Recruitment, Long Hair, Hair Flipping & Singing in Doorways

[DubaiSis]

It was mentioned that a few chapters do it at Ole Miss.

[kaeb]

Doors stacks (with hair flipping at all) are still around at USC, though Panhellenic is working to make them safer for the actives (e.g. doing a workshop on how to do a safe door stack).

Lawn dances/porch songs are no longer allowed on campus for slideshow day though.

USC is (slowly) moving towards making its recruitment more "no-frills." There was talk about banning door stacks this year but it was decided that lawn dances/porch songs would be banned instead.

ETA every chapter at USC does door stacks & hair flipping. I personally don't get the appeal of it.

[USCTrojanPNM13]

Originally Posted by kaeb

Lawn dances/porch songs are no longer allowed on campus for slideshow day though.

Not to sound too ignorant; but what does that even mean?

"no-frills."

Is there an official NPC definition of what "frills" and "no-frills" recruitment is?

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by kaeb

USC is (slowly) moving towards making its recruitment more "no-frills."

Isn't this like Christmas without a tree?

[kaeb]

Haha yeah I'm convinced Greeks speak a foreign language that closely resembles English.

Lawn dances/porch songs are when the entire sorority goes running out from behind the house screaming and does a song. There was a rule that the girls couldn't move their legs (to cut down on the choreography element, I believe), so it just ended up looking really weird, with girls with stick-straight legs waving their arms around and singing as loudly as they can. It also made it really clear which houses were bigger than others, and the sizes of each house's lawn made a real difference too.

I don't think there's an official definition of "no frills" (please correct me if I'm wrong, wiser GCers!), but the idea of it is getting away from pageantry & image and moving more towards recruitment based on good conversation and Values-Based Recruitment (it's a whole thing from Phired Up).

[USCTrojanPNM13]

Originally Posted by kaeb

Haha yeah I'm convinced Greeks speak a foreign language that closely resembles English.

It seems a bit like Lawns Dances, Hair Flipping and Door Stacks oh my!

I thought I knew all the terms but I guess I need to study up over the next 2 weeks!

[WhiteRose1912]

Let me dust off ye ol' Green Book.

“No Frills” Recruitment Recommendations (1989, 1991, 1997, 2003)
Incorporation of “no frills” concept. All College Panhellenics and their member chapters shall incorporate the following into their membership recruitment programs as soon as possible:
• Establish guidelines for membership recruitment budgets and set a cap on membership recruitment expenses, including the value of all donated goods and services in the cap figure.
• Eliminate all outside decorations.
• Confine all membership recruitment entertainment within the chapter house or other recruitment facility.
• Evaluate all membership recruitment skits as to length and content.
• Discourage the use of membership recruitment skits at the first round of parties.
• Discourage elaborate costuming and purchase of special membership recruitment outfits.
• Eliminate all gifts, favors, preference letters or notes for potential new members until they have accepted bids.
• Develop conversation and interviewing skills.
• Follow NPC recommendations for release figures.
Guidelines for implementation of this resolution can be found in the College Panhellenic Resource Information chapter of this manual.

[DubaiSis]

From the rushee perspective, it might be best not to know how the sausage is made. You learn too much and you'll start to judge chapters ON their door stack and quality of hair flip. And that would just be tragic. Concentrate on your conversations, the feel you get from the gals, where you see yourself going as a member of that sorority, etc. and consider the other stuff silly tack-ons to the business of making friends.

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by USCTrojanPNM13

This video actually makes it look even more terribly dangerous and unhealthy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnn6FIewe-w

We have absolutely nothing like this where I'm from!

FWIW, I think it's unique. Specifically, The one Alpha Phi did seemed sort of "sloppy" and the one Delta Gamma did seemed a bit more put together. (everyone was moving in the same direction at the same time). My thought was it seems ok as long as the ladies space themselves apart enough not to hit each other. I guess as a PNM, I would not base my judgement of the org on the houses hair flipping skills.

This video popped up after I saw the first one. No hair flipping but I thought it was interesting.
Alpha Chi Omega - UF Panhellenic Rush 09

[agzg]

We didn't do door songs/chants/etc. at my campus since it would have seemed REALLY weird, but boy, they look like a lot of fun to me.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

We did door chants at IU, but none of the hair flipping. My vertebrae cry just seeing it!

[yayaya]

I have worked behind the scenes at my daughter's sorority and watching the doorstacks...even from the back ...and hearing the energy...it is so exciting! I would be so sad if they did away with doorstacking. I didn't experience it as a PNM, but watching it now as my daughter's sorority does their doorstack... all I can say is...WOW!

[redlady2]

The UF video posted by NinjaPoodle is the norm. What you see there is what each house does when there's a long break coming up in a round. It isn't done after each party. The standing neatly outside and then filing back inside happens after each party - note how the door closes quickly in order to not get a time violation! - but each house does their chant once there's a break because after that door closes you are "off the clock" so to speak. You can hear the other chapters doing it in the background too. The chants there are also done outside recruitment. On the morning after initiation, we all would run outside and do the chant as well to celebrate. (That's also one way we could tell if other houses had initiated - waking up to a 7 am Saturday morning chant from down the row.)

But thank heavens, no hair flipping.

[kaeb]

The maximum budget allowed by USC Panhellenic for recruitment is $12,000.

[greatdane]

Originally Posted by kaeb

The maximum budget allowed by USC Panhellenic for recruitment is $12,000.

That doesn't include anything paid for before the end of the previous year, or anything "donated" by the parents club, etc. And rush chairs simply don't tell Panhellenic about certain expenses and hide them in the basement until after phc walks through to inspect their houses. The max budget is kind of a joke; fortunately it's one that every house is in on so there's not really any advantage to one house over another.