Very sweet short recruitment story

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Some groups need to belong to a governing body and just have no where else to go. At my school we have cultural orgs on the council and just now are they trying to get a multi-cultural council going, but that won't happen until they get approval.

[TigerOwl]

Many chapters at Penn State do welcome and LOVE to have pictures and resumes on the PNM's. Recruitment Teams and volunteer Recruitment Advisors at many NPC chapters on the PSU campus really look forward to receiving them ---as few as they might be---not in the hundreds---like some other campuses. Many chapters have been receiving them for years!

From the recruitment handbook for PSU:
Recommendation: A written letter sent by an alumna recommending a woman
for membership in a sorority. This is not a requirement for Penn State
Formal Recruitment, but recommendations are always welcomed!

[LionTamer]

Well, we didn't see a single one when I was rush chairman for ASA. I'm not saying no picture or resume ever shows up in a sorority's mailbox - I'm sure some do - but no one I knew had them, and my friends got bids from good national sororities without them.

Penn State runs rush LARGELY without reccs and I say "thank God" It's so great that girls like me who weren't raised with the idea of joining a sorority have an equal chance at recruitment, and aren't penalized just because Mom didn't join a sorority - or even attend college -- and doesn't know the ropes or have influential friends to write letters for her daughter.

[honeychile]

PSU & UofI are two schools which really should utilize recs!! There is just no possible way to make the proper impression to over 15 sororities in one week!

[PeppyGPhiB]

I would argue that most recs are probably full of sweet nothings anyway that don't really help you "know" a woman any more than what you find out from actually meeting her. Recs seem especially pointless to me when EVERY woman on a campus is told to get 1 or 2 to a chapter, as if she was checking off a list. What is the point of recs if they're a requirement and everyone has one? Recs are supposed to be for young women that are standouts, women that alumnae want to get special attention. Well, not every woman in recruitment can be given special attention...there's just no time for it. Not saying that recs are bad, just that once every woman has them anyway, they become insignificant.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I would argue that most recs are probably full of sweet nothings anyway that don't really help you "know" a woman any more than what you find out from actually meeting her. Recs seem especially pointless to me when EVERY woman on a campus is told to get 1 or 2 to a chapter, as if she was checking off a list. What is the point of recs if they're a requirement and everyone has one? Recs are supposed to be for young women that are standouts, women that alumnae want to get special attention. Well, not every woman in recruitment can be given special attention...there's just no time for it. Not saying that recs are bad, just that once every woman has them anyway, they become insignificant.

On a large campus, the value of the photo is really high. You don't have a huge chance of meeting more than a couple sisters, so having a photo to put that name to is wonderful.

My campus doesn't allow photos to be taken during Recruitment any longer, but when I was there, there were a few sisters whose sole job was to get a photo of every PNM, so that we could put a name to a face. Now that you can't do it, having the photo with the rec is the next best thing.

[LionTamer]

After graduation I was a member of a group that had a selection process, and we used photos and applications, and I agree that big schools like Penn State actually might benefit from the use of photos, since I know great girls were accidentally passed over because people couldn't remember them, or couldn't tell two girls with similar names apart. We took Poraroids of 2-3 people at a time - we weren't looking for professional headshots - just something we could pass to a current member and say "you DO remember her - I saw you talking to her at the beginning of the party."

I also have no problem with the concept of alums sending letters to their own sororities about their nieces or next door neighbors, saying "don't miss Marlee - she's a real star".

But the idea of requiring reccs or professional photos just infuriates me because it essentially ensures that the only girls who will be successful at recruitment will be those who arrive at college as freshman knowing all about recruitment because they're from "good" families who have a history of college graduates and are part of a strong social network of college graduates. It eliminates the chance of someone arriving at school, finding out about Greek life, and thinking "maybe I'll give this a shot".