Okay -- recently I sent off several letters for several young women entering colleges with greek systems. Unfortunately, it seems that none of the colleges these women are attending seem to have an AXO chapter!! But - because I am GREEK first and believe in promoting unity among all orgs, I did the RIGHT thing and sent a letter of reference for these young women.
Now I know that technically I CANNOT WRITE A REC LETTER for any woman to any other chapter besides AXO. So instead I wrote what I consider to be a letter of reference (the same as with a job resume, etc.) I think this shows a great deal of character on the part of these young women. I am openly saying "DANG - if AXO can't have them, somebody needs them! They are this good!" Wouldn't you think that that would mean something to these chapters?!
Instead I get about 3 letters back saying "Thank you, but since you aren't an XYZ we can't consider these women!" -- Ummm - okay then. Be my guest and DON'T consider them -- I will make sure that these women know from the start which orgs sent these letters to me which may make their choices a lot easier
One letter I got says "Sorry, we can't accept a rec from a non XYZ, but we will be looking for Jane this fall and will certainly consider her for membership. And I'll be sending you a card to let you know where she went after rush is over." -- ANYONE HERE SEE THAT THIS IS DOUBLE TALK?! If you can't accept a rec from a non XYZ (which WASN'T a rec in the first place!) then why bother to send the rest saying they will consider her!!! (Which is the whole point!!)
I will stop my little rant for now, but to all you Recruitment Chairs, Rec Chairs, etc... I offer the age-old advice to just say "Thank you!" and let your private internal affairs be PRIVATE. There was absolutely NO POINT in sending me these letters to say "we can't accept your reference" -- when in essence, I wouldn't know if they were tossed in the can from the start. A simple "THANK YOU FOR BEING CONSIDERATE OF THE GREEK SYSTEM" would certainly be appropriate.
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