Looking back, were you right?

[srmom]

Long post, but on topic:

I can say (from talking to moms and now girls that have come home for the holidays) that most of the girls I know who rushed this fall are happy in their choices and feel that what was presented at Rush fits with their expectations and hopes - But one...

One very sweet and beautiful girl was rushed very hard by one of the "top" chapters at her school. After pledging, unfortunately, it has been down hill.

Downhill spiral started with a "clique" in the pledge class, it was made up of a group of girls who had known each other for years. They excluded all the other girls and kind of became the "power group" in the pledge class, which was a big bummer for the girls on the "outside". Add onto this the fact that, even though she really enjoyed rush and thought she had found the perfect house, she feels as if it was very much all "show". The actives just are not very involved with the pledges and she isn't feeling any "sisterhood".

Long story short, she's applying to transfer to another school that has her chapter, she has good friends from home that are actives in it and they, of course, rave about their experience, so she's hoping to affiliate. She is not the only new initiate who is unhappy and thinking of transferring, there are apparently a number of girls who might bail.

After talking to her and her mom, and hearing some of her concerns, I really feel like the leadership of the chapter is somewhat responsible (I hate to say blame, because they are probably doing the best they can). IMO, I believe that when the pledge class began to "splinter", something, whether it be more pledge/sister bonding events or what-have-you, should have been undertaken to try to bring the group together.

I also think that if girls, like the one I know, are so unhappy that they are transferring colleges, there is something wrong in the chapter and they might not be "top" for long if mass exoduses begin happening.