Rejoining a sorority: SOMEONE HELP!

[AZTheta]

Came back to read responses.

Wait a second - some of the current actives in a chapter are inviting a PNM to dinner a week before formal recruitment? Is that allowed? I thought there was a "no contact" rule or "silent period" before and during FR. Am I confused?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Came back to read responses.

Wait a second - some of the current actives in a chapter are inviting a PNM to dinner a week before formal recruitment? Is that allowed? I thought there was a "no contact" rule or "silent period" before and during FR. Am I confused?

If she's still bound to her ASA bid, she's not a PNM. Quite frankly, I think this "next primary recruitment" period rule is BS and completely unfair to smaller groups trying to COB up to total. OP, definitely ask the Greek life director if you're still bound to your ASA bid or not. It's his/her call as to how they want to interpret the Green Book rules.

And lots of campi have much more relaxed rules regarding silence than some posters are used to - that's how deferred rush is supposed to work. You're supposed to interact with freshmen/possible PNMs of all classes that first semester, not clam up every time you're around someone non-Greek.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If she's still bound to her ASA bid, she's not a PNM. Quite frankly, I think this "next primary recruitment" period rule is BS and completely unfair to smaller groups trying to COB up to total.

Agreed. I think they messed up when they changed it from "one calendar year." I don't know if they really meant to change the rule, or if they were just trying to accommodate that it could really be 364 days from bid day to bid day.

[WhiteRose1912]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Agreed. I think they messed up when they changed it from "one calendar year." I don't know if they really meant to change the rule, or if they were just trying to accommodate that it could really be 364 days from bid day to bid day.

As someone who works with WRCs, I think I prefer it this way. It's much easier to convince a hesitant PNM to give your chapter a shot if you can reassure her that trying out your organization won't mean shooting herself in the foot should it not be a good fit.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by WhiteRose1912

As someone who works with WRCs, I think I prefer it this way. It's much easier to convince a hesitant PNM to give your chapter a shot if you can reassure her that trying out your organization won't mean shooting herself in the foot should it not be a good fit.

And it's also easier to end up wasting your time on someone who just wanted letters and who knows she can string you along until the minute before she initiates with pretty much no consequence. I'd rather someone take a semester or even a year to decide to pledge and know what she's getting warts and all, rather than just sign a bid on the spur of the moment and then decide to quit later - which really doesn't help the WRC's self-esteem.

Plus, I find the whole concept offensive. It's like saying COBs given outside of formal are "less than" a bid you receive in formal rush. It pretty much flies in the face of all the lip service NPC has been giving to the whole "we need to rush differently" for the past 10-15 years.

[WhiteRose1912]

Eh, if it's coming down to reputation issues, taking a few weeks to realize the chapter women are ordinary people, just like her, can really make a difference. This might be a YMMV situation. I haven't dealt with a lot of "shoppers".

I think it'd be interesting to see how this rule applies on minimally-structured recruitment campuses. For partially- or fully-structured recruitments, formal rush is the preferred method to get a bid--you get a chance to meet every sorority and mutually select your best fit. COBing is to fill spots left over by poor formal performance or retention/graduation. It's not less-than to get a COB bid, but COBs are secondary to formal recruitment. The rule accounts for the bids coming in midway through a recruitment year.

[33girl]

I don't think you're picking up what I'm laying down.