All of these recruitment threads...

[ComradesTrue]

While I agree that PMNs must use discretion, Peppy does have a point that the titles of recruitment threads have gotten very confusing of late... and it is not just the live ones. Very recently we had three retro threads going at the same time with almost identical titles.

Perhaps instead of using the actual school name, there could be a vague name given to that as well, which may or may not be factual: "Blondies Live Recruitment at Midwest U," "Blondies Live Recruitment at East Coast College." I think NutBrnHair even called her school "U Topia." In other words, there can be a unique identifier without giving away too much.

However, while many on GC may not be able to figure out a school on a live thread, I assure you that in many, if not all, cases those directly involved with the recruitment can. When you have already given out the number of chapters, as well as the party/round schedules, things narrow down quite quickly. On the recent thread where a PMN was outed, it was crystal clear which school she was referring to based on those two factors alone.... and I am only in the same state, not even directly participating in that recruitment. This along with the *personal* identification that she gave, it would have been easy for those on her campus to know who she was.

Moral of story: discretion continues to be key, especially with your personal (hair color, major, hometown, classification) identifiers, but please at least put your user name in the title. Consider a school name as well, though it can be a vague description or even a clever pseudonym. This makes it easy to follow while it is live, but also makes searching for it later on much easier. Some threads are so good that they are worth bumping each recruitment season for the new PMNs (and their worried mamas!).

[jwright25]

Hmm. Looks like there are pros and cons for putting the school name or not. My personal opinion is that as long as the PNM doesn't give away clues to her identity (listing outfits, resumes, triple-legacy to this, etc.), how could it hurt her? Even if we stalk her and find out her campus, how would we know which one she is if she doesn't give identifying clues? I'm not making a suggestion that PNMs do this - only stating an opinion.

And while we are on the subject of stating opinions, I'll take a moment to say that while I can understand why a PNM won't want to give her campus away during recruitment, I don't know what the big deal is about keeping it a secret after she has joined a chapter. That and refusing to give the code away. If the PNM uses discretion and doesn't trash a chapter, she shouldn't be worried (like the NM who was treated badly per KSUViolet and OTW's example). So what is more important - honest, no-holds-barred observations or a reveal of the code?

Personally I've quit following them because I can't stand reading the "I'm rooting for purple!" posts. I just don't get that. I'll click on a recently updated thread looking for a report or even a question and great answer only to find out what GCUser's favorite ice cream flavor is. Blah.

[33girl]

There's been such a humungous # of rush threads recently, I honestly wonder if some of them are even real.

That being said...please put your user name in the title...ex:

NancySpungeon's Recruitment Thread

Frappaccinoaddict's Rush Story

so we can tell which one is which.

As far as posting or not posting your school/locale, or revealing the code at ALL, that's the poster's prerogative. There are longtime GCers who don't put their affiliation out on the table for everyone, why should we pressure the newest members of GC/the Greek system to do it?

[aopirose]

Originally Posted by 33girl

NancySpungeon's Recruitment Thread

Now THAT would be an entertaining read.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by aopirose

Now THAT would be an entertaining read.

"When the Oranges cut me....it was like a knife in the gut!!"

[aopirose]

Originally Posted by 33girl

"When the Oranges cut me....it was like a knife in the gut!!"

Go get in CT4's handbasket.

[violetpretty]

PNMs will tell us the number of chapters, occasionally, which chapters are on their campus, and the start date/schedule, which is almost always enough to figure out for a school with spring formal recruitment since the pool is already narrowed.

This might be unavoidable for many PNMs since they don't know anything else, but campus-specific language can also give them away. For example, Northwestern is the only place I've seen that calls their rounds "Set 1", "Set 2", and "Informals" (with preference a widely used term for the fourth and final round). Along with campus-specific language, it depends what your campus calls the women who temporarily disaffiliate to help PNMs with recruitment, Rho Chis, Rho Gammas, Gamma Chis, Pi Chis, Sigma Rho Chis, Greek Life Guides, etc.

