Which sorority was your Rho Chi in?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DGTess

I don't believe in hiding affiliation.

I believe young women who are attending college are capable of making up their own minds. I don't think they need to be spoon-fed; if they make a wrong decision, it's part of the learning experience. We all make wrong decisions in our lives. We learn; we move on.

I don't think it's important to make young women believe any sorority is better than no sorority.

Mind you, I despise formal rush as it's done on most campuses, too. It reminds me of arranged marriages, with PanHel standing in for parents. I think it leads to the type of membership selection that is stereotyped and leads to selection based on looks or clothes rather than souls and minds.

Be a sorority member at a campus with 1000 girls going through rush.

Then come back and tell us how you feel.

(For those who are unaware, DGTess's school at present day has approximately 90 women go through rush. I'm guessing the number was lower in the 1970s.)

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Be a sorority member at a campus with 1000 girls going through rush.

Then come back and tell us how you feel.

(For those who are unaware, DGTess's school at present day has approximately 90 women go through rush. I'm guessing the number was lower in the 1970s.)

Why should I base my opinion on someone else's experiences? I've stated my opinions. I've stated what I believe. No one else has to believe it, nor need anyone else agree.

FWIW, I have no clue how many ever went through Rush, because we didn't have to report. That's changed now, even at my school. I believe that has lent a "mother may I" system that I have no interest in perpetuating. I was a student assistant to the Dean of Women, to the Dean of Men, and to the Dean of Student Life during my undergraduate career; Greek life came under their purview. There was no greek life office. I don't apologize for that; it was what it was.

Yes, I expect administratively, 1000 women is difficult to deal with. I can see other ways to handle the issue. Perhaps others can't; that's not my issue.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DGTess

Why should I base my opinion on someone else's experiences? I've stated my opinions. I've stated what I believe. No one else has to believe it, nor need anyone else agree.

FWIW, I have no clue how many ever went through Rush, because we didn't have to report. That's changed now, even at my school. I believe that has lent a "mother may I" system that I have no interest in perpetuating. I was a student assistant to the Dean of Women, to the Dean of Men, and to the Dean of Student Life during my undergraduate career; Greek life came under their purview. There was no greek life office. I don't apologize for that; it was what it was.

For what it's worth, I went to Clarion (which means my rush was a lot like yours) and I'm the biggest deferred rush cheerleader on this whole damn board. I don't think women should join their first semester either; however, I also don't agree with not looking at all the chapters in a more formalized environment at least once. It fosters closed-mindedness and contributes to the Greek system not being unified. With Greeks under fire at so many colleges nowadays, we have to find a common bond - hang together, or all hang separately. Plus, just because you love Suzie and Bobbi from XYZ, they might be the exceptions to the rule.

I went through as a sophomore and I had a pretty good idea which group I liked - however, I'd seen enough girls be disappointed in rush that I wasn't about to put all my eggs in one basket. I'd heard all the reps and stories and gotten to know women from all the sororities, but I'm glad that I went everywhere I could during rush. I learned things that I wouldn't have learned otherwise (i.e., XYZ was too gung-ho for me and ABC was nice but I didn't feel comfortable there). It meant I could write ASA at the top of my bid card and KNOW that was where I wanted to be.

We had girls who didn't go through rush at all and they were more likely to have "what if" issues whenever things got tough in the chapter.

Originally Posted by DGTess

Yes, I expect administratively, 1000 women is difficult to deal with. I can see other ways to handle the issue. Perhaps others can't; that's not my issue.

If you still call yourself a sorority alumna, and you believe the current system of rush is harming your sorority on either a local or a national level, which it sounds like you do, then yes it is very much your issue, and I'd like to hear what you think would be a better way for those schools to run rush.

[DGTess]

If you still call yourself a sorority alumna, and you believe the current system of rush is harming your sorority on either a local or a national level, which it sounds like you do, then yes it is very much your issue, and I'd like to hear what you think would be a better way for those schools to run rush.

What's not my issue is that others can't see other ways to handle rush. Status quo is always easier.

Other ways?

Look at the fraternity systems.
Only informal rush. Bids when the sisterhood feels ready.
Get Panhellenic out of rush, or use them as administrators.
Postpone rush until spring semester, when women have become familiar with campus and the various houses.
Look at sororities that don't participate in formal rush. Select some of their methods - application, grades, etc.

Most likely ome combination of these. There are hundreds of ideas, some of which would work on some campuses but not on others.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DGTess

What's not my issue is that others can't see other ways to handle rush. Status quo is always easier.

Other ways?

Look at the fraternity systems.
Only informal rush. Bids when the sisterhood feels ready.
Get Panhellenic out of rush, or use them as administrators.
Postpone rush until spring semester, when women have become familiar with campus and the various houses.
Look at sororities that don't participate in formal rush. Select some of their methods - application, grades, etc.

Most likely ome combination of these. There are hundreds of ideas, some of which would work on some campuses but not on others.

Actually, there have been several threads on here about the 4 different styles of rush, and NPC recommends that if an old-style formal rush isn't working for your campus, to change it to one of the three more relaxed styles. My campus just did this. There are also MANY schools that have deferred rush.

Only informal rush sounds good in theory, but at some point you have to get a pledge class together, unless of course, you just want to give them their pins and initiate them. You can have a second class, but like I said, at some point it has to become a group. Plus, the other thing about all informal that can really blow is that if there's no Panhellenic scheduling, too often the sororities have their parties on the same day at the same time. Maybe a girl would like to check out all the groups, but she can't because of time constraints, so she's forced into choosing before she even has a chance to meet the members. Our school did this (and first semester freshmen were allowed to rush at the time). It was horrible.

No one has ever said on here that there's only one way to do rush - anyone who is on GC for more than 5 minutes knows that's not the case. What is prompting the negative remarks is your attitude toward any sort of Panhellenic presence. Maybe at CMU everyone in sororities was happy and got along and you all loved each other and didn't really need Panhel for everyone to play fair, but it ISN'T that way everywhere. Just because I do not need snow boots in Florida doesn't mean the girl in Vermont doesn't need them either.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Just because I do not need snow boots in Florida doesn't mean the girl in Vermont doesn't need them either.

LOL. Great analogy.