Depledging Then Rushing Again

[SouthernChic]

Please forgive me if my post is repetitive of other posts on this message board, but I would like to get some advice from other members on this... My daughter is in a similar situation. She began her freshman year this past fall and went through recruitment and pledged her first choice sorority. She absolutely loved the girls and was having a wonderful experience, and then she became very ill and had to medically withdraw from the university. She was unable to initiate because she left approx. a month before they held initiation. She came home for the remainder of the semester and is going to be attending a different college next year. This school has sororities and I'm assuming that she would be eligible to rush due to the fact that she was never fully initiated. My question is this...should my daughter convey to the rush committe or rush counselors that she did join and pledge another sorority, or is that relevant? Also, do you think the girls at the new school would hold that against her even though she never initiated?
My daughter enjoyed her brief greek experience and would really like the opportunity to be involved again. Any help or advice would be most appreciated!
Thank you very much!

[KSUViolet06]

I wouldn't really think it was relevant to bring up.

[reverie]

our recruitment registration form asks if you've ever pledged or been initiated in another sorority, but only the greek advisor sees that since you obviously can't be initiated into two NPC sororities.

[Stef the Pef]

Originally Posted by reverie

our recruitment registration form asks if you've ever pledged or been initiated in another sorority, but only the greek advisor sees that since you obviously can't be initiated into two NPC sororities.

Yup. Medical withdrawals happen all the time, and as long as she wasn't initiated in that sorority, it should be no big deal and shouldn't hurt her rushing a second time around. Just make sure she has all the recs she needs if it's a school where those matter (i.e. in the south, sometimes in CA). In fact, if that sorority is at her new school and they get some kinds of heads-up on what happened (maybe look into a reference from the pledging chapter?), that might work out. Regardless, good luck to her on finding a home at her new school!

[SouthernChic]

I think that the recruitment registration form does ask if you were pledged or initiated into another sorority. Of course, I believe it is always to be up front and honest about the situation. My concern is that the girls at the new college might not give her a fair chance if they knew she had once pledged another GLO, no matter what the reasons for her withdrawal were. I think the college that she is going to be attending has the same sorority on campus as well, but of course I would like for my daughter to be open-minded once again when she goes through rush...but if the girls at the school knew that she was a pledge of XYZ previously they might think she would be partial to that sorority on the new campus as well. I am far more concerned about this than my daughter is, but I think that is just the "mom" in me...haha!

Originally Posted by SouthernChic

I think the college that she is going to be attending has the same sorority on campus as well, but of course I would like for my daughter to be open-minded once again when she goes through rush...but if the girls at the school knew that she was a pledge of XYZ previously they might think she would be partial to that sorority on the new campus as well.

But remember, chapters can be different, and the XYZ girls at her new campus may or may not be the best fit for her.

If she's asked about it, then she should definitely be up front because like Stef said, medical withdrawals happen all the time. If they don't ask about it, I wouldn't bring it up. I think it's impossible for any of us to say whether or not the girls would hold her past sorority experience against her.

I think that, because she's on a new campus, re-rushing won't be that big of a deal. If she were re-rushing on the same campus again, then that'd be different.

I wouldn't even worry about it too much.

[violetpretty]

I actually think that your daughter should bring it up to her recruitment counselor and with members of chapters. It would clear up any possible skepticism of having pledged and withdrawn because the withdrawal had nothing to do with the sorority.

[SouthernChic]

Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions. I think I am going to advice my daughter to mention this to her rush counselor as well as any other members that she happens to meet so that there will be no misunderstandings. This a smaller college than the one she originally went to, so I'm sure word will travel much faster than it normally would anyway. Hopefully, she will find her new sisters and be happy. Thank you once again!