In summary, PNMs:
1. Please include your username in your title at the very least.
2. If you don't want to say which region of the country your school is in, pick a pseudonym for your school to include in the title based on your code names (i.e. someone with Disney princess code names could name her school Magical Kingdom U).
3. Don't identify yourself. Don't put any identifying information on your profile, don't put your first name in your username, links to your screenname, etc. Don't describe your outfits, any activities you are involved in, etc. So maybe we've figured out you go to Maryland, but that still makes you one person in 500 unless you've identified yourself more specifically.
4. If you want to be honest without jeopardizing your chances, wait until after bid day to write a recruitment thread. You can still feel like you're giving a live update if you write stuff down in a word document each night. That way, if you have a change of heart about a chapter that you trashed in earlier rounds, you can edit your word document.
5. If you have questions during recruitment, your Rho Gamma (or whatever your campus calls them) is your best source of information. She will be able to give you answers specific to your campus and will keep your conversations confidential. If she isn't knowledgeable or strikes you as untrustworthy, you can ask another Rho Gamma, someone on Panhellenic recruitment team, someone on Panhellenic exec, or the Panhellenic advisor. Sure, you an ask questions on Greek Chat, but often times, the question will be something that we'd need to know the campus culture (size, region) to be able to speculate what kind of answer to give you. And when you give those things out publicly, it can out your school. PMing a GCer that you trust works without giving away your info publicly.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

PNMs will tell us the number of chapters, occasionally, which chapters are on their campus, and the start date/schedule, which is almost always enough to figure out for a school with spring formal recruitment since the pool is already narrowed.

This might be unavoidable for many PNMs since they don't know anything else, but campus-specific language can also give them away. For example, Northwestern is the only place I've seen that calls their rounds "Set 1", "Set 2", and "Informals" (with preference a widely used term for the fourth and final round). Along with campus-specific language, it depends what your campus calls the women who temporarily disaffiliate to help PNMs with recruitment, Rho Chis, Rho Gammas, Gamma Chis, Pi Chis, Sigma Rho Chis, Greek Life Guides, etc.

In summary, PNMs:
1. Please include your username in your title at the very least.
2. If you don't want to say which region of the country your school is in, pick a pseudonym for your school to include in the title based on your code names (i.e. someone with Disney princess code names could name her school Magical Kingdom U).
3. Don't identify yourself. Don't put any identifying information on your profile, don't put your first name in your username, links to your screenname, etc. Don't describe your outfits, any activities you are involved in, etc. So maybe we've figured out you go to Maryland, but that still makes you one person in 500 unless you've identified yourself more specifically.
4. If you want to be honest without jeopardizing your chances, wait until after bid day to write a recruitment thread. You can still feel like you're giving a live update if you write stuff down in a word document each night. That way, if you have a change of heart about a chapter that you trashed in earlier rounds, you can edit your word document.
5. If you have questions during recruitment, your Rho Gamma (or whatever your campus calls them) is your best source of information. She will be able to give you answers specific to your campus and will keep your conversations confidential. If she isn't knowledgeable or strikes you as untrustworthy, you can ask another Rho Gamma, someone on Panhellenic recruitment team, someone on Panhellenic exec, or the Panhellenic advisor. Sure, you an ask questions on Greek Chat, but often times, the question will be something that we'd need to know the campus culture (size, region) to be able to speculate what kind of answer to give you. And when you give those things out publicly, it can out your school. PMing a GCer that you trust works without giving away your info publicly.

Applause.

[Zeta13Girl]

I agree with those of you that said to use usernames. While putting the school's name in the title can risk exposing the PNM it also can be confusing I know at least once this semester of two girls going through recruitment at the same school so then you would have two of the same titles that might end up being confusing. Just a thought

[kddani]

Originally Posted by 33girl

There's been such a humungous # of rush threads recently, I honestly wonder if some of them are even real.

Agreed. It's hard to write a cohesive rush thread if you're not really going through rush...

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by 33girl

NancySpungeon's Recruitment Thread

I would pay very real money to read this one - especially if the Housemother's name is "Mother Vicious"!

[AliceDreams]

Well I didn't mention which school I was at yet because I wanted to be secretive until rush was over. But I did put my name in the thread title, so hopefully I distinguished myself from other threads.

[srmom]

I wish all recruitment threads used pictures like Leslie Anne's retro thread - it was so easy keeping up with the story and remembering which house was which because the pictures were so distinctive.

But, you're right that all the threads are hard to keep up with. I spend alot of time rereading to refresh my memory (all time that I should be committing to my job)