Deferred Rush Under Discussion at UNC-Chapel Hill

[TSteven]

How many *PUBLIC* institutions have deferred recruitment?

[Firehouse]

"We're only trying to strengthen the greek system" = "We're from the government and we're here to help you." One call. One lawyer. Trust me. If you are undergraduates talking to administrators, TRUST ME you playing a weak hand. Have one chapter call one lawyer, and have that one lawyer call the university general counsel. It will end immediately.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by James
Force them to say straight out that they are doing it to hurt your numbers . . .

There really is no other rational reason to do it.

James is right. Deferred rush almost always hurts numbers.

[FSUZeta]

freshmen going to the football games, playing intramurals, hanging out at the student union, playing video/computer games,
going to the bars in that all too critical first semester? and is the board of trustees/administration going to curtail those activities too? and are the parents concerned about those activities taking up their kid's time?

[dakareng]

How many *PUBLIC* institutions have deferred recruitment?

I can name two without doing any research whatsoever. Indiana University and Miami of Ohio.

I don't think either of those institutions have any difficulties finding women interesting in recruitment that does not begin until November/ January but both have very strong Greek traditions. Would deferred recruitment work at UNC or Michigan? I don't know but it should be the decision of the Panhellenic member organizations not administration.

[Firehouse]

Miami of Ohio used to be a private school and continues to maintain some of the trappings. I can't say why or when Indiana went to deferred rush, but you can be sure that it was imposed by decree. There is NO advantage to the chapters in waiting till second semester. On the other hand, if a Greek system was a terrible influence on freshmen and their grades, then the U. should take steps. But that's hardly ever the case. this is all about control, and padding some administrator's resume.

[TSteven]

Originally posted by dakareng
How many *PUBLIC* institutions have deferred recruitment?

I can name two without doing any research whatsoever. Indiana University and Miami of Ohio.

I don't think either of those institutions have any difficulties finding women interesting in recruitment that does not begin until November/ January but both have very strong Greek traditions. Would deferred recruitment work at UNC or Michigan? I don't know but it should be the decision of the Panhellenic member organizations not administration.

Thanks. I figured there must be some public schools that had deferred recruitment but I couldn't think of any at the time.

Doesn't Purdue have deferred recruitment as well? And do any of the other Indiana public schools have deferred recruitment?

If so, then perhaps this was mandated by the Indiana State Department of Higher Education. Or the State of Indiana trustees. Or whatever governing body over public schools of higher education might be called. (I think IU and PU are both under the same board.)

[33girl]

Originally posted by Firehouse
I can't say why or when Indiana went to deferred rush, but you can be sure that it was imposed by decree. There is NO advantage to the chapters in waiting till second semester.

Firstly, I don't think that every single instance of moving to deferred has been "imposed by decree." If it has, please give me dates & examples...kthanks.

The advantage of waiting till second semester is if the school has a great many people who transfer out or flunk out. At a very academically intense school there are plenty of kids who find out they aren't the prodigies they thought they were. Why waste time pledging someone for a semester when they're going to end up leaving the school and never returning?

My main problem is that when first semester rush is used, even though it's a tradition not a rule, it seems that it takes away the PNM's choice. It's either pledge that first semester - even if you're unsure that you like the school or if greek life is really for you - or have your choices greatly reduced and in many cases, find yourself unable to get a bid at all. Once that is remedied, I'll get on board with first semester rush, but until that happens (and piggies fly) I'll keep cheering for deferred.

