University of Alabama sorority rush to be both in-person, virtual this fall

[33girl]

Women are already upset when they get dropped after the first round when they’ve actually met people in person. Can you imagine how much it will piss people off to get dropped virtually when there’s no medical reason for it? Not to mention how much both sides can hide in a virtual rush?

As far as inequities among the sororities, unless NPC changes the current quota/total system to one where sororities are only allowed to bid to total, some will be bigger and some will be smaller. If it’s a house issue, the only thing that will work is getting rid of unique houses and putting everyone in identical dorm suites or townhouses. Again, some will be prettier and some will be “homier.”

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by 33girl

As far as inequities among the sororities, unless NPC changes the current quota/total system to one where sororities are only allowed to bid to total, some will be bigger and some will be smaller. If it’s a house issue, the only thing that will work is getting rid of unique houses and putting everyone in identical dorm suites or townhouses. Again, some will be prettier and some will be “homier.”

That would eliminate some chapters from rushing.

[navane]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

On the other hand, "tier chatter" and a look at a carefuly constructed and sanitized video is all you have to use when ranking.

Originally Posted by Cheerio

She does mention that moving the first round into a virtual round decreases chapter and panhellenic costs in the areas of meeting/recruitment space rental, transportation and matching recruitment attire fees, as well as recruitment decor costs.

Well, yes, I suppose that decoration, clothing and food costs will go down if virtual rounds are instituted. Also, I do see the benefit of not having thousands of women traipsing in heels and sundresses in high heat and humidity (or snow conditions for spring recruitment).

But, look, human nature tells me that the chapters will need to pull out all of the stops to make sure their chapter video stands out (see AnchorAlumna's post above). I wouldn't be surprised if chapters went towards the trend of expensive, flashy, high-productions videos like we saw with Alpha Phi at the Arizona State University (pink jeep, hot air balloons) and Delta Gamma at the University of Miami (speedboat, sailboat). Or try to one-up each other by including prominent people or celebrities in their videos like Alpha Phi at the University of Alabama (Bama football player). Those videos cost a lot. Probably more than cake and punch and matching shirts.

Also, the move to virtual may force chapters to cut based largely on resume and/or social media reviews (Insta stalking) of the PNMs ahead of recruitment.

I'm concerned that both the PNMs and the chapters will place additional focus on cultivating an online image as a means of getting past the first rounds. We're already dealing with social media influencers who make it look like they're living their best jet set, high fashion lives. Moreover, I can envision PNMs setting up their social media "filming studio" (ring lights, better cameras, etc) to make sure they look top flight during their virtual rounds.

All of this seemingly flies in the face of no-frills, values-based recruitment. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

That would eliminate some chapters from rushing.

Obviously. They would have a year or two where they wouldn’t take new members and eventually it would even out.

Please note I am not actually advocating this concept.

[shadokat]

In many cases, virtual recruitment helped some weaker performing chapters do better overall in getting to quota. It cut down on the rumor mill, the tent talk, etc. I don't think a first round virtual is all that bad. I do think that lots of things have changed because of the pandemic, and participation issues will surely be an issue when everyone is back at school and has to attend 4 things a week after spending the last 18 months all virtual. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

The focus of recruitment ought to continue to trend toward meaningful conversations between PNMs and members, not on what type of impressive car picked up Susie Rushee for open house party or which expensive hotel the Rho House used for first round party versus the Red Roof Inn Meeting Room used by the Psi House.

IF they used in-person Zoom chats between PNMs and small groups of sisters representing their sorority, that would line up perfectly with the effort toward meaningful conversations.
BUT...reviewing a PNM-made video with the PNMs viewing the slick, professionally made sorority videos is about as shallow as it comes.

[AnchorAlumna]

Sorry, folks, but RFM has by far been the most successful method of leveling the playing field among all the sororities, "high tier" to "low tier."
We have more chapters than ever pledging quota and filling up to total. Chapters that were dying because not enough women would pledge are thriving and able to pay their bills and give their members a good Greek experience, no matter where they fall in the Greek Rank scale and the on-campus cool factor.

