A Different Kind of Live Recruitment Story

[ASTalumna06]

More good news:

As part of the updated new member program, the new members are to plan and put on their own recruitment party. Before one of their meetings, they hosted a mock recruitment party, where the active sisters acted as the PNMs. A couple weeks later, they were to invite actual PNMs to an event that they organized themselves. All of the sisters and new members were to be present at the recruitment party.

Much to my surprise, there were 12 PNMs at the event! I’m very excited that the girls are recruiting recruiters, and that the chapter is already in very good shape for next semestser.



(P.S. There has been a lot of talk about changing total and recruitment style in the near future. I'll try to keep everyone updated)

[ComradesTrue]

I have really enjoyed your story, and particularly the creativity and excitement that the chapter exhibits. You are clearly a great advisor and your enthusiasm has rubbed off on the members. Looks like the chapter should be equal numbers-wise with the other chapters in no time.

Please continue to post updates. It will be interesting to see what direction your campus panhellenic decides to go with regards to recruitment.

[ASTalumna06]

It's that time of year again...

Today is the Greek-hosted BBQ during freshmen orientation. It was very successful last year, and hopefully that tradition will continue today.

As some of you have read in another thread of mine, it appears as though recruitment may be changing drastically this year. Tonight is the chapter's first meeting, so I will keep you all updated about the possible changes, the occurrences of today, and the excitement of the rest of recruitment. Good luck to everyone who is "rushing" in fall '09!

Happy recruiting!

[ASTalumna06]

I know I’ve been slacking when it comes to updates, so here is one giant one from the last three recruitment events (sorry, but it’ll probably be really long..)

Going back to last Sunday...

The all-Greek event went very well. It started at 11:00, right before one of the freshmen orientation meetings let out. There was a ridiculous number of people who came over to grab some free food all at once, and from what I hear, we went through 40 pizzas, I don’t even know how many pounds of wings, and tons of snacks. There were a lot more freshmen men than women, but it was still a successful day for all of the groups.

I was happy to see the sisters approaching other young women and talking to them. I also met a few who seemed to be excited about the idea of joining a sorority. The campus culture has changed so much in that respect since I first became a member, and it’s an exciting thing to witness.

The chapter’s first recruitment event was this past Thursday. They have tried to move away from extremely specific themes, so they did, “Be Sweet with AST” and they had tons of candy and cupcakes, all colored green and gold. They had 12 PNMs show up! It was a very diverse group of PNMs, in many senses of the word. While there were a few girls there who looked like they had just rolled out of bed, most looked very presentable and were more than fun to talk to. There were different races and ethnicities represented, which has been very rare in the past. I think the campus as a whole is becoming more diverse in that way, so it makes sense. It's great to see these changes making their way into sorority recruitment.

There were a few familiar faces from past semesters... including one girl who came to recruitment events two semesters ago, but then decided joining a sorority might not be for her... and another girl who has showed up for the third semester in a row. There were also a few girls who had come to the recruitment event that the new members had put on last semester, including a set of twins.

A couple of them actually approached me and introduced themselves, which was refreshing. Even though one of them started our talk with the question, “So do you girls throw parties?” the conversations I did have generally went well.

This past Monday, the girls held their latest recruitment event... “Spice It Up with AST” where they served chips and salsa. There were 9 PNMs who attended, a few of which had already shown up on Thursday. Everyone talked and mingled, and then as a group, everyone did an icebreaker... Truth and Lies. The girls all sat in a big circle, and each person said their name, two truths about themselves, and one lie. The next person in the circle had to determine which statement was a lie. It was actually pretty funny to listen to everyone’s statements, and the sisters and PNMs seemed to have a really good time with it.

After that, the Recruitment Chair explained a little about what we do as a sorority, and she had myself and another alumna who was there explain a little about how you can get involved after you graduate.

Then the girls all got up and talked some more. I was actually wearing a lettered shirt that had Patriots material for the letters that I’ve had for quite some time. One of the PNMs walked over to me and got all excited because I actually like the Patriots. Apparently she’s their biggest fan, and being in Steeler country, it was exciting to find a fellow outcast. Haha

Overall, it was a very good night and from what I could tell, there were a couple PNMs that the sisters REALLY liked.

*************

And to keep everyone up-to-date in terms of what’s going on with the more technical and complicated aspects of recruitment this semester...

We are now able to bid first semester freshmen. However, it is a trial-basis. The main thing that the administrators are going to be looking at are the GPAs of all of the new members to see if they can keep up with their school work, on top of joining a Greek organization.

The freshmen who are eligible: There is a number that is calculated for every incoming freshman. I forget what it’s called... their EI number? I don’t know. Anyway, from what I understand, it is somehow calculated using a student’s GPA, SAT score and University Entrance Exam. If this so-called calculated GPA is above a 3.0, a student may be considered for a bid to a fraternity or sorority. Those students were also sent a letter over the summer from the Greek life office, introducing them to the idea of going Greek. However, the chapters don’t receive that list of names, as members are encouraged to get to know all students, rather than a select few who are eligible this semester. Therefore, we have PNMs sign in on a grade release form when they attend recruitment events, as we always have, and it is submitted to the Greek Advisor so that she can tell us who is eligible to receive a bid.

