Indiana University 2014 Recruitment

[disgusted]

I have read through all of this forum with much interest. My daughter was a casualty of this year's rush process. We do not nor do we care to know why. She is the child of "well known" parents with "more than plenty" of money. My husband and I do not allow any of our children to "ride" on our family's prestige/good fortune. So in the end, I do not believe the sororities are "doing research" on their new members and if my daughter is not a good fit based on her own than I am glad the losses are cut now.

I use the name "disgusted" because it seems that many young girls have been cut with little reason. Had my daughter let it be known who her parents were she most likely would have been welcome anywhere, but in hindsight would have been hugely unfair as on her "own worth" received no bid.

[BraveMaroon]

Originally Posted by disgusted

I have read through all of this forum with much interest. My daughter was a casualty of this year's rush process. We do not nor do we care to know why. She is the child of "well known" parents with "more than plenty" of money. My husband and I do not allow any of our children to "ride" on our family's prestige/good fortune. So in the end, I do not believe the sororities are "doing research" on their new members and if my daughter is not a good fit based on her own than I am glad the losses are cut now.

QFP

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by disgusted

I have read through all of this forum with much interest. My daughter was a casualty of this year's rush process. We do not nor do we care to know why. She is the child of "well known" parents with "more than plenty" of money. My husband and I do not allow any of our children to "ride" on our family's prestige/good fortune. So in the end, I do not believe the sororities are "doing research" on their new members and if my daughter is not a good fit based on her own than I am glad the losses are cut now.

I use the name "disgusted" because it seems that many young girls have been cut with little reason. Had my daughter let it be known who her parents were she most likely would have been welcome anywhere, but in hindsight would have been hugely unfair as on her "own worth" received no bid.

I am sorry that your daughter did not receive a bid. If you have read through the entire thread, you saw posts that this process was grueling for the actives and advisors (who are volunteers). We cannot discuss membership selection, and therefore no one can give the reason(s) that your daughter and other PNMs did not receive bids.

Going to take the high road on the rest.

[Sigmapsimom]

Originally Posted by disgusted

I have read through all of this forum with much interest. My daughter was a casualty of this year's rush process. We do not nor do we care to know why. She is the child of "well known" parents with "more than plenty" of money. My husband and I do not allow any of our children to "ride" on our family's prestige/good fortune. So in the end, I do not believe the sororities are "doing research" on their new members and if my daughter is not a good fit based on her own than I am glad the losses are cut now.

I use the name "disgusted" because it seems that many young girls have been cut with little reason. Had my daughter let it be known who her parents were she most likely would have been welcome anywhere, but in hindsight would have been hugely unfair as on her "own worth" received no bid.

Not sure what I think of this. I hope you are a legitimate poster, but I'm not sure. Regardless, after a semester of school, unless your daughter never talked about herself or her parents(not boasting, just talked) I would think her fellow students would have known who her "famous" parents are. I mean my daughter's friends know I'm a teacher and so did many girls in the sororities. During recruitment, she was asked what her parents did, what kind of car she drove and where she vacations. I don't know if it was "research" or not, but I choose to believe it was polite conversation.

[BlueCarnation]

Originally Posted by Sigmapsimom

Not sure what I think of this. I hope you are a legitimate poster, but I'm not sure. Regardless, after a semester of school, unless your daughter never talked about herself or her parents(not boasting, just talked) I would think her fellow students would have known who her "famous" parents are. I mean my daughter's friends know I'm a teacher and so did many girls in the sororities. During recruitment, she was asked what her parents did, what kind of car she drove and where she vacations. I don't know if it was "research" or not, but I choose to believe it was polite conversation.

This...and also, if anyone she knew from high school was in a sorority, they would know her background. IU is a big school, but a small place.

[disgusted]

Please do not take offense by my posting. It was meant to defend the accusations of how a person looked or what they wore or researching the worth of their home address. I do not believe any of this to be true.

[suzy88]

There really is no reason. As I told my older daughter when she was not selected, it is a game of chance. There are many more qualified, wonderful young women than there are spots. The actives only spoke with her for a few minutes, if a trained psychologist needs more time to analyze you and figure out who you are than that, than a 18-22 year old sorority women really does not know who you are after speaking with you for a few minutes either. I don't fault the actives, they do the best they can with the resources they have. There are simply not enough opportunities at IU.

[GammaPhi-L-L]

I was a grad student in the student activities office and saw IU recruitment first-hand. It is brutal. As my user name suggests, my undergraduate experience was much different. Sorority recruitment and the entire system is part of what makes IU. The entire system is exclusive, and I think the administration likes it that way.

I have advised many PNMs during their IU recruitment. The ones that have happy endings were usually the ones who kept their options open - cut and kept a variety of houses (yes, they can cut a "coveted" house, after the first party even). One who had a particularly difficult time was a little disappointed with her options but pledged anyway. Many were too selective and dropped out when they weren't invited back to certain houses. This young woman competed on the Little 5 team her freshman year and then became captain. She had the time of her life. All of the IU sororities and fraternities to do the same things. There are best friends and buttheads in all of them.

While I feel bad for the women who feel hurt on bid day, I get over it. I don't know very many first-hand accounts of women who maximize their options and don't receive a bid. Just keep and open mind from the beginning of the process, not just the end. As long as women drop out because they don't get into certain sororities, exclusivity wins.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by GammaPhi-L-L

I don't know very many first-hand accounts of women who maximize their options and don't receive a bid. Just keep and open mind from the beginning of the process, not just the end.
As long as women drop out because they don't get into certain sororities, exclusivity wins.

wait…what?

