Ole Miss Recruitment

Loyally Kappa · #1 08-19-2009, 07:11 PM

Thought I'd start a new thread. I'm new to Oxford and want to become acquainted with what goes on here. Feel free to enlighten me as to what usually happens with regard to Ole Miss recruitment. I'm all ears ... or would that be all eyes?

I'm living in Oxford now and am teaching at Ole Miss, I am learning a little bit about what goes on here. I will say that the sorority and fraternity houses on the Ole Miss campus are the most stunningly beautiful and highest quality that I have ever seen anywhere.

Sorority recruitment will occur September 20-27 this year. Classes begin this coming Monday, August 24. What I understand from other faculty members who have been around for awhile is that there used to be an exodus of young ladies transferring away from Ole Miss after rush who did not get the sorority they wanted. Not sure when this went into effect, but the dates are now set so that it will be too late for anyone to withdraw and transfer AND get their tuition money back. They are "stuck" for at least one semester and perhaps they will adjust to the situation.

'Course, now, this is my first semester here, so it will be interesting to see if recruitment disrupts classes. At first I couldn't fathom how they could get all of the parties in, but there are only 8 (or is it 9) Panhellenic sororities here. According the schedule posted at http://www.dosolemiss.com/page.php?p...page_id=107788, they don't do a round of open parties, which sort of surprised me.

Round 1 (Philanthropy Round): Sept. 23-24th
Round 2 (Skit Round): Sept. 25th
Round 3 (Preference Round): Sept. 26th
BID DAY: Sept. 27th

I count a total of 34 Rho Chis, so if I estimate 25 PNMs assigned to each, there ought to be around 850 girls going through recruitment here. One of them is a close friend of my daughter (who just pledged Tri Delta at Alabama) ... but there is nothing to stop me from sending an additional rec to the Kappa house now that I'm here, is there?

FSUZeta · #2 08-19-2009, 07:17 PM

of course not!

it will be great to hear from an ole miss first timer.

puglover · #3 08-19-2009, 07:39 PM

First off welcome to Mississippi, hope you are enjoying the quaint charm of Oxford!

My sis is going thru rush this year at Ole Miss and she says the open house parties

are at the end of August- August 31st which I believe is a Sunday.

Loyally Kappa · #4 08-19-2009, 11:38 PM

I'm all into soaking up the local culture. When I came here to interview, I had to admit that Ole Miss, Kentucky, Arkansas, and South Carolina were the only SEC campuses I had never visited.

I'm looking forward to exploring The Grove on game day. As they say, Ole Miss may not win every game, but they never lose a party! I have a cousin who came here in the 70's and pledged DG, who is already teaching me the Hotty Toddy cheer. Have not yet seen Rowan Oak, but I have already decided that Oxford is so charming, that if it did not exist, it would need to be invented! And by a fluke of coincidence, I have an ancestor (William McWillie) who was a governor of Mississippi in the 1800s. Can you say I was meant to be here?

I've been telling folks that I began my undergrad career at UF, so I was a Gator. Then I worked on my PhD at Alabama, so I called myself an Ala-Gator ... which did not go over too well. Those folks in Tuscaloosa don't have much of a sense of humor. But here, Ole Miss are the Rebels, so it looks like I'm gonna be an Agitator from here on out ... heheh!

It's all fun and I enjoy all of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

it will be great to hear from an ole miss first timer.

MSKKG · #5 08-19-2009, 11:53 PM

Loyally Kappa, I love your sense of humor! I'm a punny person as well, so I really appreciated your play words.

The new dates for recruitment were implemented around the mid-1990s. Your sources are correct that the mass exodus of disappointed PNMs had a lot to do with the change.

I think for the last few years, some of the parties have been around midterms. I can't imagine having to juggle classes with all the responsibilities of recruitment, but having to study for a test, and a midterm at that, would be so stressful. Can you imagine how many pots of coffee are consumed during that week?!?

Football Fan · #6 08-20-2009, 12:01 AM

Loyally Kappa,
There are a couple of short YouTube videos about Bid Day at Ole Miss. You might enjoy these.

Loyally Kappa · #7 08-23-2009, 10:59 AM

Thanks, Football Fan. I'll look them up.

We had new faculty orientation on Friday. One of the things the Office of the Provost told everyone was that they needed to realize they are in the deep south and that "Rush Happens" ...

I'm looking forward to it. One of the young ladies from my former town is here this fall and will be going through recruitment.