Alabama Recruitment

[33girl]

Originally Posted by carnation

All right, I must be tripping. Not only am I agreeing heartily with 33 but some 8-10 other GCers *who are too chicken to say so* also agree!

Well I am on some major painkillers right now and not entirely myself, so if you want to use that as an explanation you can.

In all seriousness, I think this sort of attitude happens in a lot of situations, from gentrification of neighborhoods to colleges or companies trying to change their image as to who they attract. When the kinder, more effective, and more expedient thing would be to just come out and say in plain talk what you're trying to do.

[als463]

I have to agree with everything that is being said. I will say that, if you get a recommendation from a teacher, school counselor, or principal, there is a likelihood that person may be Greek. In that case, that would hold much more weight with me than if you were never in a sorority or fraternity and said, "Patty PNM would be a great addition to XYZ sorority." Now, if you can say, "As an initiate of ABC sorority at State U. and the current school counselor for Patty PNM, I am well acquainted with her abilities to multitask and make great friends. I believe she would be a great addition to XYZ sorority because she is very involved in community service and would work hard to raise money for your national Pets R Us philanthropy." That would mean much more to me.

Simply saying that you think Patty PNM is a great addition to Greek Life at Competitive Rush University when you were never Greek and went to a commuter school with two sororities, does not give me faith that you are aware of what being Greek at a major SEC school entails. I think that this statement from the University of Alabama does give false hope. Whose idea was this?

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by als463

Simply saying that you think Patty PNM is a great addition to Greek Life at Competitive Rush University when you were never Greek and went to a commuter school with two sororities, does not give me faith that you are aware of what being Greek at a major SEC school entails. I think that this statement from the University of Alabama does give false hope. Whose idea was this?

It doesn't seem as if this "academic" (but not really) recommendation is intended to make any mention of a PNM's fitness for Greek life at Bama. It is depicted as "generic."

IMO, something that diminishes the power (assuming it had any) of such a recommendation is that it is in the hands of the PNM to upload. Surely no school official would write a less-than-glowing recommendation for a student that the student will see (like with recs to some post-graduate professional programs -- when applicants waive their right to read their recommendations, these recs are considered more favorably).

I don't know who proposed this idea, or what (if any) administrative influence was potentially in play.

[carnation]

Picturing what kind of fake letters would be uploaded by Susie Slut and Dora Dumb Butt--

[als463]

Originally Posted by carnation

Picturing what kind of fake letters would be uploaded by Susie Slut and Dora Dumb Butt--

Susie Slut is my new favorite term. Ha! Hartofsec makes a good point that most people will write favorable recommendations. My point was that saying someone is a good student, as can usually be noted by looking at transcripts and GPAs, is not nearly as helpful as an alumna saying that the young woman was able to balance school and social activities. I'd rather a Greek of another organization tell me that Patty PNM can multitask and would be fit for sorority membership over someone who is not Greek and knows very little about sorority membership on any level. This does seem like it could be confusing to PNMs who may come from areas where Greek life isn't as big. It could really stunt a PNM during recruitment--or so, I would think.