Washington and Lee Recruitment...what is it like?

[alum]

How do you think it will play for ADPi to not have a gorgeous house in which to host rush as compared to the other groups? What's an equivalent place they could use that's in reasonable proximity for Rounds? If I'm matching dates correctly, those houses weren't built during the 2 previous expansions and I could see that being a big deal.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by alum

How do you think it will play for ADPi to not have a gorgeous house in which to host rush as compared to the other groups? What's an equivalent place they could use that's in reasonable proximity for Rounds? If I'm matching dates correctly, those houses weren't built during the 2 previous expansions and I could see that being a big deal.

I think I've said this elsewhere, but I don't really think it will hurt them at all to not have a house the first year if it's known for sure to PNMs that there will be a house in the near future. That was the main reason expansion failed when they attempted it my senior year - there were no funds allocated for a 6th house (W&L insists on owning & building all the houses) and the sororities selected realized it would be fruitless to colonize without a house on the way.

The problem is definitely what is the equivalent place they could use. I am guessing they will do it in the Commons as it's just over the Cadaver bridge. The law school is also close but I don't think they have any appropriate spaces. The other option would be somewhere in the gyms, which are just over the Sorority bridge. But for some reason I think it will almost certainly be the Commons. (For the non W&Lers, the sorority houses are located beside the football field and law school, separated from the rest of the campus but two bridges over a large ravine.)

The houses opened in Fall 2000, so that did not affect colonization for Pi Phi ('92) and KD ('97). Recruitment was formerly held in the University Center (the building connected to and beside the old Dining Hall, don't know what it is now called, I think it was renamed). Catering is in there now and I believe the Counseling Center is still there as well. Recruitment then was considerably more frilly and houses papered the walls/floors of the rooms completely with these huge murals and used way more decoration. Most of those rooms are now used for catering/the W&L business office though. It's also pretty far from the sorority houses.

According to what I've heard, the ADPi house is on track to be built for the beginning of the 2009-2010 schoolyear. At least that's what I've heard. So that would mean potentially 2 recruitments for ADPi sans a house.

The nice part of that is that ADPi members will get a lot of input into what they'd like in their house. The house will be on the far side of Kappa, closest to the Sorority bridge. Its address will 12 Frank Parsons Way.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by breathesgelatin

over the Cadaver bridge.

OK, I don't want to derail the thread, but I HAD to ask about the origin of this name.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by alum

The lack of the house probably wouldn't bother the PNMs if they see it in the process of being built. It's possible that the Class of '12 ADPi might get to live in the house as srs if the school breaks ground on schedule.

I was just wondering about the logistics of recruitment parties if it's 5 houses all in a row and then one off somewhere else on campus.

Yeah, the logistics will be weird; I'm assuming if they do ADPi's over the bridge, they'll have to add some extra time between parties.

Originally Posted by 33girl

OK, I don't want to derail the thread, but I HAD to ask about the origin of this name.

The Cadaver Society is a secret society. They're probably the most prestigious of the secret societies at W&L. Reportedly it's mostly rich southern pre-meds. About once a month they get really drunk and tag the campus with their symbol. And run around sorority row making fools of themselves and talking in really high voices. And sometimes making their "pledges" dance for us.

Anyway their alums give a lot of money to the university, including donating the money for a big concrete bridge across the ravine to the football field.

There's a bunch of web images of the Cadaver society and other secret societies at the link below, including the Cadaver symbol/tag and the bridge:

http://journalism.wlu.edu/rrarchive/...28611/real.htm

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by breathesgelatin

The Cadaver Society is a secret society. They're probably the most prestigious of the secret societies at W&L. Reportedly it's mostly rich southern pre-meds. About once a month they get really drunk and tag the campus with their symbol. And run around sorority row making fools of themselves and talking in really high voices. And sometimes making their "pledges" dance for us.

Anyway their alums give a lot of money to the university, including donating the money for a big concrete bridge across the ravine to the football field.

There's a bunch of web images of the Cadaver society and other secret societies at the link below, including the Cadaver symbol/tag and the bridge:

http://journalism.wlu.edu/rrarchive/...28611/real.htm

Thanks for posting the link.

