else can copy the idea. Has anyone else heard of such a thing?
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We did that too, although we didn't call it a "patent". The idea was to ensure, well in advance of recruitment, that no two chapters used the same theme. If a chapter did the same theme two years in a row, they could call dibs on it. Otherwise, if two chapters wanted to do, say, a Disney theme, chapter A was awarded the theme one year, and chapter B would have to pick a different theme, but chapter B got to do the Disney theme the next year and chapter A had to pick something different.
Thus, both actives and alums knew well in advance what the themes would be and could find appropriate outfits knowing they wouldn't get the rug pulled out from under them (as in the situation Cheerio described). I can't imagine traveling miles to help out with recruitment only to be told, "Surprise! We changed our theme, and, if you didn't happen to pack anything appropriate for the new theme, you have an hour to hit the mall, buy something, and get changed before our first party starts." Alums are doing the chapter a favor, for crying out loud! I'd be more than a bit tempted to jump right back into my car and head out of town and NOT to the mall.
But I digress. Most of my crazy recruitment stories, I've already posted in the weird rush stories thread.