Sorority & Rush Information Sessions for High School Seniors

[AnchorAlum]

Manda-
So Sorry to hear you missed it by 'that' much! Did you miss both forums? The Panhellenic office at SMU might be able to give you the PO box of the Dallas Panhellenic and you could send them a note asking for a sign up sheet and info on contacts.
Red Oak is south of Dallas, right? Or is it Fort Worth?
Where are you planning to go to school? Many of the larger schools in TX have Panhellenic offices and they can give you local contacts as well.

[Manda03]

Hi! Yes, Red Oak is south of Dallas. I am going to school at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. I called the school and they said the regisration forms arent even available until summer and they didnt really have the information I needed. I havent been able to get a hold of the SMU office I keep getting a voicemail, but I did do something. There was a website for the Dallas Panhellenic Council, and I registered through them. They are suppose to set you up with someone in your area who can help you more,so basically I am just counting on that. Thanks again for all your help!

[AnchorAlum]

Good for you Manda!! Your persistence and determination paid off. I wish you the very best in Rush - please don't forget to come on here during recruitment at TAMCC and share your experiences!

[BSUPhiSig'92]

Manda:

I'm a Greek advisor at Southern Illinois, but I happen to be friends with the advisor at Corpus Christi. Her name is JoAnna Franke. You can reach her office at 361-825-2706 or at franke@falcon.tamucc.edu . Tell her that John Davenport at Southern Illinois Edwardsville referred you to her. She will be totally freaked out! From what I know from JoAnna, the Greek community at Corpus Christi is fairly new and a lot smaller than at other Texas schools, so probably not as dependent on recommendations, but it never hurts to have them. I hope this helps. If you have any questions, you can email me at jdavenp@siue.edu.

[texas*princess]

I used to live near A&M Corpus Christi and I have a friend there who is involved with the Greek system! I believe the sororities they have are Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Gamma Delta and Gamma Phi Beta.

Best of luck with your recruitment!

[SigmAtl]

Well, I can honestly say that "I just didn't know" because I didn't. I'm sure it is common to see and hear about sororities in the US, but I went to high school overseas. I don't recall there being any sororities on the military base.

I came back to the states and automatically started college and rush or recruitment was the very next day. I didn't know anything about recommendations, clothing or anything about sororities, but I guess it was because " I didn't want it enough?" I think it would've been great when I was in high school to be informed, but than again the sorority members would've all needed military IDs to get onto the base. =)


Greekchat would also have been helpful, just as long as I could have pluged my computer into a European outlet without it blowing up =D

[vandy_violet]

I definitely agree with informing people...someone mentioned the fact that someone might end up at a really competitive school and then decide to rush as a sophomore w/o recs and everything. That's definitely what happened to me. I wouldn't have made it through rush if friends I'd made who were already in houses hadn't pulled for me. I grew up w/o knowing anyone Greek, and I was a little intrigued by it, but for many reasons thought I wouldn't be able to do it. For one thing, I not only didn't know people in GLO's, but friends I had stigmatized it, and then after I got to college, some of my new friends also bombarded me with negative views about rushing(and then half of them took COB's, I think they were in denial like me about wanting to be in one). I didn't know anything about "Southern rush" and jokingly thought if I were going to be in a sorority I'd pick the one with the letters I liked the best...I had no clue about the local/national reputations of groups. Even though Greek life isn't a huge thing in the Midwest, where I'm from, if the local PanHel(I wonder if there is an active one!), had an information session at my high school, it really would have helped out a lot. I remember girls here mentioning how their mothers and grandmothers got them recs for every house, and there was no way I could have done that. I think the idea at the high school in Alabama where the teachers indicated if they could write recs was excellent. They're already writing your school application recs, why not just have them write your rush recs too? Some of you all have mentioned that people don't often know how the Greek system works outside of the South...but also if one isn't raised in the South and then jumps into "Southern rush", it isn't exactly easy.

[LeslieAGD]

I think it would be helpful to have panels of college students go talk to high schoolers so they are better aware. Besides Greeks, other people that could participate are scholars, athletes, student government officers, campus job reps, etc.

