Recruitment at Bethany

MoxieGrrl · #1 01-25-2002, 08:09 PM

Well, recruitment started last night at Bethany. As the 3 year VP-M and this being my senior year, I was really excited about the events!

Our recruitment numbers this year are a HUGE disappointment! Last year, it was an outrage that only 66 women went through formal recruitment. This year, there are only 39. *sighs*

(FYI: There are 4 National GLOs here!)

Bethany's Greek Life Coordinator is doing the system a huge favor this year by utilizing recruitment release figures (thanks everyone who posted on Greek Life!

)

So on with the fun part......! Last night was the open round event and women spent half an hour at each house. Our theme was "Unique but United." All of the sisters had on the same letters with their own pieces of "flair" to express something about their interests/personality. We decorated our lounge with huge building blocks, colored streamers, cut-out paper dolls, etc... (keep in mind, even formal recruitment is pretty laid back here...girls even wear sweats when they come through

) We were singing like crazy when the women came in and they seemed to love it! All of the women were supernice and asked lots of great questions. Word on campus today was that KD threw a great party!

Our next party is Sunday, and we vote for theme that night. I'm so excited and I'll fill everyone in! This year is important to us, so keep your fingers crossed!

KillarneyRose · #2 01-26-2002, 12:26 AM

Good luck during rush! I hope your chapter does really well! What are the 3 other sororities other than Kappa Delta?

justamom · #3 01-26-2002, 09:30 AM

Those are dismal numbers! Why is interest so low? On the bright side, a handful of great girls is far better than a truckload of slackers...

MoxieGrrl · #4 01-26-2002, 02:01 PM

KillarneyRose: We also have Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Xi Delta, and Phi Mu.

justamom: I talked to our Greek Life Coordinator about this. He said that this freshman class is overall very apathetic about grades, campus activities, etc... I haven't really seen it because the freshman women I'm friends with, taught in lab, etc... are just the sweetest, down-to-earth group of girls!

It's been a trend on our campus for women to say "Oh well, I don't feel like messing with formal recruitment. I know where I want to go, so I'll wait for an open bid." Well....with the other 3 classes so close to/at total, I don't see this happening. We're a bit further away from total, so this isn't so bad for us. I don't know if women realize that if "their house" gets quota when already at total, they can't go there until the house is below total. *sighs*

"It's the most wonderful time....of the year....."

LexiKD · #5 01-28-2002, 03:24 AM

Good Luck Moxie, sound like you are off on a good foot. Send my love to the chapter!

Keep us updated!

AOT

Star Turtle · #6 01-28-2002, 09:36 AM

at my school we have formal rush in the fall - we have 4 sororities on campus (3 national, 1 local) lets just say that quota was set at 8. eight people. that's it. and cob'ing is not well explained on my campus. okay now - everyone that rushed dropped the local, so... yep you guessed it - 8 people didn't get a bid. now i know that's not a lot - but i mean come on! anyway - spring is an informal time, when all the sororities hold different rush parties at different times (there is no npc unity in the spring) my chapter, as well as the other groups on campus (even some of the guys) are starting to wonder who in the world is going to come to these - most of my sisters are in upper-level classes, where we've seen the same 12-15 (class size, i swear!) everyday for more than a year, and the younger girls are just not realizing how important it is to get out there and rush these girls

greek life at my school is not really in danger ~ it's been small forever, and actually the fraternities are growing (we've had two new chapters open since i've been there) i guess i just wanted you to know that you're not the only one out there with low rush numbers. keep your head up!

