Rush at UCSC - Page 27

justamom · #**391** 02-06-2002, 07:17 AM

Corina, I too am so sorry for the obstacles you are facing. BrownEyedGirl, I agree with everything you said, everything.
The most important, is to sit down and talk with your friends and tell them what you have said here, but try not to say something that would make them feel guilty.

It could be that your friends are a little insecure about wearing letters at his point in your efforts. Be gentle with them and understand they have feelings they may be unable to express.

Have the four of you sat down as FRIENDS, and talked about ideas to meet others in a more casual way? You may want to devote some time to getting out there and meeting as many new people as possible. You can find the most interesting peple at work outs, on the rec fields, the plays. Your roles at this stage are more like ambassadors for your vision. It is a slow process,
but you are tackling the problems in a very mature and dedicated way. I may very well be wrong, but I feel the missing ingrediant (for where you are now) is getting others interested. People won't come to you yet, you must go to them.

Why not have each of you bring one NEW person (i know you could find two) to a fun campus event or meet for a movie. Just hang out and sprinkle in the conversation what you all are doing. Just be sure yo make friends first-no hard sell. Just an idea that you can keep building on.

AchtungBaby80 · #**392** 02-06-2002, 12:34 PM

Please don't quit! I've read this entire thread and you've come so far, it would be awful to give up now. So don't do it. I really think those girls are acting a little immaturely by refusing to wear the shirts, though--they're just SHIRTS. Would it kill them to wear the shirts for one day? It doesn't matter if they like them or not. During rush last year, my sorority made us wear these shirts that I really really hated (it was soooooo thin, and it looked bad on me), but I wore the damn thing anyway--twice! To me, it's about showing support for my sisters.

That said, I think word of mouth would be about the best way to go about getting new members. A lot of our members that we got during out COB-ing days were friends of friends of friends...you get the picture. I think you'll be in a lot better shape when you hear something from Panhellenic, especially when everyone hears you really are going to go national.

wishinhopin · #**393** 02-06-2002, 03:19 PM

Well, Jen and Gail are officially out. We talked and we're all friends and everything, but they're definitely not in the sorority. It sorta makes me wonder what kind of judge of character I am...anyway, now today I have to call the Student Organizations Office and beg them for the ability to put up flyers and have meetings on campus. Beyond this, I don't know what to do. Do I need to notify nationals and tell them that we only have three/four members? I'm not sure where Celeste stands on this whole thing- we totally want her in but she might not be down for it. She seems really into it though. My sisters (all two of them) wanted me to call her last night but I explained to them that if Celeste declined a bid from us I might just have a complete breakdown and give up, I was so not in a position to handle that then. If I'm told I'm definitely not allowed to do any of these things in terms of advertisement, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I feel like I've harrased all of my friends so much already, I don't know who else to go to. It's so frustrating. I just feel like I'm not strong enough to do this- it's sooooo much harder than I expected and it completely drains me of my energy you know? I'm not giving up but damn am I exhausted. Plus, Gail bought a whole bunch of cookie and cake making supplies for us to have a bake sale with, and both girls want their money back for their paraphanalia, but we aren't allowed to fundraise at all so we have no money, so I don't know where we're going to get the money to pay her back except from our own pockets. Which means me pouring more money into this thing that just feels like it's going down the drain. I'm sorry if I'm being depressing but I am really feeling lost right now.

volgirl2376 · #**394** 02-06-2002, 03:39 PM

Just a quick note before I go to my meeting. I would explain to these girls that you spent 300 dollars on the tshirts - knowing fully that there was no guarantee that you would have enough bodies to wear them. They also took a gamble when they bought the bake sale stuff. They are being petty, and you dont owe them a dime. They bought the stuff as members for the sorority, and in my opinion the stuff belongs to the sorority - if anything i would give the stuff back to them - they shouldnt expect cash. stand firm - and dont worry about giving them cash, unless you told them point blank "buy this stuff".

Optimist Prime · #**395** 02-06-2002, 03:46 PM

Spread by word of mouth. When my fraternity was still an interest group, they (the old guys) met in a study lounge, and just recruited people they met in class, from dorms, at parties, etc.

