Which Greek system would you want to join?

[33girl]

I would like to go through an SEC recruitment IF I could do so with my 18 year old body and my 40 year old brain.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

LOL, Honey, I'm sure you would have been just fine in the SEC. I bet during your rush at Pitt they didn't know WHAT to make of you! (who is this girl with the nice manners and recs? What is a rec, anyway???)

Originally Posted by AzTheta

I am willing to bet that honeychile left Pitt a much prettier, kinder, gentler place than it was when she entered.

Y'all are too sweet! Even though my mother primed me from an SEC point of view of rush, I'm still not sure I would have survived one happily!

Originally Posted by MysticCat

But those days just involve an hour or a little more at mass. One can still go to work or school on a holy day of obligation or a football game on Sunday without any problem, as long as the obligation attend mass is fulfilled.

The Jewish High Holy Days are full-day observances that require fasting and avoiding all activity except religious observances. No school. No work. No recreational activities. And it's pretty well understood that many Jews who are not particulaly observant about Sabbath-keeping are very
observant when it comes to the High Holy Days.

Once again, MC gets it right. When I went to Pitt, the school was about one-third Jewish. NOTHING was scheduled on High Holy days - there was even a kosher cafeteria! Unless you're familiar with Jewish culture, you really don't understand how strictly the High Holy days are observed.

The Muslim equivalent (from what I understand, I'm not fully versed in their culture) would be Ramadan.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I would like to go through an SEC recruitment IF I could do so with my 18 year old body and my 40 year old brain.

Excellent!

We really need that Like button!

[nyapbp]

For some reason when I was in high school on Long Island, I was sent literature from Washington and Lee. It was all male back then, but my name is Frances, and maybe the admissions office was clueless back then in the dark ages. I really wanted to go there. Purely by chance, I ended up marrying someone who graduated from W&L. However, I don't think my NY born and bred self would have done well in Lexington.

I think Northwestern would have been a school for me (if I could have picked IL off a map back then). The houses on the quad, the lakes, the city, all called to me the first time I saw them. But I am certain my 17 year-old-self would not have gone through rush back then and I would have missed the whole experience.

[winnie_tuck]

Here's a debate, Northern secret clubs vs Greek life. Do they go through worse things since its the elite, such as former Presidents, an the organizations are barely known to us normal Southerners? I have read the dinner organizations can cost $50k! Our chapters are open and we can always run into an ABC but how often do you randomly say hello to a Skull and Bone member? The idea that it revolves around fancy meals makes me jealous!!! Dinner Clubs should written about being selective not sororities, lol Harvard clubs, i'm sure, aren't diverse.

[AGDAlum]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

. The entire Midwestern culture is very intriguing to me. OK so maybe Missouri and Arkansas aren't midwestern... but, they are kinda flat and in the middle of the country, so in my world, that equals midwest. It would be very different for this California-raised Zonie. A whole other world out there.

Missouri is not flat. (See: Ozarks.)
In contrast, Illinois IS flat.
The Red River Valley of North Dakota/Minnesota IS flat.

I have lived in all of those places and I know whereof I speak.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I would like to go through an SEC recruitment IF I could do so with my 18 year old body and my 40 year old brain.

Agreed. But not my 18 year old hair, though.

[lake]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I would like to go through an SEC recruitment IF I could do so with my 18 year old body and my 40 year old brain.

That would be awesome! If we could do that we would RULE THE WORLD!! Ha ha!!

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

The entire Midwestern culture is very intriguing to me. OK so maybe Missouri and Arkansas aren't midwestern... but, they are kinda flat and in the middle of the country, so in my world, that equals midwest. It would be very different for this California-raised Zonie. A whole other world out there.

Originally Posted by AGDAlum

Missouri is not flat. (See: Ozarks.)
In contrast, Illinois IS flat.
The Red River Valley of North Dakota/Minnesota IS flat.

I have lived in all of those places and I know whereof I speak.

Being from the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri, I will concur. Also, only the Mississippi Delta-area of Arkansas is flat. Western Arkansas is part of the Ozark Mountain Range with the Boston & Oauchita Mountains.

Now that I have concluded my geography lesson, I will join in the real discussion.

Although going to an SEC/Big 12/Big 10(really 14) school would be fun, I think I would prefer a smaller-ish school that has a very active Greek Life. Grand Valley in Michigan, Eastern Illinois, etc. They are still pretty big schools with pretty active Greek systems. Private schools with great Greek systems, I would pick Wabash College, Bucknell, or Lehigh.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by honeychile

The Muslim equivalent (from what I understand, I'm not fully versed in their culture) would be Ramadan.

