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Originally posted by RedRoseSAI
My chapter did it pretty much the same way that sairose described, with the addition of preference cards and a silent period.
The preference card was the rushees' chance to say "yes, I'm interested" or "no I'm not" to SAI. That way, we didn't show up at their dorm room with candles and gifts only for them to say "um...no thanks". It was handed to rushees at the last formal rush event (which was mandatory), and they had 24 hours to return it. During this 24 hour period, sisters were not permitted to discuss SAI with the rushees, unless they brought it up first.
Prior to setting up this system, we had problems with sisters pressuring rushees until they pledged. I don't think they meant to pressure them...they were just being friendly and encouraging, but it came across as pressure. Inevitably those girls would end up pledging and then drop out during the pledging process - that's never a good thing!
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I've never heard of this, but this is quite a good idea! We never pressure girls, but like you said, being friendly and encouraging CAN make rushees feel pressured. Typically, though, here, only the VP Membership discusses whether to join or not w/ the rushees. Here's what we started doing this year, and it REALLY limits the whole pressure thing.
Formal rush is also mandatory for my chapter. And rushees are told all during the week that formal rush is meant mostly for if you are very serious about SAI. So, by the end of the week, if any of them decide it is not for them, they just don't come.
At the end of formal rush (which is also mandatory for us), the VP Membership has all the rushees write down a phone number that they will be able to be reached between a certain time that night. Since our formal rush is always on a Sunday at 2:00, we tell the rushees we will call between about 8pm-9pm. This gives the rushees time to think about SAI and whatnot. And since it is a Sunday, we won't see the girls between formal rush and the phone call. The VP membership calls each rushee to tell them if they are being offered a bid, and if they say yes (and they all do), then the next day there's a designated time to come sign the bid cards and pay their fee.
This works well with us because we are a smaller chapter (17 actives), but a larger chapter like yours I doubt our system would work as well.