University of Alabama Recruitment

[DubaiSis]

To dwell on the numbers a bit more, I think the thing is we'd all like to see the exact numbers of how many of each class, how many they offer bids to, how many accept, how many make it through to initiation and how many are there 1 year later. But we all know our nationals would NEVER allow this. As logical, practical women, we know there is a large attrition rate for colonies. Many of the girls are just not prepared for what's going to be involved and/or don't get the hearts and flowers rainbows and unicorns experience they're expecting.

My guess is they would love to have approximately 25% of each grade, but in reality it's probably more like 75% freshmen and sophomores and the other 25% for the juniors and seniors. I would also guess that while there are more opportunities for the juniors and seniors than regular rush, those positions have been recruited heavily by the sorority leadership who are on campus weeks to months prior to colony recruitment. Those juniors and seniors had opportunities to rush in the past and didn't, so they have to be found and convinced. I would bet (this is my last one) that a big percentage of the juniors and seniors who go through a colony recruitment were talked into it by someone else. How much of this can I back up with first hand knowledge or stats? None.

[greekdee]

This article in the July 2011 edition of The Crimson White is about the Delta Gamma colonization at Bama. It does not give any number breakdowns, but was certainly encouraging to upperclassmen. You can read the entire article, but the person being referenced in the except I posted was Shaun Young, vice president of membership for Delta Gamma.

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/07/27/delta-ga...eek-community/

Delta Gamma is looking to start a well-balanced chapter, so they will be looking for women of all class ranks and ages to join throughout their colonization process.

“What’s really cool about adding a new sorority to a campus, it really opens up the opportunity to women of all class ranks who may not have pledged as freshmen,” she said. “This is the perfect time for upperclassmen who have a lot to contribute to a new sorority in the form of maturity and leadership, as well as those who want the opportunity of lifetime membership in a sorority, to get in.”

Young encouraged every interested girl to at least come and ask any questions she might have about joining. Many upperclassmen already have responsibilities, but Young said she hopes to assure them that Delta Gamma will fit into their already busy lives.

[Hartofsec]

@DubaiSis -- That would be interesting to know -- I would be surprised if it worked out evenly between classes. Far more freshmen would probably be interested, especially following FR. There are probably fewer juniors and seniors interested, since they may already be involved with other campus activities (and have sort of found their campus niche).

When a sorority colonized on my daughter's campus, all the other chapters on campus helped advertise it to non-Greeks they knew. A girl my daughter knew from high school never went through FR, but did pledge as a junior during the colonization.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by greekdee

This article in the July 2011 edition of The Crimson White is about the Delta Gamma colonization at Bama. It does not give any number breakdowns, but was certainly encouraging to upperclassmen. You can read the entire article, but the person being referenced in the except I posted was Shaun Young, vice president of membership for Delta Gamma.

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/07/27/delta-ga...eek-community/

Delta Gamma is looking to start a well-balanced chapter, so they will be looking for women of all class ranks and ages to join throughout their colonization process.

“What’s really cool about adding a new sorority to a campus, it really opens up the opportunity to women of all class ranks who may not have pledged as freshmen,” she said. “This is the perfect time for upperclassmen who have a lot to contribute to a new sorority in the form of maturity and leadership, as well as those who want the opportunity of lifetime membership in a sorority, to get in.”

Young encouraged every interested girl to at least come and ask any questions she might have about joining. Many upperclassmen already have responsibilities, but Young said she hopes to assure them that Delta Gamma will fit into their already busy lives.

Thanks for finding and posting, greekdee. That certainly is encouraging to upperclassmen at Bama.

[DubaiSis]

But it's all moot because as far as I know, no sorority has stepped up. I hope someone does , and I'm sure the news will hit here lightning fast, but there's not a whole lot of point in speculation until something solid happens. How long were we kvetching about needing chapters at Arkansas? It could easily be two more years! I mean, if someone stepped up tomorrow, it probably would NOT be for rush fall 2013 because of the importance of doing it exactly right there and getting the background work up to snuff.

[WhiteDaisy128]

I was a colonizing sister 10 years ago, and NOT at Bama or an SEC school...but for what it's worth...our colonizing class had 76 members. Six girls were seniors; 14 were juniors (including me); the rest were freshmen & sophomores. We did COB 3 more juniors and 8 or 9 more freshmen & sophomores almost immediately...but no more seniors. One senior dropped out shortly after Initiation.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Hartofsec

Then for informational purposes -- PNMs considering participating in a colonization -- some (snark- and vulgarity-free) information . . . .

That post may have been snark-free, but please don't suggest that all of your posts are or that you're merely on the receiving end of snark. From what I've seen, many of your posts drip in good old fashioned Southern, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth snark. If that's not your intention, then I'm sure you'll want to know that's how they come across.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

That post may have been snark-free, but please don't suggest that all of your posts are or that you're merely on the receiving end of snark. From what I've seen, many of your posts drip in good old fashioned Southern, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth snark. If that's not your intention, then I'm sure you'll want to know that's how they come across.

Oh Dear Gawd! There is snark on this site?

Much as I think your attention to my posts is selective, sometimes snark is intentional -- depending on to what/whom I am responding. But I've never whined to a moderator when on the receiving end, either, or requested that a thread be closed.

If your intention is to point out snarky posts on this site, then I'm sure you'll want to know that you missed a few. Quite a few.

[carnation]

Break time!