WaterChild's Fall 2007 Recruitment

[ellebud]

I can't imagine the financial liability and moral responsibility if there were an emergency and someone needed a phone to call for medical and/or police help. (The university and the sororities would be put out of business...no matter how much insurance they had.) On a lesser note: There are kids, at 18, who need to vent and seek advice from a friend or parent. Unbelievable.

[WaterChild]

After a long day of work and several hours of baby sitting, I'm finally posting. It's rather long- sorry.



My roommate and I got up extra early to ensure that we were cute enough to make good first impressions. I’m pretty shy, so I was worried. I wore olive green Bermuda shorts (it was August, remember), a white polo shirt, and brown leather sandals.

Half Baked- I was actually expecting the girls to be loud as they greeted us at the door, but they were a fairly calm bunch. Going in, I knew nothing about the women of Half Baked. I chatted fairly easily with the members that I was paired with as they were very friendly but I really didn’t have much in common with them. I was struck by how easy it seemed after I had stressed out for weeks about recruitment, so I came out feeling like they would be a fairly good match for me.

Chunky Monkey- The Chunky Monkeys were much more boisterous than the woman of Half Baked. I liked this a lot. I was in the marching band during first semester, and I knew that a friend of mine from home who attends the same school that I do was friends with a Chunky Monkey who was on the marching band’s drum line, so I went in with a good impression of this group. Also, I had a recommendation from my neighbor. I had a fairly good time at this house until I got into a conversation with someone about musicians and she struck me as extraordinarily uninformed. It sounds snobby, but because of this I left Chunky Monkey feeling unimpressed.

Dublin Mudslide- I really didn’t know anything about this group prior to recruitment. I felt comfortable as I was brought to a couch to talk with a member. However, the Dublin Mudslides had a strange rotation. Instead of talking to two or three girls over twenty minutes, all the PNMs talked with five actives. It was very confusing and the conversations never really went anywhere because we were constantly meeting new women. One of the women that I met and I discovered that we had a strange connection. I had spent the summer before working in the store of a gardening store. The company also owns a giant greenhouse about ninety miles south of the store that I worked at. One of the Dublin Mudslides worked at the greenhouse, so we knew a lot of the same people. I didn’t know what I thought after I left.

Karamel Sutra- I really, really wanted to be a Karamel Sutra before recruitment began. My aforementioned friend from home is a Karamel Sutra. At a University super early orientation/ registration for incoming freshmen during the previous March, I stayed at this house. However, I was exhausted and having a bad day. I accidentally got in an argument with the Karamel Sutra president and also the girl (not my friend) who was hosting me. I was hoping that this would be forgotten, but the girl that met me at the door during recruitment was the same girl that hosted me in March, and she introduced herself as just that. During our conversation, she made it quite clear that she was not interested in the possibility of me becoming a Karamel Sutra at all. I had a great time talking with the other women, but I was afraid that that night during the spring would prevent me from getting a bid to Karamel Sutra.

Cherry Garcia- A woman who I have done some work for and who I have a tremendous amount of respect for wrote me a recommendation. This woman impresses me so much that I really hoped that I would love this organization. However, this group didn’t rotate at all and the girl that I was put with and I completely clashed. Neither of us knew what to say and both of us were miserable. When I left this party, I was afraid that all the women of Cherry Garcia would be just like her. I didn’t ever want to set foot in that door again.

Chubby Hubby- A girl that I have known since I was a small child is a Chubby Hubby. I really liked her when I knew her back at home, so I had a good feeling about this group. I had decent conversations with the actives. Nothing was awkward but nothing stood out to me either. I didn’t really care either way about the Chubby Hubbies after this day.

Phish Food- During my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I completely despised one of the cheerleaders. I found her incredibly obnoxious and not very bright. I knew that she had been a Phish Food at my school. I did find out right before recruitment began that she had transferred to another school. If she had still been there, I probably would have refused to consider Phish Food at all. I was still a little wary because I was afraid that all the members would be obnoxious and dim. I don’t remember very much of this party, but all I wrote in my recruitment journal was, “Better than I expected…”

Everything But The…- I didn’t really know anything about this group besides the fact that they are small in numbers. This showed especially during the party. My roommate and I were paired with one member. I thought the member was very sweet, and I wanted to talk to her, but my roommate kept asking rude questions. I left thinking that I wanted to know a little more but I was a little swayed in the opposite direction by my roommate’s disinterest.

Pumpkin Cheesecake- By the time that I visited this house, I was exhausted. The members were as well. I met several women that I really liked. One of them is a music major like me. After a long day of meeting people with different interests, it was nice to finally meet somebody who understood what I would be doing in college. I thought that this might be an okay fit for me.


After the day was over, we went to do rankings. We could return to a maximum of seven houses the next day. I watched other’s reactions to houses a little too closesly and ranked the sororities as follows:

1. Half Baked
2. Karamel Sutra
3. Pumpkin Cheesecake
4. Chunky Monkey
5. Phish Food
6. Dublin Mudslide
7. Chubby Hubby

8. Everything But The…
9. Cherry Garcia

[SWTXBelle]

VandalSquirrel - please don't take a discussion of the cellphone policy personally. Debating the merits of different policies is part of the game, no matter which campus uses them. I do think Panhellenic should be upfront about the policy, so no one is surprised. If I called my daughter for several days on her personal cell phone and received no answer I would PANIC.
Did the collegians really ask for this, or did it come from the college? And do you think it helps? Do you think there is less "tent talk"? And do the pnms who are now pledges think it was a good idea? If it is a new policy, it is probably under scrutiny. You indicate you think it is "strange and crazy" - so that said, do you think your campus will continue with it?
And for what it is worth, back in the day rushees found phones to use, even when the ones in the dorms were turned off . . .