Are we talking about the same campus where a PNM can attend up to three Preference parties and end up bidless? That, surely, means that a PNM has maximized her options.

That has nothing to do with exclusivity.

Your personal first-hand knowledge is limited to just that; more research is needed.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by GammaPhi-L-L

I was a grad student in the student activities office and saw IU recruitment first-hand. It is brutal. As my user name suggests, my undergraduate experience was much different. Sorority recruitment and the entire system is part of what makes IU. The entire system is exclusive, and I think the administration likes it that way.

I have advised many PNMs during their IU recruitment. The ones that have happy endings were usually the ones who kept their options open - cut and kept a variety of houses (yes, they can cut a "coveted" house, after the first party even). One who had a particularly difficult time was a little disappointed with her options but pledged anyway. Many were too selective and dropped out when they weren't invited back to certain houses. This young woman competed on the Little 5 team her freshman year and then became captain. She had the time of her life. All of the IU sororities and fraternities to do the same things. There are best friends and buttheads in all of them.

While I feel bad for the women who feel hurt on bid day, I get over it. I don't know very many first-hand accounts of women who maximize their options and don't receive a bid. Just keep and open mind from the beginning of the process, not just the end. As long as women drop out because they don't get into certain sororities, exclusivity wins.

Apparently you do NOT understand what maximizing your options really means. If a PNM maximizes her options at any other school, she will walk out of recruitment with a bid to a sorority. At IU, there are fewer spots than number of women in recruitment so even if every single PNM maximized her options, 30% or so would still go home empty handed on bid day. It's nice that you can be so cavalier about a situation just because you personally don't know any of the women affected first hand. It is plainly obvious that it does happen, however. Claiming that this is just IU is like saying that saying "water is wet." We know. It doesn't make it right.

[naraht]

Just as a note, IU Panhel is in the process of expansion. Prior to this year they had 21 of the 26 Panhel Sororities and with the expansion this semester (DPhiE chosen over AST) they will have 22. The other three members of the PHC not on the campus are PhiSig, SK and Tri-Sig.

But with the numbers that went through this year, I'm not sure that even if they added all of the rest with similar sized houses that everyone would have gotten a bid.

http://bl-ids-website.ads.iu.edu/new....aspx?id=95066

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by disgusted

I have read through all of this forum with much interest. My daughter was a casualty of this year's rush process. We do not nor do we care to know why. She is the child of "well known" parents with "more than plenty" of money. My husband and I do not allow any of our children to "ride" on our family's prestige/good fortune. So in the end, I do not believe the sororities are "doing research" on their new members and if my daughter is not a good fit based on her own than I am glad the losses are cut now.

I use the name "disgusted" because it seems that many young girls have been cut with little reason. Had my daughter let it be known who her parents were she most likely would have been welcome anywhere, but in hindsight would have been hugely unfair as on her "own worth" received no bid.

Originally Posted by disgusted

Please do not take offense by my posting. It was meant to defend the accusations of how a person looked or what they wore or researching the worth of their home address. I do not believe any of this to be true.

You don't believe extensive research into PNMs' personal lives by the sororities to be true, but apparently you do believe that all sorority members are so superficial that if they knew who you and your husband were, your daughter would be at the top of every bid list because you're so well-known and rich.

Awesome.

[SWTXBelle]

At most campuses, the number of places available is determined by the number of women going through recruitment.

At IU, the number of places has NOTHING to do with the number of women going through, and so it does not matter how WONDERFUL a pnm is - there are a finite number of spaces open. THAT is the problem.

[suzy88]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

At most campuses, the number of places available is determined by the number of women going through recruitment.

At IU, the number of places has NOTHING to do with the number of women going through, and so it does not matter how WONDERFUL a pnm is - there are a finite number of spaces open. THAT is the problem.

YES!

[ASTalumna06]

So I just went to the IU parents blog. Although her numbers might be off, the first post (from 2 years ago) sums it all up. It's sad that even her niece, who had a great recruitment, felt awful afterward:

My niece went through this rush and had a great experience. She went to the maximum three preference parties of houses she loved and ended up where she wanted to be. However, several of her friends ended up with nothing at all despite attending preference parties. These girls are not alone. We were told that 200 girls who attended preference parties did not receive bids and that a total of nearly 800 girls who began rush stopped or were dropped by the end. I understand the bed total quota, but you must be kidding. I am Greek, and we were thrilled to have as many people as possible involved in the Greek system. The reasons for that are endless. The current system at IU turns away almost half of the young women interested in participating in Greek life. It’s a travesty for the system and all these young women. At bid night, the girls who attended preference parties yet received no bid were told at the same time the other girls in their dorms received their bids, squealing and celebrating in the surrounding rooms. You can imagine how awful this scene was. My niece felt terribly guilty and didn’t know what to say to people. This has left these girls to try to rethink their whole college experience. One has left school and transferred out as she has always wanted Greek life to be part of her college years. It is a sad, insensitive situation that Panhellenic needs to address immediately. If IU is the only school in the country that uses this system, perhaps something’s wrong with it. It needs to change! It’s absolutely ridiculous. My niece isn’t so sure she wants to continue because she is astounded that girls could attend preference parties and then be left out and left to watch the girls who got in. It feels bad from the beginning. Honestly, being Greek myself, I am astounded at this system and surprised that the situation is allowed to continue as it appears to have been going on like this for awhile.