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33girl, you are sooooooooooo right about my campus. Let's just say it's an engineering school ... not the most socially ept group of women or men. And we did have the sort of deferred rush where you can talk to freshmen and whatnot. You just couldn't a) have them over to your house b) sell them on your chapter or c) buy them things unless you know them before school. I am sure there are schools where deferred rush would not work as well. I just don't think the option should be taken away for schools where it works.
I think there are a lot of reasons why women won't looking at chapter X. If chapter X is having membership retention problems recruitment problems, I wouldn't fault a girl who decided they weren't for her. (I personally applaud women who take a chance on a smaller chapter, but if a woman doesn't want to put as much work into building her sorority, I think that's a legitimate choice.) but if the girl won't consider X because it doesn't have the biggest house, the prettiest girls, and the most awards ... maybe she's just shallow and wouldn't make the best member anyway. Then again, esp. in a small Greek system, a woman can rush and really not feel at home anywhere. She shouldn't join somewhere just to get the letters if she's not feeling it.
But there are things chapters can do. A couple of the major mistakes I've seen smaller/struggling chapters make:
1) "We're small, so we won't cut anyone, and we'll bid anyone." Rushees know if X is inviting back everyone, and they can smell desperation. Cut early and cut often.
2) "She will never join us, so let's not even bother rushing her." Unless she comes out and rudely says, "I'll only be a Mu, so screw you," you still have a chance.
3) Rush 24-7. Yes, in a sense rush is year-round. But rush events shouldn't be. Members need a break to enjoy just being sisters and build up their sisterhood.
4) "The other sororities are just bigger because they're full of snobby, conformist suck-ups. Let's do things differently." Way to bite the hand that feeds you! Rushees can see this for what it is - bitterness. And they want to be part of the system. "Yeah, maybe they're snobs," thinks a rushee, "but at least they have mixers and fun!" And the other chapters generally wish the best for your chapter and would like to help you out - until you start trashing them. If it turns into a war, guess who wins.
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Alpha Xi Delta
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