Schools where you absolutely positively need recs

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by PinkPalmTree

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what is the point of recs? On my school website, it says they are not necessary and we will not be penalized if you don't have them. Yet, on here, it says my school is a place where we absolutely positively need them. Thankfully, I've already gotten recs for almost every sorority, but I was just wondering WHY we need them? Do they help us not get cut or something?

The purpose of a rec is for the chapter to get to know a little about a PNM before recruitment. Sounds simple and non-controversial.

You go to a competitive school. Almost every PNM has recs from alumnae so chapters know how wonderful they are before recruitment.

NPC has devised a system where each chapter is asked to invite back a certain number of women for each round to maximize the number of women placed (RFM). Some chapters are forced to make steep cuts after the first round. Say 1,000 women are going through and a chapter has to cut 500 after round 1. All they have to go on is twenty-ish minutes of conversation time---and a rec---if you don't already know women in the chapter. Chapters like this have to hunt for a reason to cut PNMs sometimes. Maybe they don't consciously decide to cut all PNMs without a rec, but in the case of two PNMs with similar stats and similar quality conversations, only one has a rec, and the other doesn't, who will get cut? That's right, the girl without the rec. Sure, it happens that PNMs without recs get bids even at top chapters at competitive schools, but no one should count on being that lucky.

There is actually some NPC policy that requires Campus Panhellenics to de-emphasize the importance of recs. They are doing a huge disservice to PNMs from areas where Greek life is not as big and few understand the importance of recs (like a Northern girl at an SEC school).

My guess as to the reasons for this policy is that recs, a "get to know you" tool, can be interpreted as a "who you know" game, and that recruitment should be about who you are rather than who you know.

It also sounds ridiculous to me how Panhellenic can say "you won't be penalized" for not having a rec. Panhellenic can mandate how many women a chapter may invite back, but they can't tell a chapter how to choose those women. Sounds like a flat out lie to me.

[PinkPalmTree]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

It also sounds ridiculous to me how Panhellenic can say "you won't be penalized" for not having a rec. Panhellenic can mandate how many women a chapter may invite back, but they can't tell a chapter how to choose those women. Sounds like a flat out lie to me.

OK! Great, thanks to you and KSUViolet for answering my question. That's the part I was most confused about. I don't get why they stated that on the website because it makes it sound like you won't get cut for not having a rec...

[33girl]

Originally Posted by PinkPalmTree

OK! Great, thanks to you and KSUViolet for answering my question. That's the part I was most confused about. I don't get why they stated that on the website because it makes it sound like you won't get cut for not having a rec...

After us talking about this dichotomy umpteen times, I think part of it is also - Panhellenic can make rules or statements about ITS OWN policies but it can't make them about the policies of its member groups.

If you don't have recs - Panhellenic won't or can't penalize you. They won't keep you from going to as many parties as girls who do have them. They won't charge you more $$. They won't drop you from rush.

But Panhellenic as an entity doesn't know the policies of each sorority and what it does with recs. They don't know that XYZ could care less about them and makes paper hats out of them and that ABC won't give a girl a bid if she doesn't have a rec from an alumna of the chapter she is pledging. (Hypothetical examples.)

So they really are telling the truth when they say recs aren't necessary to go through rush (a Panhellenic sponsored activity). It would be interesting if the actual sorority chapters mentioned that recs are beneficial to have on their individual websites - but then you have the people saying "I had a rec, why wasn't I bid?"

Not that any of this is fair in the least to the girls, but if you look at it abstractly, it's understandable why they use the attitude and verbiage they use.