After Several Years: What Do You Think of the New Release Figures?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

In a perfect world, that would happen. (Cue rainbows and unicorns.)

But what you get is a full semester of high-pressure, under-handed dirty rushing, lots of focus on certain girls and none on others. Lots of time spent on "Coke dates," lots of time wasted on non-productive "rushing." Chapters are delayed in getting a portion of their budget, and NMs have less time to bond with the chapter.

From what everyone says, everyone wants the same "top" girls. If a chapter is stupid enough to spend all their $$ on the same women everyone else is spending it on, that's their own fault. Maybe if this sort of thing had more concrete consequences (i.e. getting to rush and realizing OH CRAP WE NEED $$) sororities would step out of this silly mindset.

Why would NMs have less time to bond with the chapter? Most groups have a 6-8 week mandated national pledgeship, whether it occurs in spring or fall.

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

There's a reason early recruitment has survived thus far - it's the quickest and most efficient way to place new members.

Talk about a revealing quote! There's no mention here of retention or member satisfaction - just that this is the easiest way to stick people in holes. Quick fixes rarely work. The NPC gives lip service to "lifetime membership" but if they really meant it, they wouldn't be trying to just pledge people as quickly as possible.

If sororities were able to retain all their members until graduation, there wouldn't be such craziness of getting the best freshmen, upperclassmen being disadvantaged, etc etc etc. You could fill the bathtub and keep it filled without having to continually plug the leaks.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If a chapter is stupid enough to spend all their $$ on the same women everyone else is spending it on, that's their own fault. Maybe if this sort of thing had more concrete consequences (i.e. getting to rush and realizing OH CRAP WE NEED $$) sororities would step out of this silly mindset..

Big chapters have plenty of money to spend. They don't spend it all on recruitment. A good bit of the bill for dirty rushing is footed by individual members and alumnae. You'll never see it in the recruitment budget that's submitted to Panhellenic.

Originally Posted by 33girl

Why would NMs have less time to bond with the chapter? Most groups have a 6-8 week mandated national pledgeship, whether it occurs in spring or fall.

The 6-8 week new member period is just a basic. It takes longer to really get to know people in the chapter, and for the chapter to get to know NMs. That's what we tell NMs all the time, isn't it? With deferred, you've got a semester less to do it in.

Originally Posted by 33girl

Talk about a revealing quote! There's no mention here of retention or member satisfaction - just that this is the easiest way to stick people in holes. Quick fixes rarely work. The NPC gives lip service to "lifetime membership" but if they really meant it, they wouldn't be trying to just pledge people as quickly as possible.

If sororities were able to retain all their members until graduation, there wouldn't be such craziness of getting the best freshmen, upperclassmen being disadvantaged, etc etc etc. You could fill the bathtub and keep it filled without having to continually plug the leaks.

You are right...if we could all keep all our members all 4 years. That just doesn't happen. I daresay if you compare retention rates for early and non-deferred recruitments, there wouldn't be that much difference. Retention is indeed something that needs more attention (I lay that in part to the brief NM period).

I used to think deferred recruitment was a great idea and that my school (Alabama) should change to it. But then I saw it in action, in a couple of smaller schools with a just-as-competitive recruitments. It was a nightmare.

I would never say that EVERY school should have deferred recruitment. It clearly works for many schools. And it clearly doesn't work for many others. Isn't that why NPC offers several different methods of recruiting?

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I would never say that EVERY school should have deferred recruitment. It clearly works for many schools. And it clearly doesn't work for many others. Isn't that why NPC offers several different methods of recruiting?

I wouldn't say that either. I'm just really glad my alma mater has it.

[LadyLonghorn]

Up until sometime around the 1980s, recruitment was very different at UT. The way relatives have explained it to me is that PNMs received individual invitations to sorority parties, but only from the sororities who were interested in them. A PNM could start out with invites from all chapters or just one or two, depending on how "desirable" the PNM was. They continued to attend the parties of the groups they were interested in joining who invited them back. Most PNMs never even saw the inside of the infamous "Big Six" chapters.

Yes, it was elitist, but in some ways I think it was better because it never gave false hope to PNMs who had absolutely no chance of receiving a bid from a particular chapter. You started out with all the chapters that thought you were a possible fit rather than wasting your time hoping that "lofty" chapter wanted you or you could make an impression in a 20 minute party that will keep them from cutting you and wondering what you did wrong.

