PNMs and "cutting" chapters.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Alcohol is a big no-no, but I think that in my day UCF was flirting with manless Bid Day. I'm pretty sure things haven't changed. The men aren't invited to Bid Day, but a lot of the Bid Day activities take place outside the houses/on the street at UCF. It's like a big block party, and the street belongs to the guys just as much as the girls.

It's not unusual for fraternity guys to wander up and down the street to say high to their girlfriends and sorority friends, and to congratulate them on Bid Day. They're not checking the new members out per se or participating in the activities. Unless Panhellenic banned them from the street, I'm not sure how this could be avoided. The sororities certainly aren't going to boot them off the sidewalk, especially when they're just chatting with their friends. The guys do clear out once the Bid Day activities move indoors, and are not part of the evening celebration when the sororities go to area restaurants/venues.

That's very different from what we are talking about. In the OLD days, the fraternities would throw big parties on Bid Night and sororities would walk down Greek row with their new pledges in tow partying all night. At my campus, we did this in our new bid shirts. Yes, all four sororities drank all night in big four inch sewn on letters! (And 18 was the legal drinking age in Louisiana at the time.) I remember Delta Sig made a slip and slide in their front yard, and everyone had to be careful not to get thrown down it. Didn't want to get your new shirt ruined.

[33girl]

I'm not against NOT having mixers on bid day - the focus should be on sisters, not what guys you are going to meet - but I liked what we did, which was have plenty of sister time and then have a party for the sisters, pledges and anyone special in their life who they wanted to invite, male or female. (Many less "I can't believe you are mixing with those douchebags in XYZ" ticked off boyfriends that way.)

But as at many schools the party isn't eliminated, just postponed 24-48 hours, I think the dictates from NPC are kind of pointless.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I'm not against NOT having mixers on bid day - the focus should be on sisters, not what guys you are going to meet - but I liked what we did, which was have plenty of sister time and then have a party for the sisters, pledges and anyone special in their life who they wanted to invite, male or female. (Many less "I can't believe you are mixing with those douchebags in XYZ" ticked off boyfriends that way.)

But as at many schools the party isn't eliminated, just postponed 24-48 hours, I think the dictates from NPC are kind of pointless.

I think from a risk management standpoint, it's probably best not to do the parties the same night. In retrospect, we were thrown in a very chaotic atmosphere and had not been given any expectations from our chapter. Anything that goes wrong is on the chapter at that point even if the NMs haven't paid a penny to the chapter yet. Wait a couple days, pays some dues, have a meeting to discuss expectations, rules, establish some guidelines THEN have a party. Considering the crazy things we see and hear happening at chapter functions already, I don't think that this is asking too much. We were disappointed to not have those parties anymore after my freshman year, but honestly, we were so excited to get NMs every year that we never dwelled on it.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I think from a risk management standpoint, it's probably best not to do the parties the same night. In retrospect, we were thrown in a very chaotic atmosphere and had not been given any expectations from our chapter. Anything that goes wrong is on the chapter at that point even if the NMs haven't paid a penny to the chapter yet. Wait a couple days, pays some dues, have a meeting to discuss expectations, rules, establish some guidelines THEN have a party.

Have to agree with this. Plus you've got all the fatigue from the whole week of recruitment. Bad things are bound to happen.
People WILL find a way to party, but at least it's not on the shoulders of the sororities.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

That's very different from what we are talking about. In the OLD days, the fraternities would throw big parties on Bid Night and sororities would walk down Greek row with their new pledges in tow partying all night. At my campus, we did this in our new bid shirts. Yes, all four sororities drank all night in big four inch sewn on letters! (And 18 was the legal drinking age in Louisiana at the time.) I remember Delta Sig made a slip and slide in their front yard, and everyone had to be careful not to get thrown down it. Didn't want to get your new shirt ruined.

When I was an undergrad at Kentucky (older days) sorority bid day fell during IFC rush. And at the time, alcohol was allowed during IFC rush.

As I recall, NPC bids were handed out in the afternoon and new members celebrated with their chapter the afternoon and into the early evening. Some pledge classes (new member classes) voted which fraternity party they wanted to attend (or start off at) and other pledge classes already had the fraternity picked out by the actives. The social chairs of the fraternity and the sorority would coordinate the timing so that once the sorority pledges arrived, the fraternity men would still be somewhat sober and often do something special - like serenade them. This often served as an effective recruiting tool since the fraternities could brag “Look at who we get at our parties!”

IFC rush parties started around 7 p.m., so the sorority pledges (and some active members) usually didn’t show up until maybe 8 p.m. give or take. Maybe stay for an hour or so as a group. Some stayed on, others went to other fraternity parties, and quite a few went back to the house or dorm.