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This basic practice of going to extreme measures to insure that one gets in the fraternity or sorority of their choice has been going on in some form or another for more years than I and even older sorority friends can remember. It was much more prevalent where my husband was originally from and we now live.
Back "when dinosaurs roamed the earth"... it was common knowledge at his very connected high school which schools had a weaker chapter or an easier rush for one of the top tier sororities or fraternities in this region. Girls would deliberately go to that school with the sole intention of rushing (dating myself again!) and then pledging one of the "big four" and then transferring back to their desired school... already a fully initiated member of their sorority chapter the next year. Further, they did not have the reputation of having a "failed recruitment/rush" following them. That was back in the day when we had rush in August and then pledged the entire first semester and we had to "make our grades." If you made your grades you were an "initiate" and we were all initiated around mid-March, leaving very little of our first year as an actual, initiated member. While this practice was much more common with female students there was a contingent of young men, who after informal rush during the summer, realized they would not get a bid to their desired chapter during formal rush... so they also went to a specific school the first year with the sole purpose of joining their desired fraternity. Oddly enough, based upon what my husband and our now mutual friends have told me... this practice generally worked. And since most of these people were known to a number of members in their sorority or fraternity when they transferred back to "Big State U" they were almost always allowed to affiliate.
This practice was also used for "religious reasons" when desired fraternities and sororities still had exclusionary clauses. Going to a much more liberal school that ignored inter/national policy definitely worked for several friends.
This practice, or some version of it, has been going on for more years than we can count. It is a rather sad indictment of the system... but shows that the system and the preference for membership in specific fraternities and sororities has been around for ages... no matter the extremes or cost one had to go through to insure they were in an what was seen to them as an acceptable group. But, as we say... membership is for life, and it used to make a huge difference in Junior League and other activities perceived as "elite" in this highly Greek dominated region.
B*H
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