Can't wait for the next installment . . .

[Buttonz]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

I would think that if a PNM's family needed to get a hold of her in the event of an emergency, they'd have the phone number of a Rho Gamma or RA, knowing that they won't have their cell phones, and vice versa, someone in charge would be able to notify the PNM's family if she had an emergency.

She stated that the PNM weren't aware this would be happening, so unless the parents were made aware of it before and told not to go ahead and tell their kids, I don't see how that would be possible.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

VandalSquirrel - please don't take a discussion of the cellphone policy personally. Debating the merits of different policies is part of the game, no matter which campus uses them. I do think Panhellenic should be upfront about the policy, so no one is surprised. If I called my daughter for several days on her personal cell phone and received no answer I would PANIC.

I second that. I would feel the same way.

Just last week my mom tried calling my lil brother on several occasions throughout the span of a week and received no answer, nor did he call her back. She FREAKED OUT. She finally found the number to a friend of his to check up on him at his apt to make sure he was OK because she was really worried and he lives far from home.

It turned out he was fine, just lost his cell phone and later found it in his truck.

If Panhellenic is going to do this, they need to inform the pnms AND the parents in advance in case of an emergency.

And maybe this was already mentioned and I missed it, but how do they restrict internet access? Do they take away their laptops or make them move into dorms without ethernet cables or something?

Anyway, good story so far.

[FSUZeta]

agree with the other moms. i would have been in a panic if it had not heard from my child in a week and did not know that their phone had been confisctaed. i would think that taking the phones away might had increased the tent talk, since the pnms only had each other to share observations with.

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by WaterChild

I wore olive green Bermuda shorts (it was August, remember), a white polo shirt, and brown leather sandals.

Fate?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by WaterChild

I had a fairly good time at this house until I got into a conversation with someone about musicians and she struck me as extraordinarily uninformed. It sounds snobby, but because of this I left Chunky Monkey feeling unimpressed.

OMG, we must be twins. I can't deal w/ people who are musically stupid AT ALL. I think I probably would have just made the Tori Spelling face and stood there in shock.

As far as the cell phone policy, I can see the value, but I definitely think the rushees and not just the parents should have known ahead of time - not been told an hour before.

[alum]

Maybe this is why some moms go down to their D's college for recruitment week and stay in a hotel? To offer moral support in the allowable way? I think restricting phone use/internet access is a bit excessive.


I am hardly a helicopter mom and my D is most definitely not clingy nor does she call me about every little decision. That being said, there were a couple of times during her recruitment that she wanted/needed advice, reassurance or simple congratulations.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by alum

Maybe this is why some moms go down to their D's college for recruitment week and stay in a hotel? To offer moral support in the allowable way? .

This still boggles my mind

[lilzetakitten]

Wow. Just wow.

Earlier this year, my little's dad had a heart attack and was in the hospital for a few days. Her cell phone was getting iffy reception, so her mom wasn't able to reach her for the first day he was in the hospital, and when my little found out, she was so upset that she didn't know sooner. If the reason she didn't know was because someone had actually taken her phone away... it's completely unimaginable. This PanHel is totally setting themselves up to be sued one day.

[cuteASAbug]

Originally Posted by alum

I am hardly a helicopter mom and my D is most definitely not clingy nor does she call me about every little decision. That being said, there were a couple of times during her recruitment that she wanted/needed advice, reassurance or simple congratulations.

I think the fact that you refer to her as "D" makes it clear that you are.

[alum]

Absolutely not. My H and I don't fight our D's or our S's battles for them. We don't write or revise their resumes, applications, or essays for any employment position, college admissions office or any selective program. We never complained about teachers, asked for grade changes. We didn't edit their papers or help with science projects other than to take them to the library to research topics. In short, we never engaged in any of the other typical behaviors that define helicopter parents.

D and S are simply abbreviations in our case.

[VandalSquirrel]

This is my campus, and taking the cellphones is very new, in the past year or two. I think it is strange and crazy but you know what? That's obviously what the collegians want or it wouldn't be structured into recruitment. There are lots of things we do here that people think are odd, and some I agree with others I don't, but it is the way we do things and if we're not criticizing your methods, don't criticize ours. I cannot imagine that there isn't a central number provided by Greek Life to receive emergency messages or anything like that; and when you think about it if a child goes into the military they aren't allowed these methods of communication either, and perhaps the term recruitment is going a little far

All that said, I won't reveal any hints or spoilers WaterChild, nor will I get offended by anything you say, I'm a grown up.

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

There are lots of things we do here that people think are odd, and some I agree with others I don't, but it is the way we do things and if we're not criticizing your methods, don't criticize ours.

Amen, sister.

So their cell phones and internet was taken away. It's not the freaking end of the world. As far as emergencies go, I'm sure there would have been a way for loved ones to get a hold of the PNM.

We've seen firsthand how the internet can make or break the PNM. Why is it so bad if the collegians want the PNMs to make their decisions without any influence from the outside world? Could a PNM really go through recruitment without cell phones and internet? Oh wait...that's how it used to be before cell phones and internet!

I wonder if the girls who dropped out as a result of the rule are kicking themselves in the ass now everytime they see the new members and their letters.

So everyone...just quit criticizing the campus already, keep your opinions to yourself...and on with the story!