Too-Detailed Sorority Recruitment Rules -- Decorations and so forth?

[exlurker]

Sometimes recruitment policies can get awfully specific about decorations, flower arrangements, etc.

I realize that these policies may be necessary when dealing with a "frills" recruitment, but . . . well, you can see for yourself:

Not to be mean, and I'm sure other Panhellenics have policies that are just as detailed, but here's part of what's posted on Tarleton State's (TX)Panhellenic site:

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Wednesday
a) Sororities may only use approved items in their formal recruitment rooms.
b) No items may be on the floor or hanging from the walls or ceiling.
c) A sorority may have 5 tables decorated with paraphernalia. Items on these tables may lean against the wall for support.
d) Sororities may also have up to 10 tables from TSU for sitting purposes. Each of these 15 tables may have a solid white tablecloth.
e) Sororities may have 1 large collage frame not to exceed the size of a standard poster board.
f) A sorority may have up to 15 stuffed animals placed on the decorated tables.
g) Sororities may have up to 10 paddles and 10 pillows.
h) 5 blankets may be used to decorate the tables, but not used as tablecloths.
i) A sorority may have up to 15 t-shirts displayed on their decorated tables.
j) Sororities may have up to 25 figurines that are no taller than 5” or wider than 5”.
k) A sorority may have up to 10 pin boxes displayed.
l) Sororities may display up to 10 awards.
m) Each sorority may display only 1 composite.
n) Each sorority may have 50 picture frames with no more than one picture per frame not to exceed 8” x 10”.
o) Each sorority may use 50 balloons of standard size and shape. If clusters or arches are used they may contain a maximum of 5 balloons. No Mylar balloons are permitted. Balloons must be tied down with a cellophane balloon weight.
p) The 10 tables used for sitting may have centerpieces. These centerpieces may be composed of a cluster of balloons and a philanthropy item. There may be only 5 philanthropy items per table. These philanthropy items may be changed between parties.

G) Thursday
a) Sororities may only use approved items in their formal recruitment rooms.
b) No items may be on the floor or hanging from the walls or ceiling.
c) A sorority may have 5 tables decorated with paraphernalia. Items on these tables may lean against the wall for support.
d) Sororities may also have up to 10 tables from TSU for sitting purposes. Each of these 15 tables may have a solid white tablecloth.
e) Sororities may have 1 large collage frame not to exceed the size of a standard poster board.
f) A sorority may have up to 15 stuffed animals placed on the decorated tables.
g) Sororities may have up to 10 paddles and 10 pillows.
h) 5 blankets may be used to decorate the tables, but not used as tablecloths.
i) A sorority may have up to 15 t-shirts displayed on their decorated tables.
j) Sororities may have up to 25 figurines that are no taller than 5” or wider than 5”.
k) A sorority may have up to 10 pin boxes displayed.
l) Sororities may display up to 10 awards.

m) Each sorority may display only 1 composite.
n) Each sorority may have 50 picture frames with no more than one picture per frame not to exceed 8” x 10”.
o) Each sorority may use 50 balloons of standard size and shape. If clusters or arches are used they may contain a maximum of 5 balloons. No Mylar balloons are permitted. Balloons must be tied down with a cellophane balloon weight.
p) Sororities may have a skit, video or combination on this night. Only 25% of active chapter members may be in the skit and dress for the skit. The total time limit for the skit and/or video is not to exceed 15 minutes.

H) Friday
a) Only approved items will be permitted in the formal recruitment room.
b) There will be 10 tables and 10 chairs per table available for sitting purposes.
c) There will be two tables available to decorate with the following items. These items should not exceed the size of 3 ft X 3 ft
(1) 5 awards
(2) 1 composite
(3) 1 founder photo
(4) 1 purpose or creed
(5) 1 charter
(6) 1 crest
d) Each table may be covered by one solid white table cloth.
e) Each sorority may have up to 50 flower arrangements with no more than 12 flowers per arrangement. These flowers may be used as centerpieces on the tables.
f) If a sorority elects not to use these flowers as a centerpiece they may use 6 floating tea light candles per table.
g) A sorority may have one balloon arch not to exceed 20 ft. This arch may be tied down with a brick on each end that is covered in solid fabric.
h) Each sorority may have 4 large items touching the floor. Examples are a gazebo, creed, fountain, lattice arch, and crest. Panhellenic reserves the right to determine if an item is appropriate for the event.
i) If it is part of a sorority’s ceremony they may elect to have one flower or candle per member and one flower or candle per PNM. . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.tarleton.edu/STULIFE/gree...nt%20Rules.pdf

[carnation]

LOL. It's excruciatingly detailed! However, you can bet that it's that way for the same reason a high school dress code is--because there are people trying to get around every little peephole in the rules. I can only imagine what must've happened at Tarleton to rate this list!

[AOIIalum]

Exactly. I've seen recruitment rules that are so detailed that I shake my head in wonder. It makes sense to outline what "no-frills" means, but counting how many white mini light strings or size of Pref desserts or how many ice cubes can be in the ice water... then there are restrictions on what colors can and cannot be used by chapters, maximum numbers of just about anything that can be counted and used for any reason, what can and cannot be donated, and so on. Gets really tricky when the Panhellenic rules infringe on Pref ceremonies, and yes I've seen that happen too.

