University of Alabama Recruitment 2007

[MVisKD]

Originally Posted by Gung-Ho-Chi-O

Ah...you girls bring back such fond memories of Magnolia Drive :-)
I feel old or sound like my mom saying this...but does anybody remember the good old days when it was called rush, not recruitment, & the girls were only ever called rushees, not pnm's? I'm only in my 30's so it wasn't THAT long ago! The terms just sound so sterile & not personal & more like a robotic process when rush at Alabama is so unique & practically it's own institution, especially compared with some schools!

The whole KD situation reminds me of one year at Alabama when Kappa didn't meet quota...back in the day when every sorority typically did. It seems to me KD made this decision on their own to have fewer pledges in their new class this year. Not to sound rude or put Kappa down, but their not filling quota that particular year was not by choice, as they even generally conceded to. EVERYONE seemed to go crazy ridiculing them, particularly the houses Kappa typically competes against for the girls they are interested in. Out of the other 4 sororities that got a good kick out of a rare weak rush for a strong sorority such as Kappa, one of them even went so far as to print up long-sleeved tees with the number of Kappa's pledge class on the front & some crude statement on the back!! That's right... they even thought ahead so the tees would be worn throughout the fall.

I thought this was tacky & was not amused...showed no class...but those tees were the most visible things going across the quad for quite a while.
Imagine how this made the new pledges feel :-( Actives were on the defensive, as anyone would be, telling anyone that even looked at them the wrong way..."It's QUALITY...not Quantity!'' Maybe the KD's this year should print tees & adopt Kappa's mantra from that year for them!!! Ha!

I'm just kidding but I think with a sorority having as rich a history as KD has at Alabama, people don't need to worry about their chapter or question their member's choices. I can tell you one thing...the strong sororities at Alabama know who they want practically years in advance...the girls in the houses know who is "back at home" & will be joining them in the near future. They know not only who they want but who they will be fighting to get them. It's not like they are going into rush to meet all the girls & see who they like from a few brief encounters during the week, although some sororities do pledge girls they just met & grew to adore. The focus of most actives who have a girl from home or a relative they are pulling to pledge is to make sure their girl meets the rest of the girls that aren't from her hometown or that haven't met her previously from a spring party or visit to the University.

That's all they really have to be concerned with...they are not in a frantic rush to meet these rushees & decide who they would prefer to have join. This year in particular,all of the sororities should be proud to have pulled
off such a feat with such large numbers & in that heat no less!!!

Does anyone have any more pics from bid day? I was thrilled to see Gamma Phi Beta & A O Pi but want MORE MORE!!

Come on ladies...post those pics!

Great post!!!!!! Everything you said really hits home!

News straight from the second floor of the KD house:

I have spoken to a current KD senior, and she had NO CLUE that they did not meet their numbers....She said everyone was so excited about the new members and it seemed she genuinely did not know that they didn't meet quota. She said that all of their top girls pledged and that is all they care about! I am not sure if the Exec board is keeping it quiet or what, but I think that publicizing whatever did happen would hurt all of the new pledges (and actives!) feelings.

Thanks for everyone's insight and for sharing all the news of the chapters at Alabama. It has been great to read all of the good news! I have a few pictures from friends that I will post soon!

[MVisKD]

I can't figure out how! Any advice?

[BamaAGD]

Congrats to all Moms, New members and alumni on a fantastic Recruitment! All of the new girls are absolutely precious! Alpha Gam's new class is fantastic and like most houses all of our top girls pledged so YAY! Again, congrats to all!

[kk_bama]

Originally Posted by MVisKD

I can't figure out how! Any advice?

When you goto post a reply, you can insert an image with the little icon in the toolbar that looks like a mountain. It can upload directly from your computer.

[Gung-Ho-Chi-O]

Hi Everyone!

Any more luck on any bid day pics? MVisKD...thanks for your kind comments!! Don't you miss Magnolia Drive...hope those girls know how special these years are & how fast they will fly by.


O.K....now I really sound like my mom! By the way, The new pledge class KD got this year has 10 or 11 girls from my hometown & I even recognized a few last names myself as ancient as I am:-) Congrats...they're all fabulous women!!!

Take Care & post those pics ladies!!!

[bamabelle99]

I MISS MAGNOLIA DRIVE TOO!!!!

That said, if KD wanted to meet quota, they would've. They are very selective, they have the right to be...and like a previous poster said - they know years in advance who is going to be in the house.

When I was in school, I remember a few Old Row sororities not making quota - not because they couldn't, but because they didn't have too. In general those houses will always be strong and don't need to take quota to have a successful rush (I refuse to call it recruitment).

[Zillini]

This was one for the books and I had to share it with all of you. I received a call from a alum who was absolutely livid! She was calling on behalf of her distraught friend/pledge sister and the mother of a legacy who had been released. To add insult to injury, the active recruiting the PNM didn't even know this girl was a legacy and so didn't treat her with the courtesy she was entitled to.

I track all the legacies going through the Recruitment process and this name didn't ring a bell. My initial reaction was what went wrong? Sure legacies aren't guaranteed a bid, but we do make all of our actives aware of the legacies during our Rec Reviews in workshop week. Needless to say I apologized and promised to investigate.

So I pull out our Legacy Intro/Rec books. Nothing there. Did we misfile her info? That might explain it. I checked the non-legacy Rec books, nothing. YIKES! Please don't tell me it got lost! I check the PNM's Panhellenic application -- she left the entire section blank. No mention of being a legacy at all.

