Indiana University Recruitment

[Zillini]

All you need to do as a PNM is provide an alum with your resume and picture(s). A copy of your transcript may be encouraged depending on the particular school. Also providing a pre-stamped envelope would be thoughtful so she doesn't have to pay for postage.

The alums send in letters of Rec, not the PNM. They should be be sent to the Chaptes, not to I/natl headquarters. ALums should be able to find the correct mailing addresses on their I/natl website or their I/natl magazine. They ought to be able to find the appropriate form(s) there too.

Don't worry, alums should know all this. (If they don't then it's time they learn. )

[Titchou]

They should be sent to the chapter at its official address on campus. And I would say that they could be sent starting now. That way they can look for you on campus this fall and perhaps some will already know you by recuitment.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

All of the above advice is definitely correct, and you can send them up until I'd say a month before 19 party...which I'M not entirely sure when that is yet, haha.

IUGreekGirl--Interested in doing a recruitment story this fall from the other side? I'm pondering it...

[IUGreekGirl]

Haha I'm trying to keep my affiliation a secret on here so we'll see.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

I completely agree with IUGreekGirl...I don't think every PNM who doesn't get a bid has something drastically wrong with her that makes her socially inept and whatnot. Sometimes the numbers just work against you, or your grade, or the girls you talked to.

I didn't recieve a bid through formal recruitment, and does that mean there's something horribly wrong with me? I certainly hope not, considering I'm a member of an amazing chapter. Granted, there are rude girls, or party girls or whatever that go through rush and get cut because of that, but there are perfectly normal girls that get cut in the same manner.

[barnard1897]

What are the remaining NPC groups that don't have chapters at IU? I believe there are a small handful, and some of them had chapters there that folded. Didn't Sigma Kappa build a gorgeous house on that campus some years ago, only to have the chapter not make it? I may be recalling the wrong house, so please forgive me if I don't remember the story right anymore.

AOII did return to campus successfully, but it was a recolonization after a relatively short housecleaning, shall we say. I'm really happy that it generated such positive upswing for recruitment as a whole. But since it had a long history at IU, with a groundswell of alum and national support for a newly built home and return to active status, the chapter was on optimal footing to make a great comeback. I imagine the campus panhellenic wanted and needed this chapter to have a strong return, too, to accommodate more of the many wonderful women who go through recruitment. You really need that perfect storm, though, for everything to go right for the long term.

I am not convinced that letting go of the bed quota and live-in requirements at IU would sound the deathknell of successful chapter life at IU. Many other large state campuses do not require full chapter live-in and seem to do just fine with chapters as large as 200 women. I am sure women from those other schools are not lamenting a year living out of the house or saying that they have lost a uniqueness in chapter character for it. IU is not the only campus to have over 1,000 women going through, and yet, the placement stats there are by far the worst on a national scale. To simply say it is mostly a matter of PNM quality (or lack thereof) is inaccurate. Many of the 150 who found no match last year had maximized their options throughout recruitment. Some had a full dance ticket. Were they not worthy of membership in a house?

Yes, many IU freshmen succumb to tent talk and fail to keep an open mind. They don't make it because they don't know how or don't want to play the game. But many more DO play the game, do have the grades and other positive qualities, and would make great members. Yet, everyone's still sitting around counting beds?!!

I am just not persuaded that, simply because IU has done things this way forever, it should remain the case. IU markets itself as a school with tradition, and a big part of that tradition and package is Greek life. The school sells that to parents and incoming students. Does it mention in the brochure that about 50% of those girls who go through recruitment will likely never see a sorority bid? We do not promise or guarantee membership, but as part of NPC, we should all work towards greatest opportunity possible for PNMs. I think work needs to be done at IU to achieve that.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by barnard1897

What are the remaining NPC groups that don't have chapters at IU? I believe there are a small handful, and some of them had chapters there that folded.

Previously at IU:
Sigma Kappa 1918-1994
Theta Phi Alpha 1920-1959
Delta Phi Epsilon 1946-1952
Sigma Sigma Sigma 1989-1994
Alpha Sigma Alpha 1990?-1994

Never at IU:
Alpha Sigma Tau
Phi Sigma Sigma

[Hoosierxgirl]

Does anyone know why three chapters left IU all in the same year? That's kind of bizarre.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Hoosierxgirl

Does anyone know why three chapters left IU all in the same year? That's kind of bizarre.