[Firehouse]

I agree with you in the case of a school where many pledges are likely to flunk out first term. Such schools do exist, unfortunately, but they are usually state schools required to admit any state high school graduate. Schools with high academic standards do not need deferred rush, especially when chapters can help with first term academics. Deferred rush is almost always "imposed". What usually happens is that the administration pushes IFC/Panhellenic to change their rush structure ("Either you do it or the faculty will impose harsher rules", or, "We want you to take responsible action to demonstrate to us that you're worthy of being here", or somesuch), and then the school can cast their eyes piously Heavenward and say, "Gosh, we didn't make these rules; the students themselves decided to do this."
33girl is right again - as she so often is - about a freshman missing her chance to join if she doesn't take a pin the first semester. I'd blame Panhellenic to an extent: my campus has almost 40,000 students and only 14 PanHel sororities. If there were an adequate number of sororities, more women would be able to find spots after the first term.
I just feel that deferred rush is inherently an imposed condition - where would a Greek system voluntarily (truely voluntarily) adopt such a restrictive system? Rush rules are things that keep us from being as good as we can be.

[James]

Yes, but look at what that means Sheila, it means that most groups in schools that don't have deferred Rush have no problems with numbers, in fact they are so fluffed out they can discriminate against upper classmen.

Originally posted by 33girl


My main problem is that when first semester rush is used, even though it's a tradition not a rule, it seems that it takes away the PNM's choice. It's either pledge that first semester - even if you're unsure that you like the school or if greek life is really for you - or have your choices greatly reduced and in many cases, find yourself unable to get a bid at all. Once that is remedied, I'll get on board with first semester rush, but until that happens (and piggies fly) I'll keep cheering for deferred.

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by James
Yes, but look at what that means Sheila, it means that most groups in schools that don't have deferred Rush have no problems with numbers, in fact they are so fluffed out they can discriminate against upper classmen.

What's wrong with that? There's always AI if you're really joining the organization to be part of it, not just for the thrills.

[Firehouse]

But it IS about the thrills. It's about the lifelong friendships made at the most poingant and exciting time of your youth.

[33girl]

Originally posted by James
Yes, but look at what that means Sheila, it means that most groups in schools that don't have deferred Rush have no problems with numbers, in fact they are so fluffed out they can discriminate against upper classmen.

I don't think they don't have problems with numbers because rush is first semester, I think they don't have problems because Greek life is more popular. Rush is deferred at IU & they certainly don't have numbers issues for the most part.

I just have problems with the concept of making a lifetime commitment before you have even taken a college class. Maybe it works for some, but it certainly doesn't for others. And to me it kind of sucks that a lot of women who would be great in sororities and wonderful sisters don't get the chance because they don't want to put themselves out there before their college life even starts.

I think James and Firehouse are looking at this from a guys' point of view and I'm looking at it from the girls' point (duh). Guys' rush is much more laid back and I think fraternity life in general is - it's just different than a sorority. Clarion used to have first semester rush for guys and deferred for girls. I know it was not the greatest in terms of equal opportunity but sometimes I think they weren't altogether wrong.

and umm, I don't know what AI has to do with any of this.

[mu_agd]

i went to one of the mentioned schools that has deferred recruitment and in our case it defiitely didn't hurt numbers. we had an incredibly competitive recruitment with quota being somewhere in the 50's every year. yes, you did have certain perceptions and ideas going into recruitment since you were on campus for a semester already, but my opinion is if you are basing your recruitment and what chapter you want to be in on what you may have or have not heard then you are rushing for the wrong reasons. personally, i'm glad we had deferred recruitment. i went to a school far away from home only knowing one other person on campus who was a senior at the time, and if i would have been thrown into rush like that i would have crumbled. i can be a shy person and having that semester to grow a little and get used to surroundings and situations that i have never been in before definitely helped me during recruitment. now i'm not saying that deferred recruitment is the way to go, but for some schools and some people it is a better option.

[ADqtPiMel]

I go to the same school as mu_agd, and I'm really glad that we have deferred recruitment. I liked knowing a bit about chapters before recruitment, and I think knowing people really helped me out. Also, I have so many friends that I probably never would have met if I rushed in the fall. Deferred has never hurt our numbers, and we have a very competetive recruitment. I think it just depends on the school. It's a generalization to say that deferred recruitment hurts numbers.