The alum had given me her name and address as well as mom's. I checked on our Inat'l database. Sure enough there they were, initiated at this Chapter. Why is this important? It obviously wasn't a case of being from a school where they didn't know any better. It also means they are receiving their Inat'l magazine at the correct address. Every summer it includes the Legacy Intro and Rec forms along with the addresses of where to send them for every school.

I called the alum back and asked (politely of course ) if she had sent in a Rec. No. Had mom sent a Rec or a Legacy Intro? No. I see. No explanation was offered as to why, but apparently we should have just known. Seems we didn't do our homework to know who the PNM and her mom was.

(I didn't say this but I certainly thought it.) You're kidding me right? We had 1410 PNM's signed up and it's our responsibility to investigate all of them to see if they are/aren't legacies? We did at least investigate those who claimed on their app's to be legacies but we didn't receive any paperwork on. You never know if Grandma passed away or is infirmed. But this PNM didn't even identify herself as a legacy when she signed up for Recruitment.

*sigh* Yeah, it must be all our fault.

[NutBrnHair]

Zillini,

No, it's not your fault. All you can do is process the information you receive. THEY dropped the ball.

Question...did the young woman mark herself as a legacy on her Panhellenic form?

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by Gung-Ho-Chi-O

I'm just kidding but I think with a sorority having as rich a history as KD has at Alabama, people don't need to worry about their chapter or question their member's choices. I can tell you one thing...the strong sororities at Alabama know who they want practically years in advance...the girls in the houses know who is "back at home" & will be joining them in the near future. They know not only who they want but who they will be fighting to get them. It's not like they are going into rush to meet all the girls & see who they like from a few brief encounters during the week, although some sororities do pledge girls they just met & grew to adore. The focus of most actives who have a girl from home or a relative they are pulling to pledge is to make sure their girl meets the rest of the girls that aren't from her hometown or that haven't met her previously from a spring party or visit to the University.

Originally Posted by MVisKD

News straight from the second floor of the KD house:

I have spoken to a current KD senior, and she had NO CLUE that they did not meet their numbers....She said everyone was so excited about the new members and it seemed she genuinely did not know that they didn't meet quota. She said that all of their top girls pledged and that is all they care about! I am not sure if the Exec board is keeping it quiet or what, but I think that publicizing whatever did happen would hurt all of the new pledges (and actives!) feelings.

Originally Posted by bamabelle99

I MISS MAGNOLIA DRIVE TOO!!!!

That said, if KD wanted to meet quota, they would've. They are very selective, they have the right to be...and like a previous poster said - they know years in advance who is going to be in the house.

When I was in school, I remember a few Old Row sororities not making quota - not because they couldn't, but because they didn't have too. In general those houses will always be strong and don't need to take quota to have a successful rush (I refuse to call it recruitment).

I see the "party line" is in full force!

Ladies, I can assure you, even strong, good, Old Row chapters wouldn't want this to happen four years in a row.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

I see the "party line" is in full force!

Ladies, I can assure you, even strong, good, Old Row chapters wouldn't want this to happen four years in a row.

Even if your "not quite" quota is 60 - I can't imagine explaining this to your HQ. "Why didn't you take quota?" "We didn't feel like it."

[Zillini]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Even if your "not quite" quota is 60 - I can't imagine explaining this to your HQ. "Why didn't you take quota?" "We didn't feel like it."

I don't know about other sororities, but our Inat'l uses achieving Quota as a criteria for awards. But it doesn't matter if it's achieved through bid matching, snap bids and/or COB. Achieving Chapter Total is also a criteria.

[MVisKD]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

I see the "party line" is in full force!

Ladies, I can assure you, even strong, good, Old Row chapters wouldn't want this to happen four years in a row.

I sure am glad I have a "party line" to help back up the lone KD on the board!

I know you feel allegiance to your home chapter as well and wouldn't want everyone spreading rumors that they snapped 16 girls or had alums come back to help rush because they didn't have enough members to do so. I am only trying to keep a good vibe about my chapter so this news doesn't spread down to next year's potential rushees and keep us from getting quota again.

So thanks for all the KD support and good words, everyone!

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by MVisKD

I sure am glad I have a "party line" to help back up the lone KD on the board!

I know you feel allegiance to your home chapter as well and wouldn't want everyone spreading rumors that they snapped 16 girls or had alums come back to help rush because they didn't have enough members to do so. I am only trying to keep a good vibe about my chapter so this news doesn't spread down to next year's potential rushees and keep us from getting quota again.

So thanks for all the KD support and good words, everyone!

I totally understand and you'll see from my previous post when I stated it would be a "wake-up call" for any of us -- and we've ALL had similar situations.

I do wish KD all the best and I'm positive they have a terrific pledge class, but it rubs me the wrong way when the mantra is something like "they didn't want quota" ... "they didn't even know they didn't make quota" ... etc.

[honeychile]

Shame on you, Zillini! You don't have the entire alumae database memorized yet?

They both should have known better!!

[MaggieXi]

This whole thing goes back to one of my original posts: Some responsibility falls on the PNM. Mom, grandmom, aunts, rec writers, etc. can do all the grooming they want, can write all the recs in the world -- if the PNM doesn't follow through and take on some of this responsibility she could very well be dissapointed in the end!