Indiana University Recruitment - Page 6

carnation · #76 05-30-2009, 09:21 AM

It can be changed. They had bed rush at Arkansas when I was there and the numbers were beginning to be so big that over half the rushees went bidless: good, strong women who would have been such an asset to us, many of whom became anti-Greek in their pain.

Who changed it? In large part, the alums. They could see all the valuable women being drained from the system because of the foolish insistence that everyone live in. Did the Greeks hate the change? If they did, it didn't last long; a couple of years later, no one could believe how it used to be done.

Would I have suppported the change had I been an alum at the time? Are you kidding--with nine daughters, of course I would have! There is no need to become so horribly exclusive that you shoot yourself in the foot by turning away good women and creating enemies on top of that.

BadCat25 · #77 05-30-2009, 09:46 AM

I also think it needs a big push from the university administration which apparently ignores the problem.

33girl · #78 05-30-2009, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUGreekGirl

Again, IU works on bed quota. It's a terrible way of doing things, we know this. But we can't change it.
But small houses are actually at an advantage because it makes it more competitive to get a bed spot.

Every house is different sized. Most have cold dorms (sleeping porches) but you can still have only so many desks/closets in the day rooms.

Okay, here's a (ridiculously easy) solution.

Since there is no quota changing from day to day - why don't the chapters just come out and say how many openings they have at the beginning of rush? It would help the rushees to grasp how competitive things actually are. I mean when people get rejected by Harvard they usually don't get all bitter and say they hate Harvard, because they know it's supercompetitive and there are only so many spots open. I wouldn't be surprised if there are women who've heard about rush at other schools from their moms or friends who don't really fully understand the whole "bed quota" concept, even if they have been told about it and even when they're in the midst of it.

And it wouldn't ruin anyone's prestige to say what the different numbers are, since the houses are all different sizes.

Is there a lot of decent off campus housing surrounding the campus, or is it really that a big part of the reason women are rushing is to have a nice place to live?

kchaptergphib · #79 05-30-2009, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnation

It can be changed. They had bed rush at Arkansas when I was there and the numbers were beginning to be so big that over half the rushees went bidless: good, strong women who would have been such an asset to us, many of whom became anti-Greek in their pain.

Who changed it? In large part, the alums. They could see all the valuable women being drained from the system because of the foolish insistence that everyone live in. Did the Greeks hate the change? If they did, it didn't last long; a couple of years later, no one could believe how it used to be done.

Would I have suppported the change had I been an alum at the time? Are you kidding--with nine daughters, of course I would have! There is no need to become so horribly exclusive that you shoot yourself in the foot by turning away good women and creating enemies on top of that.

Carnation, darling, I think you need to write letters to the Alumnae Advisors for the chapters at IU!

IUGreekGirl · #80 05-30-2009, 05:04 PM

Our Rho Gams tell us the first day that it's difficult. Everyone knows that the odds are against you. But I think releasing numbers would discourage PNMs from liking a house that has less spots open. We want you to list houses on your list that you love, not ones you think you have a statistic probability of getting into.

Just a note. A lot of our chapters are pretty big already. The bigger chapters can sleep close to 100 girls in the house and still have seniors that live out. If we let more people in our chapters a chapter could have so many girls you wouldn't know all your sister.

Lastly, there are so many of good places to live off campus. That is 100% not an issue on this campus.

IUHoosiergirl88 · #81 05-30-2009, 06:47 PM

Just so you guys know, I'm more of a lurker, but I am a current IU student and do pop up from time to time :]

Chapters at IU are HUGE. Like IUGreekGirl said, there are bigger chapters that house 100+ girls and have live-outs, and I know several girls in other chapters that honestly do not know everyone in their house. Gamma Phi and AXiD come to mind as two of the bigger chapters in terms of actual numbers of people. Most of the physical houses (with a few exceptions...Tri-Delt comes to mind as one of the smaller houses in terms of square footage) are roughly the same size though. Some are a little bigger and some are a little smaller, but roughly the same size. I'm not sure what you mean by 'sleeping porches,' but if those are the same as cold dorms...then a majority (not all, but probably ~60-75%) of the houses have those.

