Why Sorority Recruitment is Horrible and Needs to Change

[Nanners52674]

From the minds of TSM.


http://totalsororitymove.com/why-sor...eds-to-change/

[thetalady]

I can't believe that this Pi Chi assumes that recruitment is done the SAME way on all campuses. I am also surprised that she did not have a better grasp of what her job was... to help these young women understand that the rush process is to help sort girls into different houses. A chapter that cuts a girl isn't necessarily saying "NO". They may like her very much, but they may have reason to like another PNM more.

Some days, I wish we just had Harry Potter's Sorting Hat and could forget the whole rush thing.

[33girl]

Why TSM In General Is Dumber Than A Box Of Hair And The Nekkid Celebrity Hackers Need To Destroy It Soon

The first red flag was saying "my PNMs." They aren't "yours." They're individuals whom you're helping. I can't wait for when she has children and refers to them as "her greatest achievements." She isn't there to click with people. She's there to lend support and be impartial. It's almost like she was a rushee, rushing her PNM group to see how many of them she could get to love her.

And I don't think anyone sees dropping women as a "privilege." It's more like, I don't get along with this person and don't think she would like my sisters or being in this sorority. She would probably like another sorority better. So I'm not going to ask her back and make her have to talk to me again.

[ladybug12]

I think this young woman expresses what many recruitment counselors experience. On many campuses they are disaffiliated from their chapters for many weeks and are ingrained with Panhellenic spirit. Which is good but can be a bit of "rose colored glasses".
They get very involved and close to their PNMs in a very intense and high pressure environment. They probably see a different side of some PNMs than is presented to the sororities on the other side...both good and bad.
Formal recruitment is a system...unlike some clubs where anyone who wants to join can do so. Is it perfect? No. But the vast majority of PNMs on most campuses have an excellent chance to join a lifelong organization and sisterhood if they maximize their options.

[Griffins&Quills]

^ Exactly, it's a system. And as nice and relaxed as informal recruitment is, where girls just get to casually talk to people and hang out, with large recruitment numbers, as well as factors such as RFM and total, there has to be SOME system in place. It's just impractical, if not impossible otherwise. I mean, tell the chapters at Bama that they need to spend 3 weeks talking to, hanging out with and going for coffee with all 2000 PNMs..... it just wouldn't work. And IMO I don't think completely transitioning to deferred recruitment is the answer either.

[YesNoMaybe]

I actually agree with this article. I also posted a comment on there pointing out that there is no reason that sorority recruitment cannot be more casual if men are allowed to do a more casual, less regulated recruitment. It is downright sexist in my opinion that men are given the benefit of the doubt that they don't need a quota limit (at least at my University), they get the privilege of recruiting year-round, and also are allowed to have freshman move into their structures prior to their first day of college. And while I certainly don't want to generalize, it just seems ironic the freedoms offered to men instead of women in Greek life when it seems that fraternities and not as often sororities are the sources of hazing and unfortunate incidences like off-campus parties or deaths. At our school, men were given bid cards and THEY got to select what chapter they wanted. They weren't tearing open a card in a student union to find out what of three supposedly different organizations they would spend four years at. Why are women expected to be the ones to have a sixty second turnaround from finding out what chapter they are in to physically running to it, even if they are holding back tears that their absolute favorite didn't want them?

I just feel saying "the process works" is too simple of an answer. Yes, Alabama has 2,000 PNMs, but have them do a full first day of recruitment where they have to see each chapter. Then let chapters hold open events for a few days and then have them send out preference party invites. I was on the "other side of recruitment" and saw women that were smart, beautiful, and wonderful crying to their mother that they didn't want to be at college anymore. Don't tell that girl to trust the process. That girl doesn't care, all she knows is that her first memory of college is rejection. She will see women around her getting back to all their favorites and not understand what she did wrong. Obviously, all these things are my opinion but I just think that if we continue to have a system that often bases membership on whether or not a girl has a rec, her looks, and a two-minute conversation, our chapters aren't going to recruit the women they were founded to serve. It's not fair that those are our criterion to get the numbers down to who we're allowed to ask back when the men aren't limited like that. The process needs improvement and if we aren't willing to spend a longer period of time to select lifelong sisters, I just don't see how we can turn around and tout its value as much.

Not trying to offend anyone with this post, just seems like sorority recruitment is behind the times to me.

[33girl]

What you are advocating would be wonderful for Alabama et al if they didn't have:

1. 2000 PNMs
2. Large, beautiful, expensive houses that are a big part of the draw of sorority membership

Unfortunately for your premise they have both those things.

And men often don't give as many chapters as they should a fair look. I know guys who while they cared about their brothers, maybe wished they had joined a fraternity that put more focus on academics/ritual/philanthropy/social/ what have you. I think there are just as many disappointed guys as there are girls, it's just rare that guys will actually open up and admit it.