I know with ASA and I'm guessing also Tri Sigma, we didn't have houses and couldn't compete with the other groups because of it. Admirable experiment (Greek life for those who don't want to have to live in a house) that didn't work, apparently. I know we had a dedicated consultant (she was a grad student there) and tried REALLY hard to keep that chapter going. But it appears that living in a house at IU is every bit as much a part of the Greek experience there as mixers, meetings, or ritual. If you didn't want to live in a house, you wouldn't rush to begin with.

Have no idea what happened with Sigma Kappa.

[Sister Havana]

Originally Posted by Hoosierxgirl

Does anyone know why three chapters left IU all in the same year? That's kind of bizarre.

I was there at the time. Of course I'm not privy to any of the official information, but based on what was reported in the IDS and the yearbook at the time, all 3 of them were struggling with low membership. ASA and Tri Sigma didn't have houses and there was no land available for them to build. As 33girl mentioned, it is a HUGE disadvantage at IU - when all the other sororities have gigantic, gorgeous houses to live in, how do you sell living in a dorm? And when a housed chapter has left, many times the University snaps up the house and the land. I know the old AOPi and Beta Theta Pi houses on 10th Street are now used for the School of Informatics, and I think the Pike house on 3rd Street was demolished (or if not, is also being used for some other purpose)

One thing that was noted in the yearbook story about Tri Sigma, when it was announced that the chapter would close, the pledge class was given the choice to be released before initiation (so they could rerush) or be initiated into Tri Sigma even though there would be no chapter next year. All the pledges chose to initiate. Sisterhood right to the end!

Sigma Kappa did have a brand new house (I think they moved into it in 1990 or 1991, and their former house became the IU Office of Admissions). That one was a surprise - if I remember correctly, that news came right at the end of the 1993-1994 school year. (The others were announced earlier in the second semester.) (A couple of my APO brothers were also in Sigma Kappa) Pi Kappa Phi is now in that house, but I don't know if Sigma Kappa sold it to them or if that chapter is leasing it.

Interestingly enough, lack of housing doesn't seem to affect fraternities, as there are quite a few unhoused fraternities at IU.

[xp2k]

Sister Havanna I always love reading your posts!

Regarding the Pi Kapps/Sigma Kappa situation....I think Pi Kapps bought it from Sigma Kappa.

When ADPi was having numbers problems, a lot of off campus fraternities were spreading rumors that they would be losing their house in hopes that the same situation would happen again. Fortunately it didnt!

IU's housing problem has and has not affected fraternities.

Quite a few fraternities HAVE sprung up and gotten members without the use of a house...but for the most part...the ones that have no chance of getting housing (some of these "new" fraternities are just recolonizations waiting to get their numbers up before they return to "old" houses) arent really taken too seriously. Sororities dont usually plan a lot of socials with them and people dont really go out of their way to learn about them.

I respect a fraternity or sorority whether it has a house or not...but you have to remember that at IU, living in a house is a very central part of the Greek Life culture and it's hard for people to move past a chapter not being housed.

The good thing though is that if you want to have fraternity without the liability of a house...at least you have that option.

I think IU WILL open up land for housing expansion in the future as they'll have to put those houses on 3rd street somewhere when they eventually kick them out of the middle of campus.

[IUGreekGirl]

I sincerely hope the University opens the possibility of new land for Greek Life. But I don't foresee that happening during this administration unfortunately.

Greek Life is very looked down on by the new Dean of Students, and the University President.

[DubaiSis]

Since the houses at IU are mammoth, there's going to be a LOT of women living in, even if they did allow live-out members. I think this is the case at all of the big campuses of the Big 10, Big 12, SEC, etc. Yes, a new chapter would need to have a house on this type of campus, but I don't see why they need to have ALL their members living in.

Is there a member retention issue with requiring girls to live in that 3rd year?

[Titchou]

No, IU has bed total so a group can only pledge up to the number of empty beds. Greek women, beyond freshman year, only live in the house.

[ladybug12]

I believe that is incorrect. Tradition on IU campus has been to pledge bed total, but chapters can pledge over that number...has been going on for at least 4 years that I am aware.

There is no set "quota" number as on other campuses...so I am not sure how release figures are handled.