AggieDZ · #**396** 02-06-2002, 03:56 PM

First off, it's just money. Worrying about that evil stuff will ruin your life, just like it's viciously torn to shreds the any real value left in the vast majority of society.

I'm completely serious. I don't mean to sound trite at all. With all of the possibly terrible things that are liable to go horribly wrong at any moment, worrying about money (that you don't/wish you did have) just takes too darned much energy! Misery is optional!

Things you CAN think about. How to keep looking forward. Let the "shite" fall where it may, you've got to keep your sights set on the prize. As far as Gail wanting her money back, just pack up all of the things she bought and politely let her know that she is free to come pick them up and return them at any time. If she didn't keep a copy of the reciept, SHE's outta luck. Her foolish accounting is not your problem. ****Note to you: obtain copies (multiples) of reciepts for ALL goods that become sorority property to keep on file! For advertising: ask your professors if you can make a short announcement at the beginning of class. Give an email or phone number to contact for more info. Figure out some target organizations to make short announcements at. Think of organizations that would have the kinds of women you're looking for/would be interested in your org. Campus women's groups, Student Govt., Service orgs., Athletes Councils, Dorm councils, etc..... Most student orgs will allow outside groups to make a short presentation/announcement at their meetings. For fundraising: if you're resourceful enough, and want it bad enough there's nothing that you CAN'T do. You can sell candy bars (the big Cadbury's bar kind, bought at the grocery store for $1, sold for $2). I guarantee if you invest $20 bucks a peice and just start carrying a box of em around with you and sell 'em in class, on the way to class etc., that within the week (with re-investing a percentage of the original profits) you can make a HUGE profit on your original investment. Go door to door in established neighborhoods (ie: ones with families). Let people know that you're funding a new student group for women on campus that's aims are __________. You could even use a percentage of each sales to start a nest-egg for your chosen charity. ie. 10% of each sale will go to Children's Cancer Charities, while the rest will be used as developmental funds for our organization. You can contract out to stuff newspapers for a route in the mornings, or sell produce (roadside or door to door)for a local grower, or make crafts for the already established organizations. Along that line, try making a mid-term/finals survival kit that contains stuff like pens, pencils, scantrons, granola bars etc. that you can market to campus organizations to buy in large quantities for their membership. For that, take orders FIRST!!! Then, make them up & deliver. The possibilities are ENDLESS! It's time to get uber-creative!! Luck isn't all it's cracked up to be, but sheer endurance and willpower will get you through every time!

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

wishinhopin · #**397** 02-07-2002, 02:48 AM

Hey everyone,

alright, I've calmed down significantly and I think I might even survive. No promises though! Anyway. We met with four girls tonight, (who we already knew), and sat down with them to have interviews. They were all really cool, and we asked them what their interest was in NBO, and how they felt about being in a sorority. They all had really wonderful answers about wanting a family away from home, being part of something different and not like the stereotypes, supporting one another through sisterhood, etc etc. So we're extending bids to them tonight. I know this seems sudden, but I had a great gut instinct about them, and already I feel like they'll be better for our sorority than the girls we lost. I love them and they're wonderful friends, but I don't think they would really function well as sorority sisters. So anyway. I also called and harrased the student organization people, and they're going to let us put up flyers, hold meetings, and potentially even set up information tables. Mary (who is now the president of Gamma Phi, the one who's been helping us sooo much) told me that we really really really need to stay on top of NPC- ie getting everyone we know to send letters of recommendation, calling for updates regularly, and getting in touch with the groups that we're interested in. So I told each of my girls to go online and check out the websites for each org, and report back to me by Monday with one GLO that they clicked with. I made sure to tell them to look at philanthropies, mottos, creeds, purposes, goals, colors, mascots, badges, etc etc etc, anything that will give them a good idea of what a sorority is all about. From there we're going to narrow it down to five groups that we want to target (so to speak). Then, we'll send out letters to those five organizations, get in touch with chapters and alumni groups in the area, and just basically work really hard to get our name out there. So if anyone has any thoughts on how else to knock the proverbial socks off of NPC, please let me know. Thank you for reminding me of how far I've come with this- I think sometimes I expect sorority life to be exempt from the ups and downs of regular life- setbacks like this help me to remember that there will be rought patches and accomplishments, just like anything else. So that's all for now, more later!
love, Corina
ps: all the new members love my shirts....so there!

justamom · #**398** 02-07-2002, 07:45 AM

ps: all the new members love my shirts....so there!