In terms of what people were talking about with the whole bed v. quota thing...it's a very ingrained idea at IU. As much as it pains me to say it, because I'm definitely not like that, a lot of the greeks at IU are very elitist, which fosters that culture that IUGreekGirl talked about earlier, and because of that, I think a lot of them are very hesitant to opening the greek system up. We don't have the type of competitiveness that say, Texas/'Bama/UF/LSU have, but it's cuthroat. You know the odds going into it, but you do get very emotionally invested in houses that you fall in love with, and that makes it very tough.

sassygal · #82 05-31-2009, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

who can't change it? panhellenic? the sororities? the administration?

has it ever been suggested that it change or does everyone just assume that since that is the way it has been since the ice age, that changes aren't allowed?

I would think NPC would be putting loads of pressure on the PC at IU to make some changes. I'm not sure why the Greeks would want a bunch of disgruntled women on campus. Lots of houses across the country have ways to determine who gets to live in a house. I'm sure each National group has many different ways they could be determine either by a combination of things or specific things. GPA, Year in School, How active you are in the house, community service ect.. If it is such a big part of IU greek life you would have a fair and equal way to determine who lives in and go to a fairer recruitment system. Just because something has always been done one way doesn't mean it is the right way or a good way to do things. Just putting my two cents in

IUGreekGirl · #83 05-31-2009, 03:30 PM

I guess from my stand point as a collegiate greek, I want to live in with my sisters. You're so much more connected to the chapter.

The point of living together is to foster a welcoming and supporting community. That is completely embodied in living in the house. To have a "quasi-competition" (even if it is fair) would bait people against each other. I would be very resentful if I had a bad semester and then wasn't "qualified" enough to live with my sisters.

And again, we are wary of dumping the bed quota system because we don't want our houses to get any bigger, they're already huge. If your chapter had 200 members you wouldn't know the whole house.

KSUViolet06 · #84 05-31-2009, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUGreekGirl

And again, we are wary of dumping the bed quota system because we don't want our houses to get any bigger, they're already huge. If your chapter had 200 members you wouldn't know the whole house.

This gets said alot on the boards about large chapters, but there ARE Greek ststems with chapters that average at or close to 200 girls (Ole Miss comes to mind) and members of those systems have said that it IS possible to get to know people and form relationships in larger chapters. It just takes time and effort.

I crunched the numbers and at 1600 PNMs, I think quota at IU would be in the low 80s.

FSUZeta · #85 05-31-2009, 03:47 PM

many, many chapters of all 26 npc sororities have many different methods for determining who is eligible to live in the house. in the case where there are more members than there are beds, it is considered a privelege to live in. sometimes the executive officers of the house are required to live in, then a point system might be used to determine the remainder of the occupants. some things that might factor into the points are gpa,being in good financial standing, class(senior, junior, sophomore) offices and committee positions within the sorority, being a member of other campus organizations and participation in the sororities activities. if more sisters want to live in than there are beds, once the house is full, seniors have the first option to live out,followed by juniors then sophomores. it works. sure sisters might be disappointed that they are not able to live in, but more often than not, they are able to live in the house at some point in their collegiate career.

i agree with you that living in keeps you in the loop and is a wonderful way to bond with your sisters, but there are other ways. unhoused chapters feel that their sisterhood is just as strong as housed chapters and it is. in addition, unhoused sisters come to lunch and dinner, thus catching up with the housed sisters on a daily basis. hosting sisterhood activities and study hours at the house are just a few of the ways to keep the unhoused sisters involved.

it is scary to consider something different and i am the first one to feel unsettled when change occurs, so i understand your feelings. trust us when we say that having a traditional quota system replace the bed quota could work, might offer membership for more women, thus easing some of the negative feelings the bidless pnms experience.

IUGreekGirl · #86 05-31-2009, 05:04 PM

I agree. I think IU should get rid of the bed quota system and add a chapter or two.
Everyone has asked why it is this way so I'm hoping on enlighten on why these decisions have been made.

