Tent Talk & "Bottom-Tier" Houses

[33girl]

Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi

5) Perhaps the Greek Advisor could make a concerted effort to subtly "talk up" the chapters that typically perform less well during recruitment to the PNMs.

Depending on the status/popularity of the GA, this could be great or be beyond epic fail. Our GA was so bad that it got to a point where the only thing that all the sororities agreed on was that they hated her guts.

I also don't think holding rush before freshman year/immediately upon campus arrival helps to curb tent talk AT ALL. If it did, then every school who does it would have every chapter at the same amount and no chapters would ever close. If anything, I think tent talk in this situation is 10x worse. You're new to the campus, maybe away from home on your own for the first time and unless you have family or intimate friends at the school, you have NO clue and are apt to take everyone's advice on the same level. I mean, if you hear a cute man from ABC fraternity saying that JKL sorority is full of fat bitches, you may believe it. Whereas if you don't rush until your second semester, and have maybe had a chance to interact with the ABC fraternity and realize that although they're cute they are total douchebags...you're not going to take everything they say as gospel.

I think a lot of the disappointed PNMs are the ones who do join chapters that maybe weren't as popular as they thought, or as they made themselves appear in rush. If they've had a semester at the least to observe, they're not going to get as much of a jolt.

[madoug]

How about a code of conduct for the PNM's? And if they are witnessed slandering people or groups, they get bounced from recruitment.

[rahAU5]

To some, that may seem a little heavy handed...but, I think if the girls knew there would be consequences for their negative words it might deter some of the tent talk.

[carnation]

Some schools try that but realistically, you know that most girls will go behind closed doors to discuss their opinions, especially if they fear punishment. It's like bullying, it just moves underground.

[rahAU5]

Good point.

[28StGreek]

Originally Posted by rahAU5

Good point.

There will always be some type of tent talk going on in various situations throughout a person's life. Just let it be, and it will separate out the girls who are sensible and mature about things. In the end that would make better members and contributors to the Greek community.

[Pearly]

I think that since one of the more personal college gossip websites has gone offline the tent talk and maliciousness will calm down a bit and hopefully girls will have more of an open mind about all the chapters

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by Pearly

I think that since one of the more personal college gossip websites has gone offline the tent talk and maliciousness will calm down a bit and hopefully girls will have more of an open mind about all the chapters

This is the funniest thing that I've heard in a long time. Tent talk and less than open minds about all of the chapters have been in existence well before the advent of the internet.

I hope you're right, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Cheerio]

A school I am familiar with currently has less then ten NPC groups. Over 45 years, campus fluctuated between 7-12 NPC houses. Not all current NPC groups make quota, which continues a long trend. All groups have/had housing. A few groups have disbanded, then recolonized.

It seemed when one group would leave, every other group and the PNMs knew who the next-lesser (for lack of better term) group was; that group was more-than-usually next to leave campus (and this was during a mini-boom in campus sorority membership #s). PNMs just wanted to join the 4-6 popular houses, which meant the other 3-6 didn't make quota and had to COB.

The problem of having half the houses popular/half the houses not-so-popular continues. Is this due to tent talk? Sure. Should rush be held earlier/for a longer time stretch? Yes. But I see reluctance to change on the part of campus fraternal leaders, since their system of choice has 'worked' for decades.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Part of the problem, though, is that PNM's need something, anything, on which to base their decisions. If you go through rush with more than, say, 10 chapters, how do you rank the first night? If you've just gotten to campus, and you don't really know much about the groups, you are ranking based on a 25-minute meeting, probably only 15 minutes of which is actually conversation. Tent talk is stupid. So is ranking based on prettiest colors or how much you like the snacks or anything else, but a 15-minute chat just doesn't leave the PNM's much to go on.

[Pearly]

I agree that the pnm's are really looking for information to make a wise choice. I think a strong Panhellenic that has detailed web pages about recruitment with links to the chapters web pages helps give them facts and not opinions. Also early rush before or during the first week of school is important.

[BlueOwl]

Tent talk will never go away, and now with internet websites pnm's go into recruitment with way too many impressions of chapters. I do believe that we human creatures tend to gravitate towards those who are similar to us, and that we tend to attract those who are similar to us. Thus, the ABC chapter that is is overwhelmingly attractive will tend to attract and retain very attractive pnm's. And if XYZ chapter is really athletic and jock-ish, they will likely attract and retain lots of those pnm's. It's a natural selection, I think. The hippie types and the quiet ones will do likewise. It really does work that way.Don't you think?

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by BlueOwl

Tent talk will never go away, and now with internet websites pnm's go into recruitment with way too many impressions of chapters. I do believe that we human creatures tend to gravitate towards those who are similar to us, and that we tend to attract those who are similar to us. Thus, the ABC chapter that is is overwhelmingly attractive will tend to attract and retain very attractive pnm's. And if XYZ chapter is really athletic and jock-ish, they will likely attract and retain lots of those pnm's. It's a natural selection, I think. The hippie types and the quiet ones will do likewise. It really does work that way.Don't you think?

not entirely. the top houses will attract those that are similar, plus pnms who aspire to be like the girls in those houses. You will find pretty, slender girls in the fat house, girls who struggle with grades in the brainy house, party girls in the bible study house, and girls who wear daisy dukes and slouch boots in the preppy house.

The blonde house is not all blondes, ABC does not have all the cheerleaders, and all the XYZs don't hang out at the same fraternity.

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by BlueOwl

Tent talk will never go away, and now with internet websites pnm's go into recruitment with way too many impressions of chapters. I do believe that we human creatures tend to gravitate towards those who are similar to us, and that we tend to attract those who are similar to us. Thus, the ABC chapter that is is overwhelmingly attractive will tend to attract and retain very attractive pnm's. And if XYZ chapter is really athletic and jock-ish, they will likely attract and retain lots of those pnm's. It's a natural selection, I think. The hippie types and the quiet ones will do likewise. It really does work that way.Don't you think?

Exactly.

Not to say that there won't be women who don't fit the stereotype - few chapters are homogeneous, and the larger the chapter, the more likely to have differences.

But humans tend to choose friends who are like them, and any group that has a vote on activities will do those that the majority want to do. So if, for example, athletics is important to a large part of the chapter, conversations will tend to focus on athletics, and women will tend to have more interesting conversations with those who appreciate athletics ... This is human nature.

Things will change. Within any group, as members come and go, emphasis changes. The chapter that was the jock chapter 10 years ago may well be the princess chapter now; the princess chapter of 8 years ago (that's only 2 full chapters, after all) may be the nerds now. Who knows.

[BlueOwl]

One more thought...I also think that young women who are groomed all of their lives to be in a certain sorority because of social beliefs, legacy status, etc. will not be truly fulfilled in their sorority if they are not free to choose the house that feels right for them. While being a legacy is a wonderful thing ( I am a double legacy), it should not dictate a girl's selection. My daughter was a triple legacy and chose another sorority...with my full blessing!!