Why are recs absolutely necessary at some schools, while not expected at others?

[DubaiSis]

I don't think there IS a difference. That's why us yankees think the whole process is just silly. And you can't use number of rushees or number of chapters as a reason. Most of the Big 10 is comparable or larger in number of rushees, although in general there are more chapters at the Big 10 schools so it's spread out a little more. You also can't use age of the chapters as a reason because most of the oldest chapters are Midwestern or Northern. I think the southern chapters didn't really kick off until the 20th century for some obvious reasons.

I can accept that there is a fear of no longer relying on recommendations, but, just as RFM didn't kill sororities, eliminating this tedious step also wouldn't. But that being said, I still think there IS a role for alumnae. I just don't think paperwork is where it's at.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I don't think there IS a difference. That's why us yankees think the whole process is just silly. And you can't use number of rushees or number of chapters as a reason. Most of the Big 10 is comparable or larger in number of rushees, although in general there are more chapters at the Big 10 schools so it's spread out a little more. You also can't use age of the chapters as a reason because most of the oldest chapters are Midwestern or Northern. I think the southern chapters didn't really kick off until the 20th century for some obvious reasons.

I can accept that there is a fear of no longer relying on recommendations, but, just as RFM didn't kill sororities, eliminating this tedious step also wouldn't. But that being said, I still think there IS a role for alumnae. I just don't think paperwork is where it's at.

This is actually the issue I'm interested in talking about.

I'm in the rec-writing always-done-it-this-way group, but it seems to me that chapters all over recruit and pledge great girls into (our own) sisterhoods without going through all these motions.