33girl · #87 05-31-2009, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUGreekGirl

Just a note. A lot of our chapters are pretty big already. The bigger chapters can sleep close to 100 girls in the house and still have seniors that live out. If we let more people in our chapters a chapter could have so many girls you wouldn't know all your sister.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUHoosiergirl88

Chapters at IU are HUGE. Like IUGreekGirl said, there are bigger chapters that house 100+ girls and have live-outs, and I know several girls in other chapters that honestly do not know everyone in their house.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUGreekGirl

I guess from my stand point as a collegiate greek, I want to live in with my sisters. You're so much more connected to the chapter.

The point of living together is to foster a welcoming and supporting community. That is completely embodied in living in the house. To have a "quasi-competition" (even if it is fair) would bait people against each other. I would be very resentful if I had a bad semester and then wasn't "qualified" enough to live with my sisters.

And again, we are wary of dumping the bed quota system because we don't want our houses to get any bigger, they're already huge. If your chapter had 200 members you wouldn't know the whole house.

I think this all comes down to the North and the South are different. Not better or worse...just different. The girls from IU are saying 100 is getting too huge...meanwhile there are chapters in the SEC that have 200+ and have for a while and no one bats an eye.

It's the same thing at Penn State...they have 19 chapters, but in terms of numbers, there are probably more women in sororities at Ole Miss, even though they only have 9 chapters.

This is the way women up here want it. Period. Compare Greek systems in the North and South and at schools of all sizes, you will probably see more chapters in the North for schools of comparative sizes. If the chapters at IU did change to a normal total/quota system and got to be huger than they are, I have a feeling that a lot of people who are in it wouldn't want to be part of it. I personally would have been wary of pledging a chapter of 100 and 200 I wouldn't have even rushed.

It's just a regional difference and you can't legislate it away.

33girl · #88 05-31-2009, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUGreekGirl

I agree. I think IU should get rid of the bed quota system and add a chapter or two.
Everyone has asked why it is this way so I'm hoping on enlighten on why these decisions have been made.

You need to check out some of the threads where people were talking about expansion at SEC schools. Greek life rules there, everyone wants to be in a sorority, the chapters are stellar within their respective orgs - sounds like a no brainer. You'd think every sorority who isn't there would be tripping over themselves to apply, but that wasn't the case. At many of these schools, just the fact that the chapter hasn't been there since 1900 or so or isn't "traditionally southern" is enough to cause it to flounder forever, regardless if it has a gorgeous house or tons of alums from other chapters pumping money into it.

I don't think that kind of thing exists at IU, but I'm pretty darn sure that there's no way ANY sorority is going to come onto that campus without housing equal to or better than the existing chapters. And if there is one group that's struggling WITH a great house, that makes it even less of a place you want to go.

Point being is when a group goes into a "tough" school the entire org has to make sacrifices, down to the collegians at Wassamatta U who don't even know the expansion is happening.

IUGreekGirl · #89 05-31-2009, 07:38 PM

That's a really good point 33girl and something I never would have thought of. But it definitely would be difficult to compare IU to an Ole Miss

sassygal · #90 06-01-2009, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUGreekGirl

I guess from my stand point as a collegiate greek, I want to live in with my sisters. You're so much more connected to the chapter.

The point of living together is to foster a welcoming and supporting community. That is completely embodied in living in the house. To have a "quasi-competition" (even if it is fair) would bait people against each other. I would be very resentful if I had a bad semester and then wasn't "qualified" enough to live with my sisters.

And again, we are wary of dumping the bed quota system because we don't want our houses to get any bigger, they're already huge. If your chapter had 200 members you wouldn't know the whole house.

IUGirl, I agree that living in does make you bond more with your sisters. Usually most girls are ready to move on in their senior year to an apartment- at least that was how it was when I was in the house.

If there are 1600 women going through and 19 Chapters that would be a quota of 84, but you have to take into account girls that drop out because they are not interested in being Greek or get cut. So with a 75% placement rate that would put quota at somewhere around 63. Is there a total set for IU and I would be curious to see how many Seniors on average graduate each year. I would think that with girls doing semesters abroad, dropping out of school and quiting the sorority it would all balance out and make recruitment a lot more enjoyable for your new members.

Any way, I wish you guys the best of luck. Maybe some changes will come with some time.