IU PNM Numbers

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by scrabblemomb

Wow, glad my daughter dropped out before the Hunger Games began (with snacks). She was not after top tiers and has not mentioned recruitment for next year. Just not her thing. Thanks for those who sent best wishes to her! I am a Greek Woman and know that it can be a great thing and had a great experience...but can't believe that so may are supporting such a destructive system.

Please do not mock my posts, I have been nothing but kind. My Hunger Games reference is based on last year's thread and the fact that the author of the Hunger Games is an IU alumna. The snacks is a reference to the fact that I was hungry, I missed lunch today. You are reading snark into my posts where there truly is none.

[als463]

Originally Posted by IndianaSigKap

Please do not mock my posts, I have been nothing but kind. My Hunger Games reference is based on last year's thread and the fact that the author of the Hunger Games is an IU alumna. The snacks is a reference to the fact that I was hungry, I missed lunch today. You are reading snark into my posts where there truly is none.

Did not know that. Cool! Thanks for sharing that. Go Big Ten!

[Eureka_mo]

My daughter did receive a bid tonight, from an un-housed chapter. Her Rho Gamma advised her to go to the chapter and give it a shot, which she did. She felt lucky to get any bid at all. Many girls on her floor didn't make it to pref. round at all, or didn't get any chapters that appealed to them and dropped out.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the recruitment system is set up to be a mutual selection process. If one party or the other does not feel comfortable (at the very least) with moving forward, it would be in the best interest of the PNM and the chapter to end the relationship. This not only ensures that another girl could move into a spot better suited to her, but also a chapter which gains a committed new member.

The message I was trying to get across was that she just didn't make a connection with the three chapters during pref. round. She continued to visit these chapters with the hope of finding that connection, but it just didn't happen. The fact that they are un-housed was a consideration for her; the idea of possibly living in an apartment frightened her a bit.

NO ONE said that the un-housed chapters are "less" than other chapters. They simply didn't feel comfortable to her. There were other chapters with houses that also didn't feel comfortable, but those did not end up on her list.

As far as wanting my daughter to be a part of Greek life and also bashing the system, that's totally true. The problems are not the fault of the girls in the chapter houses. Every sorority member my daughter came into contact with during recruitment was nice to her, and she actually enjoyed the process and meeting all the girls. I just don't understand why IU/PHA allows the system to continue the way it is. Why are so many qualified young women turned away from an experience that would benefit not only the girls, but the university?

[33girl]

That last question has been discussed in the multitudinous IU threads on here.

Mutual selection exists up to a point, but at many schools, the balance is tipped towards either sororities or rushees, usually the sororities. It's not just IU.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Eureka_mo

As far as wanting my daughter to be a part of Greek life and also bashing the system, that's totally true. The problems are not the fault of the girls in the chapter houses. Every sorority member my daughter came into contact with during recruitment was nice to her, and she actually enjoyed the process and meeting all the girls. I just don't understand why IU/PHA allows the system to continue the way it is. Why are so many qualified young women turned away from an experience that would benefit not only the girls, but the university?

Re: the bolded. In my opinion the "problems" with Indiana bed rush (no quota/total system) are "the fault of the girls in the chapter houses." They have their reasons for maintaining this system; they have the power to change it. They choose not to. The University and the Panhellenic Association cannot dictate membership to each chapter. These are private membership organizations and they alone determine membership.

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

[33girl]

That's kind of like asking 15 year olds to rationally look at a proposal to raise the driving age to 17. They're too emotionally invested to see the positives even if there are negatives in the current system.

I know if I were in that situation, I'd be terribly afraid of increased chapters resulting in poor retention and more than that, of getting lost in the shuffle. I don't think it's only about wanting to stay "elite. " This is an age group loath to reveal its vulnerability and it's easier to say "we want to keep it elite" rather than "I'm really worried of our chapter getting too huge and no one noticing me."