During college, I had a summer internship and one afternoon a few of us were talking about our college experience - including fraternities, sororities and secret societies etc. There was a Washington & Lee student and a Virginia Military (VMI) student in our group. (They were actually from the same town in Kentucky.) While the W&L guy never confirmed if he was a member of one, he did say that it was his understanding that some of the W&L secret societies included students from VMI. The VMI guy claimed to not know anything about any secret societies. Have you heard anything along those lines? Not that it might matter, but this would have been back when both W&L and VMI were all male.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by TSteven

While the W&L guy never confirmed if he was a member of one, he did say that it was his understanding that some of the W&L secret societies included students from VMI. The VMI guy claimed to not know anything about any secret societies. Have you heard anything along those lines? Not that it might matter, but this would have been back when both W&L and VMI were all male.

I can't say I do know anything about VMI cadets being members of W&L secret societies. I know that VMI cadets would be in big trouble if they got found out to be in a secret society (that's the reason why Sigma Nu and ATO, who were both founded at VMI, will probably never have chapters there again). So it's possible but I'm sure it's really underground if that's the case. I mean I'm no expert on W&L secret societies by any means.

My general impression is that coeducation eventually harmed relations between VMI guys and W&L men. If you read the whole slide presentation about the minks thing, you see that VMI and W&L have been competing for women for like ages. And I think there's a lot of tension now over who gets to date W&L women. The competition is even more intense now as a lot of the women's colleges become co-ed or change culturally, plus W&L women are right there.

The first few years of co-education the W&L fraternities were dead set on "boycotting" dating W&L women, but that didn't last for very long. Especially since all the SMART women in the region quit going to the women's colleges and starting going to UVA and W&L. (And I say this having a mom as an alum of a women's college about 45 minutes north of W&L - even she admits that her school has changed completely academically and culturally since she was there.) A lot of the women who are the more "traditional" student types for Hollins, Sweetbriar, etc., just go to Hampden-Sydney or UVA... partially I think because W&L women are so hostile to them.

There are some VMI guys that hang out at W&L fraternities and don't get mocked for it/asked to leave by brothers... Usually guys the W&L people know from high school. One of my sorority sisters dated (and is actually about to marry now) a VMI cadet who went to Woodberry Forest with a bunch of W&L guys and he was welcome pretty much everywhere. But that was more due to cultural reasons than anything else.

[FSUZeta]

neither pi phi nor kappa at u of florida are located where the other sororities are on campus(pi phi is located amongst the fraternities) and uf panhellenic seems to be able to cope with getting pnms to either place with out much problem and it doesn't seem to effect either sororities rush results. maybe it will be the same at w & l.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

neither pi phi or kappa at u of florida are located where the other sororities are on campus(pi phi is located amongst the fraternities) and uf panhellenic seems to be able to cope with getting pnms to either place with out much problem and it doesn't seem to effect either sororities rush results. maybe it will be the same at w & l.

Well, hopefully the issue will be resolved after 2 recruitments. Then ADPi will take its place right beside Kappa. The issue is just where they'll hold recruitment in the meantime because of the location of the sorority houses being relatively far from everything else. Like I said I think they'll just do it in the Commons and give the PNMs a bit more time to get between houses and it should work out fine.

The greater issue would be is if W&L ever wants to add a seventh sorority (and I've said on these boards that I think they will because Panhellenic is so committed to getting chapter size down to around 70). That would be a problem because when they planned the houses they didn't see the growth that Panhellenic would experience and only made room for six houses. I think that would really harm the seventh sorority. They could possibly be given a fraternity house, but the fraternity houses aren't really comparable to the sorority houses unfortunately. If they used a fraternity house they would almost definitely have to bus people back and forth between the seventh house as well.

[PhiSigLisa]

Originally Posted by breathesgelatin

The Cadaver Society is a secret society. They're probably the most prestigious of the secret societies at W&L. Reportedly it's mostly rich southern pre-meds. About once a month they get really drunk and tag the campus with their symbol. And run around sorority row making fools of themselves and talking in really high voices. And sometimes making their "pledges" dance for us.

Thanks for the explanation. I've seen that funky skull thing all over town but I always thought it was a fraternity thing.