[dukedg]

Originally Posted by navane

But, look, human nature tells me that the chapters will need to pull out all of the stops to make sure their chapter video stands out (see AnchorAlumna's post above). I wouldn't be surprised if chapters went towards the trend of expensive, flashy, high-productions videos like we saw with Alpha Phi at the Arizona State University (pink jeep, hot air balloons) and Delta Gamma at the University of Miami (speedboat, sailboat). Or try to one-up each other by including prominent people or celebrities in their videos like Alpha Phi at the University of Alabama (Bama football player). Those videos cost a lot. Probably more than cake and punch and matching shirts.

Many campuses now have specific Panhellenic rules about videos (both during recruitment and those released before for PR purposes). I'm not one for very complex rules, but I do think the general gist of trying to keep videos simple and substantive is a plus!

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by shadokat

In many cases, virtual recruitment helped some weaker performing chapters do better overall in getting to quota. It cut down on the rumor mill, the tent talk, etc. I don't think a first round virtual is all that bad. I do think that lots of things have changed because of the pandemic, and participation issues will surely be an issue when everyone is back at school and has to attend 4 things a week after spending the last 18 months all virtual. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

I'll admit the idea of an all virtual recruitment scared the heck out of me in the weeks and months leading up to it. But once it started, it really wasn't that bad.
I completely agree with the statement above. I know the university where I advise is considering virtual for the "open house" round, and I believe it is for these exact reasons. And if virtual means no door stack practice at midnight the night before recruitment starts, I'm good with it.

I've seen all sorts of doom and gloom recruitment changes- skits, no skits, bed rush, quota rush, crafts, frills, no frills, three pref parties, two pref parties, a blizzard that cut an entire round out, and now zoom/virtual. It all has worked out in the end.

This year should be interesting in that none of the sophomores have ever been in-person for recruitment and the juniors have never done recruitment in-person from the active member side. My seniors are going to really need to step up!

[FSUZeta]

Bama has reached 2000 PNMs.

[Cookiez17]

The PC sizes are gonna be huge! And registration isn't even over yet, it would be nuts if they reached 3k.

[navane]

Yikes....Bama's recruitment registration doesn't close until July 15th. I imagine that PNM number will go up quite a bit. I speculate that we might see some bigger registration numbers on account of many young women electing to sit-out of their first year of university last fall [due to COVID].

[SigmaCat]

I'd guess that a big reason for making round one online from the jump is pure CYA; it sets up the framework for all-virtual in case crap happens and they're forced to scrap in-person rush activities again. I agree that whatever happens, the chapters and PNMs will adjust and things will be fine. Online rounds aren't ideal, but neither is a traditional first round. Even if all it does is make life a little easier during rush, I'm all for it. And I'm kind of sick of the "Ha ha, I lose my voice every rush!" ridiculousness, tbh. The system needs to be smarter about shoving people into mega-crowded parties where they have to scream to be heard and the flu or worse is lurking around every corner.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by SigmaCat

I'd guess that a big reason for making round one online from the jump is pure CYA; it sets up the framework for all-virtual in case crap happens and they're forced to scrap in-person rush activities again. I agree that whatever happens, the chapters and PNMs will adjust and things will be fine. Online rounds aren't ideal, but neither is a traditional first round. Even if all it does is make life a little easier during rush, I'm all for it. And I'm kind of sick of the "Ha ha, I lose my voice every rush!" ridiculousness, tbh. The system needs to be smarter about shoving people into mega-crowded parties where they have to scream to be heard and the flu or worse is lurking around every corner.

Ironically, I came across this letter today. It looks like virtual first-round recruitment is being encouraged by the NPC for a few different reasons. Whether they're legit or not, I don't know. I'm simply posting NPC's statement.

https://npcwomen.blogspot.com/2021/0...Ri7T7xmpFB7gfo

As part of the larger Cost of Membership initiative, which I addressed in my April message, NPC is examining the costs associated with Panhellenic recruitment and has already begun to offer recommendations to address the growing concern. These recommendations include a policy addition to remove tiered registration pricing and late fees, as well as a new best practice that encourages a virtual first round whenever possible, helping decrease costs related to space rental, transportation, décor, attire, etc., while also focusing on substantive conversation between PNMs and chapter members. Additionally, an updated best practice encourages a minimal administrative fee to cover only essential recruitment costs.

[33girl]

I think this is bullshit. I can hear the excuses now. “Oh sorry I missed Turdy Tau’s online rush party, my service went out.”