If No Deferred Recruitment, What's A Good Alternative?

[Xidelt]

ASTalumna, how do National/International HQ feel about the school telling these orgs that XYZ can't pledge as many new members as ABC because of grades, the possible "tier" system, and extra new member training? I know that the school is there to regulate the chapters and that the school doesn't have to recognize or necessarily allow any of the chapters to be there, but it seems to me that the school administration is really overstepping its bounds with some of these extra conditions that it wants to put on the chapters. If I was a National Council member for one of the GLOs on your campus, I would really be pissed with some of these ideas and the way they are being communicated/handled. I can't believe that no one from HQ has cried foul yet. It is the job of the school administrators and national HQ to govern the chapters TOGETHER. I personally don't think any chapter on campus should be treated differently from any other chapter unless they have violated an already established rule or guideline, such as a hazing incident or having members fall below the minimum GPA.

[littleowl33]

In general, how would you describe Greek life on your campus?
Hopkins is in the Mid-Atlantic area, but I would say the attitude towards Greek Life is much more northern than southern. Recruitment is somewhat competitive, but more so between the sororities who are all trying to bid the "best" PNMs. About 200ish PNMs rush, of which about 175 are freshmen and 25 are sophomores. Virtually everyone who Prefs is placed, but a lot of PNMs tend to drop out if they're not invited back to their favorites. This year, of about 215 originally registered, 145 accepted their bids and pledged. Sophomores face much heavier cuts. Recs are hardly ever received or used, but legacies are taken pretty seriously. About 25% of the student body is Greek and the Independents aren't terribly anti-Greek - mostly just indifferent.

Did your school have deferred recruitment?
Yes. During the fall we are allowed to "recruit" by holding two "Meet the Sisters" events a month. At these events we can't give out anything except small snack items, and they're usually events like watching a TV show premiere or decorating cookies with the sisters. No freshmen women are allowed in sorority members' dorm rooms/residences (we're all unhoused) or at any sorority social events like mixers, date parties or formals, and we cannot buy them any items or food. Normal Social Contact starts on January 1st, and recruitment begins at the end of January (at which time strict silence goes into effect).

What was total?
Chapter total is 85. This spring three chapters were around 120-130, and one was around 85.

What were average new member class sizes for your chapter?
This year everyone had 35-40 (after COB).

On average, how many freshmen dropped out during the new member program?
Every group usually has 1-2 drop.

If a significant number of them dropped, for the most part, what were the reasons?
They're almost always due to "not clicking" with the sisters, but this year more cited financial reasons (not surprisingly).


There are times when I wish we didn't have deferred. The dirty rushing that goes on here is incredible and it's very frustrating. Chapters who follow the rules are at a big disadvantage - PNMs don't know the rules and when they're not being dirty rushed by a group, they figure it's because the group isn't trying or isn't cool. Many PNMs form very solid opinions on the perceived reputations of every chapter, and as a result set their hearts on one or two chapters and refuse to give the others a chance. If they don't get their top choice(s), they drop out. If we didn't have deferred recruitment, I think this would be less of an issue because the PNMs wouldn't have a whole semester of Greeks (and non-Greeks) pounding stereotypes into their heads to try to make their own group sound better. PNMs can also be turned off by this and decide not to rush. They also form their own groups of friends first semester and decide that they don't need to rush because they already have friends.

On the flip side, many of my sisters will say that if we didn't have deferred recruitment, they never would have rushed because they would have been intimidated, not interested, whatever. Having a semester to think about it and get used to the idea can change the minds of people who might be afraid to give it a try.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

AST-

You may have stated this before, but I am super tired at the moment and not scanning well- do other large scale groups on your campus have to go to these silly supplemental type meetings? Example: athletes, work-study, honors program, etc? I just don't see the purpose, and I can even see it being a detriment for getting PNMs to join. Who wants to join a social organization that has at minimum 3 meetings a week? Throw in a few actual social events and every night of the week would be devoted to the sorority. That could seem very overwhelming to a first semester student, even if it is someone who is very interested in Greek Life.

Also, how does the Greek GPA compare to the all student average? Why are the Greeks being singled out?

As for you other questions, I am more than happy to answer them. However, I can tell you that my campus is the complete antithesis of what yours sounds like- would you still be interested or not? I can do it tomorrow when I am less tired.

No other groups on campus are required to have these meetings... which is why I'm completely confused by the whole thing.

The Greek Advisor actually just received word a couple of weeks ago that the all-Greek GPA was once again above the undergraduate GPA for 2008-2009.

And if you could still give me the information for your school, that'd be great

Originally Posted by Xidelt

ASTalumna, how do National/International HQ feel about the school telling these orgs that XYZ can't pledge as many new members as ABC because of grades, the possible "tier" system, and extra new member training? I know that the school is there to regulate the chapters and that the school doesn't have to recognize or necessarily allow any of the chapters to be there, but it seems to me that the school administration is really overstepping its bounds with some of these extra conditions that it wants to put on the chapters. If I was a National Council member for one of the GLOs on your campus, I would really be pissed with some of these ideas and the way they are being communicated/handled. I can't believe that no one from HQ has cried foul yet. It is the job of the school administrators and national HQ to govern the chapters TOGETHER. I personally don't think any chapter on campus should be treated differently from any other chapter unless they have violated an already established rule or guideline, such as a hazing incident or having members fall below the minimum GPA.

This is what I'm concerned about at the moment.

While it doesn't seem as though the tier system will be implemented, the supplemental new member program probably will. From what I understand, last year at convention, AST established that any addtional training/educational program that is taught to the new members must be approved through National Staff (most likely to try to eliminate the possibility of hazing). What the exact procedure is for providing them with this information (and how detailed it has to be), I'm not sure. But this is going to create even more work for the sisters. And I would be very curious to see what would happen if this wasn't approved.

And once again, this is why I'm frustrated that all of this is being established over the summer. No one seems to be aware of how exactly this will work yet, and I don't want the sisters to have to deal with all of these issues in the first few weeks of school.