Texas 2015

[Nanners52674]

Originally Posted by Griffins&Quills

So, lower quota than last year

Wow! That's interesting, given the massive boom comprable schools with Greek life have been seeing.

[g41965]

I'm beginning to think the tougher admissions standards and changing demographics are lowering the amount of interest in Greek life. UT is more like UCLA now than Albama or LSU.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by g41965

I'm beginning to think the tougher admissions standards and changing demographics are lowering the amount of interest in Greek life. UT is more like UCLA now than Albama or LSU.

The size of the system and the size of quota reminds me of University of Illinois. Illinois has 19 sororities and, IIRC, quota roughly aroudn 50-60.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by KDCat

The size of the system and the size of quota reminds me of University of Illinois. Illinois has 19 sororities and, IIRC, quota roughly aroudn 50-60.

I guess I disagree completely with this. Illinois has 19 NPCs, Texas has only 14, which is small for the size school. Texas needs more sororities, but the system is elitist and unfriendly to change. The system at Illinois is the total opposite - very Midwestern in feel and not terribly competitive.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

I guess I disagree completely with this. Illinois has 19 NPCs, Texas has only 14, which is small for the size school. Texas needs more sororities, but the system is elitist and unfriendly to change. The system at Illinois is the total opposite - very Midwestern in feel and not terribly competitive.

I thought they had 18?

If it's only 14, then you are right. Those are terrible numbers for a school that size.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

I guess I disagree completely with this. Illinois has 19 NPCs, Texas has only 14, which is small for the size school. Texas needs more sororities, but the system is elitist and unfriendly to change. The system at Illinois is the total opposite - very Midwestern in feel and not terribly competitive.

Isn't this somewhat similar to Ole Miss and Arkansas where it is VERY difficult for a new chapter to colonize? While I don't think these schools are necessarily unfriendly to change, some families would never hear of their DD pledging a new sorority at their alma mater.

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

This sums up my perception exactly. The greek system at UT is not big compared to the size of the school but it attracts the cream of the crop. A friend whose daughter rushed at Alabama said that at Bama, there is a house for any girl who want to go greek....not so at Texas. Texas greek life is absolutely elitist, especially at the 'top' and 'mid' tiers and even to some degree at the 'low' tier. I imagine a new chapter would have a very rough time of it at Texas.

I think it depends how you define "cream of the crop".

It attracts those who define themselves as such.

Every bit more I read about UT makes me more pleased my daughter chose not to rush.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

the rankings I used were my own. I'm an '85 UT grad and have a solid sense of rankings as I saw things back then and see things now...not much has changed. There is one chapter that was the high end of the low tier that has moved up a few spots. There was a mid tier that has dropped to the low tier.

The first time I read about the Big 6 article in Texas Monthly was when my daughter decided to go through rush in March 2015. I knew when I was at Texas in the early 80's that the Big 6 were the Big 6. It's almost a caste system at Texas. The frats have a little more movement but the sororities are pretty static.

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

The UT sorority houses are stunning, actually. The 'stately mansions' of the SEC, like the Aggie houses, are newish, big, brick blocks with columns stuck on. The sorority houses at Texas are unique, historic and often built with native rock. They are on expensive real estate. They are special, which is why Texas sororities in particular will not go out and "build a new house" like other chapters might.

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

This sums up my perception exactly. The greek system at UT is not big compared to the size of the school but it attracts the cream of the crop. A friend whose daughter rushed at Alabama said that at Bama, there is a house for any girl who want to go greek....not so at Texas. Texas greek life is absolutely elitist, especially at the 'top' and 'mid' tiers and even to some degree at the 'low' tier. I imagine a new chapter would have a very rough time of it at Texas.

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

The thing is this: pledging XYZ sorority at U of H is not the same at all as pledging XYZ at UT. The sororities vary so much based on the school that it's at.

Texas is on it's high horse, for sure....having 100 year old chapters creates that...nothing new on this. Not saying its right, but that's what it is.

She's baaaack. And editing like crazy, as usual. So QFP fast, folks. Missed catching the post where she shared that Special Snowflake accepted a COB at a chapter that was "beneath her" during formal. Oh boy.

ETA: moms like this one are a huge part of perpetuating the tier talk and the nastiness. She's carrying stuff from 30 years ago around. You'd think she'd get tired of carrying all the baggage, but apparently not.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

On tiers: it's hard to get away from tier talk for anything. Universities are ranked, class rankings determine college acceptance, we get the top 100 restaurants, etc. This is standard stuff in life today....and it's OK. You are taking it personally and there is no need to do so.

Ranking restaurants is NOT the same as ranking people. You, dear, are ranking people. It doesn't get any more shallow than that.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

On edits: yes....my typing skills are weak. I'm glad I can fix things after the fact.

On tiers: it's hard to get away from tier talk for anything. Universities are ranked, class rankings determine college acceptance, we get the top 100 restaurants, etc. This is standard stuff in life today....and it's OK. You are taking it personally and there is no need to do so.

My friend's daughter who rushed at Bama this year said her daughter got dropped from "all but the 2 bottom tier houses". She accepted a bid from the 2nd to the bottom house...her own words. Mom and daughter are thrilled. Her daughter eats breakfast/lunch daily at the house and is having the time of her life. Mom said that if her daughter had gotten into one of the mid/top tiers, they would've "eaten her alive". Does mom's description of that house being "bottom tier" mean those girls aren't of good girls, have value and aren't cute? No.

On the 30 yrs ago: not at all; you don't seem to know the greek culture at Texas but I do. It's different. Not much changes there on the existing sororities. Ask any student/mom with experience in it.

No nastiness on my part for sure, so not sue why you are being so negative towards me. If it's due to my ranking, see comments above.

Have a great Sunday!

Bless your heart. No amount of explaining is going to get through that thick skull of yours. Or your thin skin, either.

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Mom

On tiers: it's hard to get away from tier talk for anything. Universities are ranked, class rankings determine college acceptance, we get the top 100 restaurants, etc. This is standard stuff in life today....and it's OK. You are taking it personally and there is no need to do so.

I am going to try this...why I don't know...but here it goes. I do take it personally when someone tells a group of young women they are the bottom of the bottom or not quite "top" tier.

Why? Because I teach young women every day. Every day I see a teenage girl struggle because she doesn't feel quite good enough. Every day I see a teenage girl skip lunch because she feels if she were five pounds lighter, she might be good enough. Every day I see a girl stay with a boy who treats her less than she deserves because she feels she's the bottom of the bottom and he's popular. Every day I see the effects of labeling and stereotyping and I hate it. My students are more than test scores, they are more than a tier, they are more than what they know.

LM, stop spreading and upholding stereotypes. You have not personally met every young women in every chapter at UT. You may think you know, but you have no idea. This comes from a woman in a chapter that was not "top" tier but we had intramural champions, an Indy 500 princess, a pageant girl, several campus leadership positions. We did not care what fraternity boys said or where others felt we belonged on some social status continuum. We had one of the strongest sisterhoods on campus and still do as alumnae.

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