A Canadian recruitment story...

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by cdn

At around midnight, I was looking to go home…And the sister who had said she would go home with me had left! I asked about her and the other girls said she hadn’t been feeling well and had to go. I started asking around for anyone who lived near me or was taking the bus my way, and no one was. In the end, the house was getting pretty empty. I said goodbye to the remaining sisters and took the bus home by myself.

Is it just me, or does this strike anybody else as a HUGE risk management and rush no-no?

[Fallen_Angel]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I can't imagine why any NPC sorority would have a problem with a PNM asking what dues are! That was NOT an unreasonable question.

In Canada it is not a reasonable question at all. Especially at the school I am fairly certain she goes to, locals have lots of parties and no dues so trying to explain high international dues when we don;t get any of the perks the US internationals does turns people off.

We would rather them love us first and work out payment plans etc to make sure they find a place they love then scare them off with a high price tag which we are capable of working around.

[CougarGrad]

I'm really enjoying reading your story. I don't think I've read a Canadian recruitment yet.

[littleowl33]

cdn, come back and finish your story!

[cdn]

haha, sorry guys! Working on finishing the story, but I have work as well.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by cdn

haha, sorry guys! Working on finishing the story, but I have work as well.

Get your priorities straight!

Looking forward to the rest of your story.

[cdn]

It was a public transit bus. The problem was that they had way more rushes then they knew what to do with, so it wasn't really an option to take everybody home. One sister offered to get me a cab/cab home with me, but it was pretty out of her way since she said she lived about a block from the fraternity house. There were about ten sisters at the party, minus one who went home sick, and probably around 25+ rushes. My impression was that it was more about them being outnumbered and overwhelmed than thoughtless.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by cdn

It was a public transit bus. The problem was that they had way more rushes then they knew what to do with, so it wasn't really an option to take everybody home. One sister offered to get me a cab/cab home with me, but it was pretty out of her way since she said she lived about a block from the fraternity house. There were about ten sisters at the party, minus one who went home sick, and probably around 25+ rushes. My impression was that it was more about them being outnumbered and overwhelmed than thoughtless.

Still it is their responsibility to make sure everybody they invited to the event, which had alcohol at it, got home safely. God Forbid somebody got hurt because they were going home by themselves at midnight from an event that they were escorted to. I can see them having some kind of legal liability there, but I don't know the law, so that's just what I think.

[MooseGirl]

Knowing a few of the Canadian campuses, I'm trying to figure out which one :-p Now if it was 2 NPC and 1 local I would've guessed my own alma mater.

[Fallen_Angel]

Originally Posted by MooseGirl

Knowing a few of the Canadian campuses, I'm trying to figure out which one :-p Now if it was 2 NPC and 1 local I would've guessed my own alma mater.

Hello stranger! (Old Darlinglilred from Zeta Eta in Ottawa) fairly sure you need to look closer to my home for the answer on this one.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by Fallen_Angel

Hello stranger! (Old Darlinglilred from Zeta Eta in Ottawa) fairly sure you need to look closer to my home for the answer on this one.

I'm pretty sure that this is all happening in Halifax, NS. The city has 1 NPC and 2 locals, but students can attend any of 3 universities (Dalhouse, Mount St. Vincents or St-Mary's) but still belong to the same chapter.

http://www.canadiangreeks.com/directory/dal.html

Originally Posted by Fallen_Angel

In Canada it is not a reasonable question at all. Especially at the school I am fairly certain she goes to, locals have lots of parties and no dues so trying to explain high international dues when we don;t get any of the perks the US internationals does turns people off.

We would rather them love us first and work out payment plans etc to make sure they find a place they love then scare them off with a high price tag which we are capable of working around.

As for fees, I can tell you that in NPC recruitment at my Canadian alma mater, the fees are presented pretty much "straight up" or as a range. Mind you, at my alma mater, we didn't have locals so we didn't have to worry about price wars with other chapters for the most part.

[Fallen_Angel]

It's not a NS school she PMed me that I was probably right on with where I thought it was so I am even more certain it is an Ontario school and one that would have been my neighbour.

Having said that and being a past Panhellenic President and Social Council VP for the entire city where her school would reside the dues are usually not present by NPCs until 3rd party (we have 4 as a rule) to give the chance to find out why an NPC is different than a local. Of course at that point we explain fully why there are big differences.

[CougarGrad]

Soooooooo? Wha happan???

[APiPhiHottie]

In Canada it is not a reasonable question at all. Especially at the school I am fairly certain she goes to, locals have lots of parties and no dues so trying to explain high international dues when we don;t get any of the perks the US internationals does turns people off.

We would rather them love us first and work out payment plans etc to make sure they find a place they love then scare them off with a high price tag which we are capable of working around.

Being a local, sure, having significantly lower "dues" is a perk - but I'm a firm believer that when it comes to the bottom line with dues, if you really love an organization and really want to be apart of it - and receive a bid - you'll do what you have to do in order to attain the necessary finances. International Dues on my campus usually range between 400-600$ (unless they've drastically changed within the past few years) - if you think about it this way, those are dues which would easily be paid off working 1-2 days a week at a part-time, minimum wage job for a semester. I have friends in an international organization, and they just make a point in the summer to work an extra 2-3 weeks instead of having them off, in order to pay their dues. If you really love your organization, you make it work - regardless if its international/local.

However, I've never heard of a local within the city which I attend school having "no dues". For my organization, not having to go through a headquarters for things such as initiates and pledging pins (which we receive directly from the same jewelry supplier as the international organizations on campus) significantly cuts down our costs, along with not having to pay into things like chapter slush funds and headquarters fees.

We're very up front with our rushees during rush about how much it costs to be in our organization - we have a poster board with an entire break down of where our dues go in the chapter during our class room meet and greets - but we never use it as a main "selling" point. We wouldn't want a girl to rush us solely because, hey, she couldn't afford international so why not try local because it's cheaper? I always encourage rush to look over the board so they're aware of where their money goes, but I don't dorm storm going, "Hey! Rush my sorority! We have super low dues in comparison to international," etc.

And as for "parties" (I assume you're referring to mixers...), we don't have to inform a headquarters every time we mix, but we have a cap of 3 mixers during rush (which must be equally balanced out by other events such as sisterhoods, philanthropies, classroom meet and greets, etc.)