Has the tradition of Legacies outgrown its usefulness?

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Also, as the number of legacies increase, moms and such need to keep in mind that the chapters can't take every single one of them.

I think the concept of extending special consideration to legacies is very important, because you're getting someone who has seen over as much as 18 years what the GLO means to the family member.

I don't understand why sororities would agree to policies that make them eliminate legacies they would otherwise want. To have to cut someone who wants to join, and the chapter wants, seems the height of arbitrary.

Nothing in the policies, though, should require a chapter to consider a member they don't want, legacy or not. Nor should anything require a rushee to consider a house she doesn't want, legacy or not.

[BlueCarnation]

I think a lot of it is how the individual chapter deals with the issue and who the particular alum and rushee are. I was a legacy through my grandmother at Theta (different campus), and was released after the second group of parties. My grandfather was furious, and was not going to give Theta any more money from my grandmother's estate. I knew I was not a good fit with that chapter, so it really didn't bother me; he eventually came around.

I know that we have had older alumnae who have been very upset because they feel that the reasons their legacies have been released for are invalid or unacceptable reasons. They have expressly said things like "if I was good enough, why wasn't she?" They can take it very personally. Some times, chapters just handle it poorly. But most of the time, a legacy just isn't a fit, and as someone else said, you have to realize it's a different time than when you rushed and there are other wonderful chapters out there. It's the same with getting into the same college, etc. These things happen.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DGTess

I think the concept of extending special consideration to legacies is very important, because you're getting someone who has seen over as much as 18 years what the GLO means to the family member.

I don't understand why sororities would agree to policies that make them eliminate legacies they would otherwise want. To have to cut someone who wants to join, and the chapter wants, seems the height of arbitrary.

Nothing in the policies, though, should require a chapter to consider a member they don't want, legacy or not. Nor should anything require a rushee to consider a house she doesn't want, legacy or not.

Or, you're getting someone who didn't find out until she was going through rush that her mom was an XYZ, let alone in a sorority. I don't agree with giving (for example) national volunteers' daughters more consideration than just garden variety alums, but to assume that every legacy has been schooled in the wonderfulness of Greek life is a bit naive.

I don't think anyone ever said you should be FORCED to cut legacies. But someone's gotta go somewhere. Think of it from the point of view of the sorority sister at Bama who has 300 new pledge sisters - because that's what would happen (and I'm probably underestimating at some chapters) if all the legacies were taken. After a while, that's not a sorority, that's a small corporation.

How can rushees or chapters know what group they want if they don't even consider them?? Like I've said before, it's wonderful that you only looked at one group and it worked out for you, but that is not the experience for the majority of NPC women, thank God.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I don't agree with giving (for example) national volunteers' daughters more consideration than just garden variety alums, but to assume that every legacy has been schooled in the wonderfulness of Greek life is a bit naive.

See, I don't have a problem with extra consideration for especially dedicated alumnae either. I see it more in college admissions than sorority recruitment, but the belief behind that extra consideration is that happy alumnae tend to give more often, and in larger amounts. What's one way to make an alumnus happy? Let their kid into the college or sorority!

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by 33girl

... to assume that every legacy has been schooled in the wonderfulness of Greek life is a bit naive.

...snip...

How can rushees or chapters know what group they want if they don't even consider them??

Didn't mean to imply they were "schooled in wonderfulness." Simply stating that agreeing to a policy where you would HAVE to cut legacies you would otherwise want is kowtowing to the arbitrary.There is no way a group would want to pledge all 300 legacies, assuming that number isn't hyperbole.

And some don't have to consider greek life to know they don't want it. Despite her seeing what DG means to me, my daughter took one look at the rush booklet and pitched it.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DGTess

Didn't mean to imply they were "schooled in wonderfulness." Simply stating that agreeing to a policy where you would HAVE to cut legacies you would otherwise want is kowtowing to the arbitrary.There is no way a group would want to pledge all 300 legacies, assuming that number isn't hyperbole.

And some don't have to consider greek life to know they don't want it. Despite her seeing what DG means to me, my daughter took one look at the rush booklet and pitched it.

**bangs head on desk**

Where have you ever seen something that says a group is agreeing to a policy where you have to cut legacies? The only thing groups agree to is (by campus) following total and quota rules. If that means some legacies have to be cut, they do, but it's not because there are legacies, it's because there are too effing many of them.

And ask carnation, aopirose or some of the other women experienced in Southern rush - at some schools, at some chapters, that number is NOT hyperbole.

Doesn't your daughter go to UT or another large, very competitive sorority-wise school? I'm not surprised she wasn't interested, as her experience would be absolutely nothing like yours. I'm sure she's smart enough to look at the sizes of the chapters and figure that out.