[KSUViolet06]

Wow.

And to think, we whined about not being able to have balloons or not being able to decorate anything outside.

YOU KNOW that other sororities love to tattle and I can just see someone from ABC running to tell a Rho Chi that she just walked past XYZ's room and saw that they had 17 bears on their table!

[OHNOITSJESS]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

YOU KNOW that other sororities love to tattle and I can just see someone from ABC running to tell a Rho Chi that she just walked past XYZ's room and saw that they had 17 bears on their table!

That's the first thing I thought of when I read this.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

YOU KNOW that other sororities love to tattle and I can just see someone from ABC running to tell a Rho Chi that she just walked past XYZ's room and saw that they had 17 bears on their table!

Originally Posted by OHNOITSJESS

That's the first thing I thought of when I read this.

So long as they weren't giraffes

It can get ridiculous. I know of an instance where an active of XYZ saw an ABC out for a jog in her letters during work week. (Wearing letters during work week was verboten.) So the XYZ active called a rush infraction against ABC. After a little research, it was discovered that the jogger was an ABC from a different school, who had no idea it was our work week, and who had just thrown on a comfy t-shirt to go for a run.

And there are two chapters (let's call them XYZ and ABC again) where XYZ sprinkles glitter on the floor of their rush room during open houses. Needless to say, this gets all over the PNMs' clothes and shoes. And every year ABC would bring XYZ up on charges of letting PNMs take "gifts" out of the rush room. We're talking about glitter...

[excelblue]

The one thing I wonder about is whether or not those ridiculous accusations actually result in sanctions, or do they just pop up as part of the drama?

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by excelblue

The one thing I wonder about is whether or not those ridiculous accusations actually result in sanctions, or do they just pop up as part of the drama?

In the two cases I mentioned, the accusations popped up as part of the drama, but once a complaint is filed, a hearing must be held. As Panhel rep I had the dubious pleasure of being present at these hearings ... We were pretty good at separating the serious rush infractions from the "oh, ABC is in heavy competition with XYZ and is therefore trying to stick them with a fine for 'giving' glitter to their PNMs as 'gifts'" accusations.

[psusue]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

And there are two chapters (let's call them XYZ and ABC again) where XYZ sprinkles glitter on the floor of their rush room during open houses. Needless to say, this gets all over the PNMs' clothes and shoes. And every year ABC would bring XYZ up on charges of letting PNMs take "gifts" out of the rush room. We're talking about glitter...

I think the bigger question here is why would you ever sprinkle glitter on the floor during a recruitment party? Glitter is THE most annoying thing to clean up.

[lovespink88]

Originally Posted by psusue

I think the bigger question here is why would you ever sprinkle glitter on the floor during a recruitment party?

Perhaps Ke$ha was the recruitment chair?

Originally Posted by psusue

Glitter is THE most annoying thing to clean up.

"Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies" - Demetri Martin

[agzg]

Originally Posted by psusue

I think the bigger question here is why would you ever sprinkle glitter on the floor during a recruitment party? Glitter is THE most annoying thing to clean up.

It's the herpes of the craft world.

ETA: That'll teach me to not read the second page. I should have known lovespink would beat me.

[amanda6035]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

And there are two chapters (let's call them XYZ and ABC again) where XYZ sprinkles glitter on the floor of their rush room during open houses. Needless to say, this gets all over the PNMs' clothes and shoes. And every year ABC would bring XYZ up on charges of letting PNMs take "gifts" out of the rush room. We're talking about glitter...

This sounds like the year that we got called out for wearing blue jeans bc "ZOMGWTFBBQ Blue is one of your colors and you're supposed to avoid chapter colors this week!" Then the next day, their panhellenic delegate (the one who had a hissy fit over blue jeans) wore pink shorts.

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

YOU KNOW that other sororities love to tattle and I can just see someone from ABC running to tell a Rho Chi that she just walked past XYZ's room and saw that they had 17 bears on their table!

Originally Posted by OHNOITSJESS

That's the first thing I thought of when I read this.

From my experiences that is exactly what happens. Lots of time and energy are wasted on what I consider to be frivolous infractions instead of focusing on the parties and conversations to bring new members into our organizations. If it potentially could influence someone to join one group over another, yeah, I can see that. But come on. I'm not going to look at a tablecloth close enough to say whether it's cream colored or antique white or whatever, or am I going to encourage one of my chapters to file an infraction if they think a chapter is using the wrong shade of pink or white and so on for their tables. COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE!!! (yes, I did intend to yell there). Same goes for when a PNM inadvertently leaves a party with glitter on her shoes. No one has an "advantage" because a PNM walks out with a bit of glitter on her shoes!

[carnation]

It surely does happen, especially when one sorority dislikes another one. When I was a PH advisor, it took everything in me to keep from screaming, "GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" when I would get the glitter on the shoes or they're-using-cream-tablecloths-instead-of-white complaints. And some of those are even put forth by alums.

[DeltaDoll]

What in the world? And I thought our rules were strict! Yikes.