[shadokat]

Two points - COVID, all-virtual recruitment, did, overall, help weaker recruiting chapters. Did it help EVERYWHERE? No, of course not. But many "regular" campuses (not SEC schools or Indiana or those types) saw women accept bids to the weaker recruiting chapters. There has to be some reason for it, and in my humble but maybe stupid opinion, it's because women weren't so focused on pretty decorations and matching outfits, but more on true connection. Of course, after COVID, many of those women had NO IDEA what the expectation of sorority membership was and thought that they could just come and go whenever they pleased, and if they didn't want to go to stuff, they'd just not go. This led to a lot of disaffiliation. It is what it is.

Secondly, and I'll preach it til the day I die or stop advising, chapters who know they are weaker recruiting during formal recruitment have got to have their informal plans already lined up with women they already know and want in their chapter. The BEST time to get those women is right after recruitment, when they've seen all the girls on their halls or in their apartments getting bids and having fun, etc. That's when you can score some great "never" or "maybe" joiners.

We can blame spoiled freshmen who won't stick with the process, but today's 18 year olds want what they want and if they don't get it, they're done with that. But there are still plenty of women who can benefit from sorority membership and want to join. We just have to find them.