HA, HA!!! There you go! Sound like you got around your "bump in the road"! Excellent idea about the one girl/one sorority research!

Honey, all can say is you are one heck of a fighter and fighters ALWAYS survive! Heck, they FLOURISH! Are you keeping a journal on all this? You are making your own place in history.

PKTKKG · #**399** 02-07-2002, 10:22 PM

Hang in there Corrina. You are awesome!!! It sounds like you have more interested women now. Just keep on believing in yourself and your goals and you can do it! I know exactly how you feel about pouring your heart and soul into something. I'm an alum of my chapter and we're fundraising for a sorority house (we will occupy in August 2003) and I'm the major person involved (i.e. - feel like I'm doing everything and am totally winging it). I'm rooting for you big time!! You are an inspiration!
Martha

ZTAngel · #**400** 02-07-2002, 10:29 PM

I'm so glad that you're feeling better. Hang in there. You're doing great!

Peaches-n-Cream · #**401** 02-07-2002, 10:53 PM

Yeah! Everything is working out for you and your sorority!

mmcat · #**402** 02-07-2002, 11:38 PM

do not give up or look back, only look forward...
congrats
mmcat

ps shirts are good

aephi alum · #**403** 02-07-2002, 11:43 PM

Glad everything is working out for you.

wishinhopin · #**404** 02-08-2002, 01:56 AM

It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly things could change. In twenty four hours my sorority has essentially doubled its size and moved past the women who were bringing us down. As my sister Liz said, now we can move on- they were road blocks. I can't believe I haven't yet shared the most exciting news! I've been sending out letters and emails to the student radio stations and newspapers. We have two papers on campus- City on a Hill Press, which is sortof the formal student newspaper, and The Fish Rap Live! which is a more informal, editorial, fun based paper. Anyway, Fish Rap called me back within a few hours of me sending them an email, and they said that they want to do a feature story on NBO! Isn't that great? They want to go with us for like a day and just see what we do, and interview us and everything. I'm going to be home in San Diego for the week of Valentine's Day, but I told the reporter that the week of the 19th he can come with us to a philanthropy event that we're going to plan- I think we're going to try to help out the Santa Cruz Battered Women's Shelter- and then to a meeting of ours. He wants to interview us, and bring a photographer, and this will be the perfect time for us to spread the word about our formal rush in Spring! Oooh, and about that. It turns out Gamma Phi Beta won't be having rush this Spring, because their numbers are too high or something right now. Sooo, Mary told me that they would try to help us out, plus that means that we have such an edge in terms of the amount of women who might be interested in us! So, I have a couple questions for everyone here on GC:
1. Does anyone have anymore plugs for their orgs? I want to be able to give my girls some more personalized info than just what's on the website- like I've learned alot about AOII from Gail's mom, and some of the PiPhi's on GC have let me know that they're basically not looking to expand in the West right now. So if anyone cares to share, I'd love to hear it!
2. Does anyone have any ideas for what more we could do to get NPC and/or national orgs interested in us? Tonight I'm going to be working on the letters to send out to our top five orgs, but I wish there was more I can do. Mary offered to send another letter at some point, and while I'm home I'm going to talk to my friend in DG and see if she can write a letter of recommendation also. I made plans with John (Greek life guy) to have his office send copies of any letters they get on our behalf on over to NPC.
3. Do you think it's possibly for me to get a look at the early February newsletter that NBO is supposed to be featured in? I've checked out their website and I'm not having much luck, but maybe it's not up or something. Anyway, that's all for now I think. Thank you so much for everything in advance everyone!
love, Corina

BrownEyedGirl · #**405** 02-08-2002, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wishinhopin
It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly things could change. In twenty four hours my sorority has essentially doubled its size and moved past the women who were bringing us down.

Corina, I knew things would improve - I'm so happy for you!!

You're on your way!