A Review of Deferred Recruitment from Auburn University Division of Student Affairs

[violetpretty]

I am one of the biggest deferred recruitment cheerleaders on GC. A few reasons why I like it:

1. Freshmen have a semester of college coursework under their belt by the time recruitment starts. Especially since a lot of flagship state schools are a lot more competitive than they used to be, therefore your high school GPA has to be high to get in to the University, you won't get much separation from high school GPAs. It's splitting hairs. Some high schools are easier than others and some women take more rigourous classes. You really don't know how some students will do in college until they're there. With deferred recruitment, everyone's GPA is judged on an equal footing. Also, you weed out the women who flop first semester.

2. One of the biggest criticisms of deferred recruitment is "OMG PNMs have a WHOLE semester of tent talk and they have their minds made up!" I disagree. You mean to tell me that PNMs don't hear tent talk the second they start fall recruitment before school? That's all the time they need to form opinions, especially if they are doing literally nothing else.

If done properly, fall semester can be a great time to encourage authentic interaction between PNMs and members. Virginia Tech (a very large recruitment, I think 900-1000 last year registered?) actually opens registration for spring formal recruitment early in the fall semester, and registered women are placed on a Panhellenic listserv and notified of what they call "365 events". 365 events are sisterhood, programming, or service in nature than involve members from a few different chapters inviting PNMs to join them. For example, Sigma Kappa and Pi Beta Phi might do pumpkin carving with PNMs.

The catch/best part? PNMs don't know who is participating in the 365 event until they get there, so there isn't any "Oh, I don't want to join that sorority, I won't go to that 365 event". That way, PNMs can observe and join sorority women doing things they normally do as a chapter, they get to interact with them in a more natural, activity-based setting, dirty rushing isn't as much of a problem because the activity is supervised by Panhellenic, and PNMs are more likely to be open to more chapters after getting to know members. I hate when CPHs don't allow interaction between PNMs and chapters---this breeds a bad image of sororities as stuck up! I think the best prevention measure against dirty rushing is Panhellenic educating PNMs that NO ONE can guarantee you a bid!

3. Personally, I was not sold on joining a sorority when I began college. I was resistant. It took me the fall semester, where I actually met sorority women in my classes, that I became convinced that sorority life was for me! I had a male friend filling my head with garbage about certain chapters, but I didn't care about the things he said when I actually met women in those chapters!

4. It can reduce the number of women who go through recruitment, BUT retention is usually better, and presumably quality. PNMs have a semester to gather information on the expectations and obligations of joining a sorority. There are fewer women who join just for the letters.

Is it right for Auburn? It probably could work, but I would need to see a reason to change it. In the SEC, you don't "need" to change PNMs' minds about going Greek; the demand is already high, which is probably why deferred recruitment is more common in the North. If the chapter GPAs are higher than the women's average, then that also is no reason to change. Plus, all groups made quota, so it's not like there's any struggling chapters that are significantly behind.