I'm not sure that Ramadan would be equivalent. Muslims fast during daylight hours in Ramadan, but otherwise pretty much go through their regular day -- work, school, etc. So Ramadan per se would not prevent someone from participating in rush/recruitment. It might prevent them from eating or drinking at rush/recruitment events. Eid al-Fitr (the last day of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (during the Hajj) are perhaps the closest equivalents.

It's the all-day-and-nothing-but aspect of the Jewish High Holy Days that distinguishes it from the other observances that have been mentioned. A Jew observing Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur simply cannot attend any rush/recruitment event on those days. Period. If attendance at rush/recruitment events on those days is required, then that requirement effectively excludes Jews from being able to participate.

Originally Posted by Titchou

There are other religions which have all day strict observances besides the Jews who observe High Holy Days. I'm just curious about how to deal with those as well.

It's not that complicated, really. The reality is that, historically at least, it's Christian and Jewish observances that were most frequently encountered in American culture. Also historically, it's the High Holy Days that are most likely to conflict with a Fall recruitment.

So it's been a pretty simple matter: Don't schedule required events on Christmas, Good Friday or Easter, or on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. Additional "no-schedule" days might be locally appropriate depending on local demographics.

As other religions like Islam or Hinduism grow in the U.S., note can be taken of what days (if any) would present attendance problems for the faithful of those religions and plans made accordingly. In the meantime, policies are structured so that missing an otherwise required event because of religious obligations doesn't have a negative impact on someone. Schools and workplaces do it all the time.

[ASTalumna06]

I would want to go through an SEC recruitment just to see what it was like, and to experience the insanity of it all. However, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't fit in and I wouldn't want that typically large chapter experience.

I'd simply like to go through formal recruitment - as my school didn't even have formal when I attended - at any school where there were 5-10 chapters and each sorority had between 40-60 members.

And having a house would be nice

[AZTheta]

All right you guys, I checked and the highest elevation in the Ozarks is 2560'.

I looked at some photos (Google Images). The Ozarks are very pretty! But they look like hills to me. I live at about 1800', my view is mountains to the north of me & AZ-Alpha Xi that are ~ 8000' to 9000'... and I grew up with the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevadas as my mountain references (along with a gorgeous Golden bridge and a big honkin' ocean). It's all relative, though, and I'm sincerely really sorry I said that Missouri and Arkansas were kinda flat (even if they are kinda sorta more flat than not).

Carry on.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Additional "no-schedule" days might be locally appropriate depending on local demographics.

I think this is the bottom line.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I'm not sure that Ramadan would be equivalent. Muslims fast during daylight hours in Ramadan, but otherwise pretty much go through their regular day -- work, school, etc. So Ramadan per se would not prevent someone from participating in rush/recruitment. It might prevent them from eating or drinking at rush/recruitment events. Eid al-Fitr (the last day of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (during the Hajj) are perhaps the closest equivalents.

It's the all-day-and-nothing-but aspect of the Jewish High Holy Days that distinguishes it from the other observances that have been mentioned. A Jew observing Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur simply cannot attend any rush/recruitment event on those days. Period. If attendance at rush/recruitment events on those days is required, then that requirement effectively excludes Jews from being able to participate.

It's not that complicated, really. The reality is that, historically at least, it's Christian and Jewish observances that were most frequently encountered in American culture. Also historically, it's the High Holy Days that are most likely to conflict with a Fall recruitment.

So it's been a pretty simple matter: Don't schedule required events on Christmas, Good Friday or Easter, or on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. Additional "no-schedule" days might be locally appropriate depending on local demographics.

As other religions like Islam or Hinduism grow in the U.S., note can be taken of what days (if any) would present attendance problems for the faithful of those religions and plans made accordingly. In the meantime, policies are structured so that missing an otherwise required event because of religious obligations doesn't have a negative impact on someone. Schools and workplaces do it all the time.

Exactly what made me wonder about all this. I guess I'm sort of the one who says either accommodate them all or ignore them all. I think I might be somewhat miffed if my school allowed people of a certain religion to opt out of a day of recruitment while not letting others. But then, I come from a place where "chapter church" is not a foreign concept. That's why I veered off on this topic - to see where others fall on the spectrum. Interesting....

[TriDeltaSallie]

When I was at Michigan State, we were still on quarters and rush was in September. We always worked around the Jewish holidays. Between that, classes, and football games, rush was a couple of weeks long.