AOPiLaLa · #7 01-28-2002, 10:09 AM

Star Turtle--
That is sad when numbers are so low, but I agree with JAM--8 girls that are great is better than 80 that are not. I came from a school where a low quota number was 35 and most chapters had 120-130 for total(my pledge class was 47), so when I became a recruitment advisor for another chapter, which had 50 members, and where quota the previous year had been 11, I was in SHOCK. But you know what--the 50 girls that make up this chapter are AWESOME. They share my same values, ideals, and morals and I know if I had gone through rush at this school, I would have wanted to be AOTT there as well. When you join a national GLO, you are not only joining your chapter, but all the chapters all over this country. Greek sisterhood is a lifetime commitment and truly does not end when you graduate. So, get those 8 girls(or 5 or 6) and move forward to making qouta 10 next year, and then 15, and so on and so on. Most of our GLO's only started with 4 or 5 members--Imagine what 8 of them could have done!!? Good Luck!! I will be thinking happy thoughts for you!
Lesley

Star Turtle · #8 01-28-2002, 10:47 AM

wow - okay - now that i've re-read my post - it sounds terrible!!!

when i rushed - last spring - there were a lot of girls who showed up for the informal parties (at least from what i can remember - i was scared to death) my pledge class of 9 is the greatest group of girls i could have ever asked for (my class now makes up 5 of the 8 members of exec. board, including president) i love my sisters, and i can't tell you how glad i am that we are all so very close. but as much as we hate to say it - some girls were all about quanity and making quota - and those eight girls we got in the fall are having a LOT of trouble within the chapter now. actually, that's not the point - lol - i'm always off subject - i think i was just stating while just 30 minutes north, my younger stepsister had a pledge class that was larger than my entire chapter, there are many schools where the student body is just not greek oriented. i have visited a chapter where there were a lot of groups, and the greek life there is very different, while remaining fundamentaly the same. okay i don't know where i'm going with this, so i'm going to go to class now!

FuzzieAlum · #9 01-28-2002, 01:44 PM

Star Turtle, that sound SO MUCH like rush at my old campus ... five sororities, one is local, quota is around 8-12 every fall. Some chapters have spring rush, if they're not at ceiling, and NONE of them do it at the same time, so that makes it difficult for rushees! There is a chapter (mine, unfortunately) that everyone drops in formal rush and another one (the local) that almost everyone drops, and they spend spring semester fighting for the girls that didn't get a bid from the almost-at-ceiling chapter.

AOX81 · #10 01-28-2002, 02:44 PM

Want to hear about bad numbers? Try 5 girls rushing...TOTAL!

We are kind of disgusted with how the other sororities are handling rush this semester so after rush we will be holding are own separate rush.

LexiKD · #11 01-28-2002, 03:21 PM

Start Turtle: At my school, when we had a local, they did not participate in Formal Recruitment, they always had an informal type COB and it worked very well, they had total or close every year. I assume it is close to impossible to stand up to the NPC groups, or at least it would be at my school.

Maybe you can ask around who has a good COB and get some tips?

Good Luck

AOX81 · #12 01-28-2002, 05:35 PM

I will have to disagree with you LexiKD...we are the only local sorority at my school and we DO participate in Formal Rush with the NPC sororities and we usually do as well or better.

Have a nice day

kristiAZD · #13 01-28-2002, 05:45 PM

We compete with Bethany in sports, so I'm guessing their school is small as well. We had a goal of getting 60 girls to sign up, and we reached it, but by the end of recruitment only 35 signed their pref cards. Normally quota here is ten; we only have 4 sororities. It's hard to imagine a total interest of less than 60 people when you go to a big school where your pledge classes are that big, but that's the way the cookie crumbles at small schools. I was a rho chi this year and let me say that stereotypes were a big reason girls wouldn't sign up. It was VERY difficult to change their minds. I have to say i was surprised at how bad the image is right now. Plus, a lot of girls' parents wouldn't let them do it.

LexiKD · #14 01-28-2002, 06:56 PM

AOX:I said at my school, which may not be like every where else. Since you are so successful, maybe you can help Star with some suggestions.

ErikaXO · #15 01-28-2002, 09:10 PM

Lexi, at my school we had 6 nationals and one local.....the local did not get to rush with the nationals and even if they had they would not have done well. Unfortunately they were not considered a desirable chapter. They had their own rush after ours and they always managed to pick up numbers....they are still kicking after all these years (I think they began in 1989.) But I know what you are saying.