University of Mississippi - Ole Miss 2014 Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment

[DubaiSis]

If the article is accurate and the school really is trying to promote diversity and inclusion NOW is the time to get the word out while young women are making their final decisions about what school to attend. If you want to go to a traditional old south school but would like to also have more than the bare minimum of modernity, Ole Miss just said they are ahead of Bama. Right wrong or indifferent is irrelevant. This is marketing.

[OleMissGlitter]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

If the article is accurate and the school really is trying to promote diversity and inclusion NOW is the time to get the word out while young women are making their final decisions about what school to attend. If you want to go to a traditional old south school but would like to also have more than the bare minimum of modernity, Ole Miss just said they are ahead of Bama. Right wrong or indifferent is irrelevant. This is marketing.

Really good points!

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

If the article is accurate and the school really is trying to promote diversity and inclusion NOW is the time to get the word out while young women are making their final decisions about what school to attend. If you want to go to a traditional old south school but would like to also have more than the bare minimum of modernity, Ole Miss just said they are ahead of Bama. Right wrong or indifferent is irrelevant. This is marketing.

In my admittedly biased opinion, it was rude, misleading and unprofessional to have left out any mention of the other sororities at Ole Miss that have already pledged women of color. This article makes it sound like KD is the only sorority to admit AA girls.

But Abney isn’t just another number — she’s a game changer.

I beg to differ. The game had been changed long before this young woman came to Ole Miss.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by thetalady

In my admittedly biased opinion, it was rude, misleading and unprofessional to have left out any mention of the other sororities at Ole Miss that have already pledged women of color. This article makes it sound like KD is the only sorority to admit AA girls.

But Abney isn’t just another number — she’s a game changer.

I beg to differ. The game had been changed long before this young woman came to Ole Miss.

But the article points out that she pledged a "top" white sorority. I guess the others weren't game changers since they weren't "top."

[thetalady]

how very Panhellenic of you to throw half of the sororities at Ole Miss under the bus. Pledging AA young women doesn't matter if it is not done by a "top" sorority?

Originally Posted by irishpipes

But the article points out that she pledged a "top" white sorority. I guess the others weren't game changers since they weren't "top."

[chi-o_cat]

Originally Posted by thetalady

how very Panhellenic of you to throw half of the sororities at Ole Miss under the bus. Pledging AA young women doesn't matter if it is not done by a "top" sorority?

That what the article was implying, not irishpipes herself.

[OldOleMiss]

I remember an AA girl came through my sophomore year which would have been 1991- I could be wrong but I want to say she was the first AA to ever participate in formal recruitment- (Sigma Chi pledged the first AA male that year as well I believe)--- we were told prior to the beginning of recruitment that she had "no intentions" of pledging an NPC group but wanted to go through for the experience. I had the pleasure of rushing her during "Coke Round"- (I think this is now philanthropy)- and was quite honestly CRUSHED when, as promised, she dropped out of recruitment right afterwards (prior to skit). I know for a fact that we as well as my roommates sorority had her on our invite lists for skit. She ended up pledging AKA -- I lost touch with her after that but always wondered why she went through if she had no intention of pledging and if she ever regretted not finishing and seeing where she would have ended up… or if she was completely happy just to see how NPC worked and knew deep down her "home" was with an NPHC.

Anyway- yes the thing that made me mad with this article was the implication that because none of the other girls had pledged one of the perceived "top" then it didn't really count… however I was very interested in learning that "5 of the traditionally black organizations had pledged white members"- (direct quote from article)- I guess I had never thought about the "reverse" before- a white individual breaking into a traditionally AA organization.

Now lane swerving back- I can't even begin to imagine pref being cut down from 3 to 2- there were 10 sororities there back when I came through and we still preffed 3-- I only see chaos, not to mention brutal cuts, if this is reduced to 2… (then again it is a whole new game since I went through) :-)

[MU2Driver]

Big news! Happy to report that my DD was just named a Gamma Chi for fall recruitment. Seems like just yesterday she was a PNM. Hotty Toddy!

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by MU2Driver

Big news! Happy to report that my DD was just named a Gamma Chi for fall recruitment. Seems like just yesterday she was a PNM. Hotty Toddy!

Congratulations!

[OleMissGlitter]

Originally Posted by MU2Driver

Big news! Happy to report that my DD was just named a Gamma Chi for fall recruitment. Seems like just yesterday she was a PNM. Hotty Toddy!

That's awesome! She will get to experience recruitment from a completely different point of view!

[bama4ever]

I might need to change my user name now that my DD has decided to go to Ole Miss. Because the date for Ice Water Teas has moved to the beginning of Recruitment will they have cuts after this round and will the dress change from nikes and t- shirts to something more dressy?

[MaryPoppins]

Please note as of today, the calendar information and dates in the first post on this thread have been updated to reflect current and new information.

[DubaiSis]

We know that much like in cop shows on TV, articles written about sororities are often in the range of misleading to wrong, whether well-intentioned or not. I wrote off the "game changer" thing as naivete or possibly a KD on the newspaper staff who has an inflated sense of self.

My perception has been, while there are very few women of color in NPC chapters at Ole Miss, it is not due necessarily to discrimination. You can't pledge girls who aren't there!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

My perception has been, while there are very few women of color in NPC chapters at Ole Miss, it is not due necessarily to discrimination. You can't pledge girls who aren't there!

And why aren't they there?

[DubaiSis]

That's not my place to say. I'm sure the NPHC chapters are a very strong draw. There is probably a stigma around women of color even trying to rush at a school like this. I would imagine the freakishly small number of women of color in the chapters now feels a lot like tokenism to the girls contemplating their choices (it's not my place to determine what is or is not tokenism because I don't know these women). I think the system could do a better job at getting a diverse group of girls to rush, and this badly written article was probably an effort in that direction. This isn't major league baseball where it only took 1 guy and then the floodgates opened. It's going to take time and effort because joining a sorority, as we all know is about friendships and a feeling of belonging, not meeting racial quotas or looking good on paper.