With RFM, if you're in a strong and desirable chapter on a competitive campus, you have to have a very good idea about who you are going to invite back for the second round before the first round even begins. There's no other way to eliminate over half of the PNMs after one 20 minute party. People are always going to complain about the recruitment process when it doesn't go their way, no matter what method you use.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

Big chapters have plenty of money to spend. They don't spend it all on recruitment. A good bit of the bill for dirty rushing is footed by individual members and alumnae. You'll never see it in the recruitment budget that's submitted to Panhellenic.

So in other words, all these chapters have to do is ask the alums for money to do whatever and they get it? You were the one who brought up the "budget" but it seems that having a "budget" is a moot point.

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

The 6-8 week new member period is just a basic. It takes longer to really get to know people in the chapter, and for the chapter to get to know NMs. That's what we tell NMs all the time, isn't it? With deferred, you've got a semester less to do it in.

You've got a lifetime to get to know your sisters. Or, you should have a lifetime if you don't get burned out and self-terminate. Don't forget that hopefully some of the women have come into the chapter ALREADY being friends with some of the members. That's what I'm advocating. We heard constantly that women pledge more often because of friendship with one member than any other reason.

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I daresay if you compare retention rates for early and non-deferred recruitments, there wouldn't be that much difference.

I doubt that very much. There was a poster on here who said, in effect, that at her (pre-freshman rush) school, people routinely disaffiliated by their junior and definitely senior year, as Greek life was looked on as something you did as an underclassman. To the point that only 25% of her pledge class was left by the time she graduated. I also think it's important to look on WHY people disaffiliate. I just ran over my years as an active briefly in my head, and of the members we "lost," 3 left college completely (one returned later and reactivated) and 4 were terminated for behavior reasons. We didn't have women quitting because they "just weren't feeling it anymore." The other sororities on campus were similar.

I know with a large rush the thought of changing can be daunting, but it's that kind of thinking that perpetuates pre-rush choosing of pledge classes and under the table alum donations to get around budget rules.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I doubt that very much. There was a poster on here who said, in effect, that at her (pre-freshman rush) school, people routinely disaffiliated by their junior and definitely senior year, as Greek life was looked on as something you did as an underclassman. To the point that only 25% of her pledge class was left by the time she graduated. I also think it's important to look on WHY people disaffiliate. I just ran over my years as an active briefly in my head, and of the members we "lost," 3 left college completely (one returned later and reactivated) and 4 were terminated for behavior reasons. We didn't have women quitting because they "just weren't feeling it anymore." The other sororities on campus were similar.

I know with a large rush the thought of changing can be daunting, but it's that kind of thinking that perpetuates pre-rush choosing of pledge classes and under the table alum donations to get around budget rules.

Anecdote =/= data.

we would need much more to know why people disaffiliate and if it correlates with the type of recruitment they have.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Anecdote =/= data.

we would need much more to know why people disaffiliate and if it correlates with the type of recruitment they have.

That's exactly what I'm saying. And from what I've seen on GC, it DOES tend to correlate.

[sydney bristow]

Originally Posted by 33girl

There was a poster on here who said, in effect, that at her (pre-freshman rush) school, people routinely disaffiliated by their junior and definitely senior year, as Greek life was looked on as something you did as an underclassman. To the point that only 25% of her pledge class was left by the time she graduated. I also think it's important to look on WHY people disaffiliate.

This is DEFINITELY the case on my non-deferred campus. Not uncommon at all. These girls sometimes still wear letters/have their org in their activites on facebook/still have it on their resume for potential employers! I have a lot of problems with people quitting an organization that CHOSE THEM just out of boredom or lack of social schedule. Financial reasons I can understand, that situation is just sad.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by sydney bristow

This is DEFINITELY the case on my non-deferred campus. Not uncommon at all. These girls sometimes still wear letters/have their org in their activites on facebook/still have it on their resume for potential employers! I have a lot of problems with people quitting an organization that CHOSE THEM just out of boredom or lack of social schedule. Financial reasons I can understand, that situation is just sad.

Many many times, people want to be able to say they're XYZs and still hang out with XYZs without having to pay dues, paprticipate, etc. Hence why girls terminate their membership and keep that stuff on FB and still refer to girls as their "sisters."

The funny thing about these girls, is that after college, some of them will be the ones claiming that their kids are "legacies." Or they'll email the chapter asking why they didn't get a Homecoming invite or something. Then they get indignant when you tell them that they actually aren't XYZs anymore. lol.