Why are recs absolutely necessary at some schools, while not expected at others?

[AXOrushadvisor]

I totally disagree. I think recs have a very appropriate place in the recruitment process. Think of it this way; I would rather hire someone that comes to me with a personal recommendation then someone I find in a standard interview process. A recommendation from an alum that personally knows a young women should hold a lot of weight. No one should recommend a PNM for membership that they don't think would make a great member. Some people interview (recruit) very well. You hire (pledge) them and they are psycho. Hopefully you can avoid those mistakes by having a recommendation.

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I totally disagree. I think recs have a very appropriate place in the recruitment process. Think of it this way; I would rather hire someone that comes to me with a personal recommendation then someone I find in a standard interview process. A recommendation from an alum that personally knows a young women should hold a lot of weight. No one should recommend a PNM for membership that they don't think would make a great member. Some people interview (recruit) very well. You hire (pledge) them and they are psycho. Hopefully you can avoid those mistakes by having a recommendation.

Amen

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by MaryPoppins

"You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment" - Francis Urqhart/House of Cards

Whatever. Easy may not have been an appropriate word choice, but if you sort into rec/no rec and no rec = cut, it does simplify things a bit.

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I totally disagree. I think recs have a very appropriate place in the recruitment process. Think of it this way; I would rather hire someone that comes to me with a personal recommendation then someone I find in a standard interview process. A recommendation from an alum that personally knows a young women should hold a lot of weight. No one should recommend a PNM for membership that they don't think would make a great member. Some people interview (recruit) very well. You hire (pledge) them and they are psycho. Hopefully you can avoid those mistakes by having a recommendation.

While there's no way to get these numbers, I think it would be interesting to know what percentage of recs are actually written by women who know the PNM, and aren't family friends or even friends of friends (see coffee scenario noted above). I have known women over the years who are total wrecks in real life but who are able to hold it together in the kinds of social situations that a family friend would be privy to. The family friend and friend of friends scenarios are less valuable in my opinion.

Anecdotally, I know when I went through, there were 15 chapters on my campus. Of my recs, about half were teachers and friends parents who had spent a significant amount of time with me in every day life. The remainder, not so much. I think it's this remainder category that kind of cheapens the value of a rec.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I totally disagree. I think recs have a very appropriate place in the recruitment process. Think of it this way; I would rather hire someone that comes to me with a personal recommendation then someone I find in a standard interview process. A recommendation from an alum that personally knows a young women should hold a lot of weight. No one should recommend a PNM for membership that they don't think would make a great member. Some people interview (recruit) very well. You hire (pledge) them and they are psycho. Hopefully you can avoid those mistakes by having a recommendation.

I'm on this page....but I will also admit that I am old line southern and Cajun. Both cultures are strong on the "who's your Daddy" element - in fact, it's always stated as one of 3 questions a Cajun boy asks a girl he meets. And I truly do call around on anyone who asks me for a rec if I don't already know her. Granted, not everyone puts the research in but I was "raised" that way and I still do it. I just can't see putting my name on a form approving someone for membership if I didn't really know about her.

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by Titchou

And I truly do call around on anyone who asks me for a rec if I don't already know her. Granted, not everyone puts the research in but I was "raised" that way and I still do it.

In the Mississippi Delta, the question is "And what is your mother's maiden name?" The question, "Where are you from?" deals more with: 1) where you were born; 2) where are "your people" from, and where do you bury "your people." My answers: The Delta, The Delta and Wyoming ; and Sumner.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Titchou

I'm on this page....but I will also admit that I am old line southern and Cajun. Both cultures are strong on the "who's your Daddy" element - in fact, it's always stated as one of 3 questions a Cajun boy asks a girl he meets. And I truly do call around on anyone who asks me for a rec if I don't already know her. Granted, not everyone puts the research in but I was "raised" that way and I still do it. I just can't see putting my name on a form approving someone for membership if I didn't really know about her.

Crazy idea: what if the recs could be from ANY NPC alumna? What if all PNM's were expected to find, say, three recs in total, and have them sent to all chapters?

1) I'd rather see a personal rec from an XYZ who knows the PNM than a rec from an alumna of my own group who met the woman for lunch once, and

2) If an alumna of XYZ says that a PNM is fit for membership in her group, I generally take it to mean that she's fit for membership in my own, too.

3) It's hard to imagine there are areas of the country where women couldn't find SOME sorority women they know personally. There's still a race/class aspect, but the geography problem is pretty quickly solved.

[DaffyKD]

In all my years as a KD, I have only written 1 rec other than the legacy form I sent to my daughter's school. The young lady was going through rush at an SEC school, waiting until the last minute to contact our headquarters trying to track down a rec. Headquarters contacted the Alumnae Chapter and I was given the "opportunity" to meet the young lady. I did not check the box that asked if I knew the girl personally. I also stated right on the form that my recommendation was based on meeting the young lady for 30 minutes. No one I knew had any connection with her. I e-mail it off to the chapter. As far as I have been led to understand through the GC grapevine that listed the new members by chapter at that school she either dropped out of recruitment or all houses dropped her.

I felt that my rec was a total waste of time since it did not give the chapter a glowing review of the young lady. I can see where it was used as a means of dropping her for someone who had a more glowing rec.

In my day, National required them but the chapters sent out the forms to the various AC's to get them filled out. We had to do it quickly as we had to relie on pony express. No one had a fax in their home, computers were still using punch cards, etc. We did take recs over the phone if we had to. Who ever was our rec chair would be up all night trying to locate someone who would write something. Glad those days are behind us.

DaffyKD

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by DaffyKD

We did take recs over the phone if we had to. Who ever was our rec chair would be up all night trying to locate someone who would write something. Glad those days are behind us.

Amen. Working with a dot matrix print out of alumnae sorted by Zipcode in the weeks leading up to rush with the office phone was shear insanity.

[LXA SE285]

Titchou, are you from around Lafayette? My dad's people are from Buras, where Katrina made landfall. I'm not sure that counts as Cajun country, but my dad's mom spoke French before she learned English, and nobody outside my immediate family who's not from SoLa can understand a word my dad says. Eh-là-là ...

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

Titchou, are you from around Lafayette? My dad's people are from Buras, where Katrina made landfall. I'm not sure that counts as Cajun country, but my dad's mom spoke French before she learned English, and nobody outside my immediate family who's not from SoLa can understand a word my dad says. Eh-là-là ...

My relatives are from around Creole, in Cameron parish - down below Lake Charles. And Lafayette is the center of Acadiana (Cajun country) so Buras is right there. Ai-eeeee!

[DaffyKD]

Originally Posted by MaryPoppins

Amen. Working with a dot matrix print out of alumnae sorted by Zipcode in the weeks leading up to rush with the office phone was shear insanity.

In my day, there was still no dot matrix. Good typewriters were still used.

DaffyKD