Why is Rush so Cut-throat on the Sororities' End at Big Greek Schools?

[lionlove]

What about ritual? Can a chapter hold ritual and manage to keep the secret service away?

[carnation]

I'd hope so..Lynda's agents were men.

[UF56]

Originally posted by Angels&Arrows
Does this woman look like a Pi Phi? To her everlasting credit, she does not, and-bless her heart for trying-she never will.

They had to go and use "bless her heart"....all you southern girls know what that means My family is very southern and you always hear "bless her heart" before an insult or "oh isnt that nice" when they dont like something.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally posted by Angels&Arrows
Okay, here are some quotes from the Texas Monthly article--not from me!

(stuff from magazine edited for space)

Wow, that is all positively awful! Not directed at you, A&A, but damn, I would think that would cause an uproar!

[Texas-Gal]

As I mentioned, at UT there is a definite pecking order among the Top 5 -

Pi Phi
Kappa
Theta

Tri Delt
Chi-O

I would say Zeta would come next, but ADPi is probably right there with them - enough so that they're practically at the same level now. The Top 3 (affectionately known as "PKT") are a significant notch above Tri Delt, who is slightly above Chi-O. I'd say in recent years Theta might have switched place with Kappa - but at that high level, it really makes no difference- they're all just "Top Three."

That pecking order is so firmly entrenched, and will remain that way - probably forever. There is no uproar because it's no secret.

Please know that none of this reflects my own personal opinions of all our houses, or their relative worth, only what is common and accepted knowledge in the UT Greek system.

[DGMarie]

I think it is interesting to understand what makes a chapter super at one school and not worth pledging at another. In other words, is it consistant that top sorority ABC is like THIS (rich, skinny, gorgeous) and bottom sorority CDE is like THAT (poor, fat, ugly) (I am grossly generalizing) and this pretty much determines the pecking order no matter the school or the GLO.

Are the summations above from Texas Monthly true to form? Of course, I'd personally like to know how DG stands in that pecking order (or maybe not?).

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by UF56
They had to go and use "bless her heart"....all you southern girls know what that means My family is very southern and you always hear "bless her heart" before an insult or "oh isnt that nice" when they dont like something.

I knew that "Bless her heart" is an insult!!!! Someone on GC wrote that it isn't. Now I know the truth. You Southern gals can't put anything over on me. lol!

[carnation]

bump! Good discussion topic--

[kk_bama]

I know that here at Bama, it's all about tradition.

Tradition, tradition, tradition.

And this means many things. Many things

It's also about what sororities you've heard of in your hometown. For example, North Alabama girls know of ADPi, Zeta, Alpha Gam and Phi Mu, because those are the chapters at the University of North Alabama.

There are some sororities with MULTIPLE chapters across the state, and those often do well because of name recognition.

It's also about how long you've been on campus. Old Row chapters do well because they're older and well-backed by lots of alum $$$ for Rush.

[FSUZeta]

what are the "old row" chapters at bama, and what is "the machine" and which groups are (unofficial) members?

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally posted by aephi alum
Actually, we used SORUSH but based our quota on the # of women actually attending pref. We got lists of who to expect at each party, but then turned in lists (within a few minutes of the start of the party) of who actually showed up. Quota was calculated during the final pref party; chapters were informed once that party ended, and constructed their bid lists accordingly.

Still doesn't solve the problem of people cross-cut before prefs, though, or people who get their hearts set on 1 or 2 GLOs, then drop out if those GLOs cut them.

Wow! These are the most intelligent analyses of recruitment (AKA rush) that I have ever seen!

I believe Auburn is trying out this way of setting quota this year. Any comments here from Auburn Tigers? AEPhi alum, does this system work better?

To reply from the sister from FSU, "old row" at U of Alabama is a fairly recent term referring to a group of established, wealthy sororities and fraternties. They created a group that throws a couple of parties a year and each pays into the kitty for this extra frivolity. Many of these same groups make of "the Machine," a shadow organization that controls SGA elections, Homecoming queen elections etc. Its main importance comes from the fact that many young men from "the Machine" later hold high state political offices and they have l-o-n-g memories. But that's something for another thread.

[FSUZeta]

thanks anchoralumna!!

[bamabelle005]

the old row sororities are alpha gamma delta, kappa delta, delta delta delta, chi omega, phi mu, alpha chi omega, and kappa kappa gamma. and for the guys it is kappa alpha, sigma alpha epsilon, delta kappa epsilon, phi gamma delta, phi delta theta, sigma nu. "old row" just means those people pay more $ for more parties within the "old row" group; and old row isn't always the first 6 or 7 sororities and fraternities

[kk_bama]

I'll go ahead and say that The Machine is the majority of greeks on campus at UA, though not all. Most freshmen coming in aren't aware of it, however, so I don't think it really plays into Rush. I think Old Row plays into it more, and that's more of an open thing.

The subject is definitely worthy of a completely different thread. UA is not the only school with a greek machine; it's common on many campuses. Honestly though, I feel like greeks are usually the best candidates for SGA, homecoming, honor societies, etc., though others should be included as well.

So anyway, back to the subject of the thread...

[adpiucf]

I believe (ZTAngel, Sherbertlemons, please correct me if I'm wrong) that our quota was determined solely by dividing the number of PNM's who were invited to prefs by the number of sororities. Thus if 500 women were invited back to prefs, and there are 10 sororities, quota was set at 50.

Now, of course UCF hasn't seen a quota that low since 1995... but you get my drift.

It's interesting to read what others have to say about the "pecking order." I think it exists, at some level, at UCF, but we have this marvelous cycling in and out of the perceived chapter rankings, mainly due to a huge amount of sorority expansion in a very short time. I think also, as the Greek System has grown at the university, you've seen a certain level of exclusivity go up a notch.