[GPhiBLtColonel]

...for telling local high school senior girls about rush, we always have at least 2 or 3 current sorority collegians give some remarks-- of course these girls are not identified with any GLO in particular -- like Rho Chis -- but the attendees do like to see and can more readily identify with younger faces...

[honeychile]

I'm very much in favor of handling this type of information session as panhellenically as possible. I just doubt that a lot of high schools outside of the traditional South would allow any Go Greek forums - especially with the MTV nonsense being shown. I ran into a high school teacher of mine after I pledged, and she saw my lavalier & hugged me, crying, "We're sisters!" The school board wouldn't allow the teachers to wear any greek symbols.

But what if Alumnae Panhellenics held Informational Sessions throughout the summer? Maybe a tea or two - something simple like that. Have information on EVERY sorority and fraternity - the standard informational leaflets with the pins, the letters, what they mean, etc., along with which colleges have which sororities (for the women in attendance)? I would certainly be happy to help out with something like that, as long as it was kept strictly panhellenic! And, the closest Panhellenic Councils could be there, too.

I think I've said before that I grew up in a neighborhood where literally everyone who went to college was in a GLO, so I saw copies of GLO magazines as often as Better Homes & Gardens! If being in a GLO looks natural to the women about to go off to college, I think they'd be more likely to give it a chance. Just my 2¢

honeychile

[dzandiloo]

The Lubbock APH puts on a "Greek Peek" in the Spring where they advertise to all high school seniors in Lubbock & the surrounding areas...it's a chance for all of the interested Senior women to come and find out about recruitment, references & the different organizations. The individualy groups don't set up "booths" from what I hear, but come to answer questions & provide information about the national organization, chapters in the state, etc. They also put on a fashion show of things to wear during recruitment, and pass out information packets w/local contact names from each group (I think there are 15 NPC sororities represented).
From what I hear, it is very helpful & a good way to get the word out to high school women... When I was in high school, I wasn't aware of anything like that going on, but I do remember every fall the counselors would put a poster up outside their offices listing the names of all recent grads who had gone Greek, and where they went. I remember seeing the name of someone I thought was "totally normal" on the list, and that was the first time I ever thought about joining a sorority myself.

[GPhiBLtColonel]

The Lubbock APH puts on a "Greek Peek" in the Spring where they advertise to all high school seniors in Lubbock & the surrounding areas...it's a chance for all of the interested Senior women to come and find out about recruitment, references & the different organizations. The individualy groups don't set up "booths" from what I hear, but come to answer questions & provide information about the national organization, chapters in the state, etc. They also put on a fashion show of things to wear during recruitment, and pass out information packets w/local contact names from each group (I think there are 15 NPC sororities represented).

Great ideas dzandiloo!!
Our APH doesn't have time to implement those this year but I think we will copy y'all next year -- the fashion show is an especially great idea!!
Do you have info available from all 26 NPC sororities -- even if there is not a rep present? Our APH only has reps from 19 -- so far
Thanks dzandiloo!

[AGDLynn]

Cele, as long as we get collegians to wear the fashions, lol!

[dzandiloo]

Originally posted by GPhiBLtColonel
Do you have info available from all 26 NPC sororities -- even if there is not a rep present? Our APH only has reps from 19 -- so far
Thanks dzandiloo!

As far as I know, the information packet includes basic info about all 26 NPC groups, specifically National HQ addresses, but only the 14 groups who have alum members locally & have made their presence known to the APH participate in the event. (There are only 11 groups at Texas Tech-each with a rep, and then 3 groups who do not have local collegiate chapters have alumnae in the area who participate in different degrees with the APH). I guess its fair to say that the seniors get more exposure to the groups who actually have someone at Greek Peek, which is a shame, but it's better than nothing! This will be DZs first year to be represented @ GP, and we have alot of Lubbock seniors who go to West Texas, A&M and Southwest TX, so I expect I will be writing alot of references this summer.

[GPhiBLtColonel]

...are you at the Texas A&M at College Station? If so Gamma Phi is colonizing there in the Fall -- I am sure there is an alum from Gamma Phi who'd love to be represented at the Greek Peek -- unless there already is?