[Missouri Ivy]

And what happens when 1700 girls attend the open events for one chapter while refusing to look at a chapter they consider less prestigious? The majority of those girls are also going to experience rejection.

[Nanners52674]

I don't get why people are so quick to knock RFM. It's the best system we've had so far, Greek life is flourishing at many schools, record numbers of girls are getting placed, etc... yet so many complain about it.

Yes it has its flaws but seriously this has nothing to do with men vs women and it's a strange comparison to try and draw.

[pinksequins]

QFP somebody -- cannot do it on this wretched Bberry.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by YesNoMaybe

I actually agree with this article. I also posted a comment on there pointing out that there is no reason that sorority recruitment cannot be more casual if men are allowed to do a more casual, less regulated recruitment. It is downright sexist in my opinion that men are given the benefit of the doubt that they don't need a quota limit (at least at my University), they get the privilege of recruiting year-round, and also are allowed to have freshman move into their structures prior to their first day of college. And while I certainly don't want to generalize, it just seems ironic the freedoms offered to men instead of women in Greek life when it seems that fraternities and not as often sororities are the sources of hazing and unfortunate incidences like off-campus parties or deaths. At our school, men were given bid cards and THEY got to select what chapter they wanted. They weren't tearing open a card in a student union to find out what of three supposedly different organizations they would spend four years at. Why are women expected to be the ones to have a sixty second turnaround from finding out what chapter they are in to physically running to it, even if they are holding back tears that their absolute favorite didn't want them?

I just feel saying "the process works" is too simple of an answer. Yes, Alabama has 2,000 PNMs, but have them do a full first day of recruitment where they have to see each chapter. Then let chapters hold open events for a few days and then have them send out preference party invites. I was on the "other side of recruitment" and saw women that were smart, beautiful, and wonderful crying to their mother that they didn't want to be at college anymore. Don't tell that girl to trust the process. That girl doesn't care, all she knows is that her first memory of college is rejection. She will see women around her getting back to all their favorites and not understand what she did wrong. Obviously, all these things are my opinion but I just think that if we continue to have a system that often bases membership on whether or not a girl has a rec, her looks, and a two-minute conversation, our chapters aren't going to recruit the women they were founded to serve. It's not fair that those are our criterion to get the numbers down to who we're allowed to ask back when the men aren't limited like that. The process needs improvement and if we aren't willing to spend a longer period of time to select lifelong sisters, I just don't see how we can turn around and tout its value as much.

Not trying to offend anyone with this post, just seems like sorority recruitment is behind the times to me.

There is no gender disparity in "freedom." NPC operates differently because we as individual groups got together and agreed to fairness in the process. IFC is a different group with their own rules. None of these rules are forced on NPC by any other group. These are the rules the "we" devised to make a level playing field for PNMs and chapters.

As for rejection, MANY men are rejected from IFC recruitment. There is no process to maximize placement. They also face rejection as their very first introduction to college. NPC, however, has a very high placement rate. The number of women who are truly "rejected" is very small. Hanging out with your favorite chapter for 3 weeks is no more likely to get a you a bid to that top group on campus if you aren't what they are looking for. That's the fallacy of the "well if they just got more time to know me". They would also have more time to get to know the women that they would have picked in the first place. The order of things would not change except for the weaker chapters who would lose out because everyone would be busy getting to know the chapters they have no chance to pledge.

[Griffins&Quills]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

The order of things would not change except for the weaker chapters who would lose out because everyone would be busy getting to know the chapters they have no chance to pledge.

This.

Not only does some system need to be in place, just logistically, but I think if we switched over to informal style only, the groups that would suffer would be the historically WRCs. Kind like it was pre-RFM. Which is what RFM was intended to help, no?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Griffins&Quills

This.

Not only does some system need to be in place, just logistically, but I think if we switched over to informal style only, the groups that would suffer would be the historically WRCs. Kind like it was pre-RFM. Which is what RFM was intended to help, no?

If you're in the mood to kill a few chapters, and create a lot of anti-Greek sentiment from disappointed women, and make the whole sorority system into a shark tank, then you want to go with that informal rush only for first semester freshmen. This is a big part of what killed my chapter. And that was a small school. I can't imagine at a SEC institution - the chapters would be dropping like flies.

[BlueCarnation]

Originally Posted by Griffins&Quills

This.

Not only does some system need to be in place, just logistically, but I think if we switched over to informal style only, the groups that would suffer would be the historically WRCs. Kind like it was pre-RFM. Which is what RFM was intended to help, no?

Sorry, dumb question: what's "WRC"?

[AZ-AlphaXi]

WRC - weak recruiting chapter
SRC - strong recruiting chapter