The supplemental new program, which I mentioned here (http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...2C+alternative), is going to be implemented this semester. It will be 8 weeks in length, including two longer sessions; one which will cover alcohol and risk management issues, and another that will include a philanthropy project. The Greek life advisor’s view is, “If a student isn’t willing to join because of this extra program, then they obviously don’t want to be Greek,” and some of the members of the chapters are starting to say the same thing. I won’t get into my feelings about this here, but I’m curious to see whether or not this will affect the PNMs’ decisions to join. We will see...

*****************

Anyway... a recruitment kick-off event was added to this fall semester, which will take place tomorrow night. Why they pushed it back into the second week of school, after all of the sororities have already had recruitment events, I’m not sure. But we’ll see how that goes.

The chapter has also decided to require each sister to spend time with at least one PNM outside of a recruitment event. This worked very well last semester, and hopefully it will be beneficial again.

The rest of the recruitment schedule is as follows:

Recruitment event: Tuesday, September 8 (8:00pm)
Recruitment event: Wednesday, September 9 (8:00pm)
Bid Day: Wednesday, September 16 (6:00pm-10:00pm)

There might be an additional recruitment event thrown in between the second recruitment event and bid day, depending on whether or not the sisters feel comfortable that they know all of the PNMs well enough.

Excited for tomorrow...

[gee_ess]

Thanks for the update! I think things sound like they are off to a good start! I really like the Sweet and Spicy themed parties - very fun and very universal in their appeal.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Regarding that extra program, it sounds like something that is already implemented on may campuses although it could be presented in a different form. My experience with campus Panhellenic is that there is always a required speaker or session on these types of issues that the houses are required to attend. Once it becomes the norm, no one will notice as much (nor will it be a deterrent to joining a sorority, imo).

[westcoastzta]

AST, can't wait to see how much more you grow the house. You're doing a great job encouraging your girls. Wishing them all the best on this years recruitment!

[UofM-TKE]

Like the others who have followed this thread for the past year, I have been intrigued by the story of your young women.

In a way, I understand your situation since I used to teach at one of the small Penn State campuses. The students called it Fogelsville High and with good reason. It didn’t feel like a college at all.

Many years ago, I was rush chair for 4 semesters and I can imagine the obstacles to organizing at one of these schools.

We learn the most from adversity and your women have my admiration. What they are building along with the other chapters, can change the campus for the better.

I hope that you tell them about the support and the interest that you have received on GC and the over 14,000 views. And that they belong to something much larger than they may realize now.

[ASTalumna06]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful words of encouragement!

I have desperately wanted to update, but I’ve been so busy the past few days! Anyway, on with it...

I figured out why they moved the Recruitment Kick-off event... because Club Rush, which is usually held in October, after recruitment is already over, was moved up to September 3rd. So what better way to get more girls to come to the recruitment event than to say, “It’s tonight, you should come!”

Each sorority had a list of names that they accumulated at Club Rush. I knew that our Recruitment Chair couldn’t attend, so I sent a quick text to the President to find out how many names they received. She told me that they had a list of over 20 names, there were even more on the list that Panhellenic was building, and that the Greek Advisor, through an email, had invited hundreds of women to attend! A little panic had set in, but I figured I’d wait and see how many PNMs showed up that night before freaking out completely.

All of the sisters started arriving to their designated rooms around 7:30. I had walked by the other two at some point, and I found it funny that all three sororities used streamers (in their respective colors) to decorate their rooms. But anyway, everyone was busy setting up and getting ready when some of the PNMs started to show up. The three rooms that we use are all lined up down a hallway, and perpendicular to that hall is another, which starts right in front of the middle room (the one us ASTs were in). The PNMs signed in and were then led into a large lecture hall, all of which we could see from our room. And they just kept coming!

Before the short presentation to the PNMs started, the Greek Advisor made a stop to each sorority to tell us that 62 PNMs were there!!! We realized that about 20 PNMs would be coming to our room at once, and with 19 active sisters, myself, and another alumna present, we were basically all going to have to take on one, maybe two PNMs at once.

When the PNMs were released into the rooms, it was crazy. There were so many people! There were some familiar faces from our other recruitment events, but there were also a lot of new girls to get to know. And I was happy to see that even the shyest of sisters were having conversations with PNMs.

Unfortunately, by the time the third group of girls had come, the group was noticeably smaller. While the PNMs are “required” to attend all three parties at this event, they really aren’t. It’s not formal, so they can still leave whenever they’d like. But there were still a whole bunch of people to meet and talk to.

Our Recruitment Chair, who is also the Panhellenic President, had to be impartial, not indicate which sorority she was a member of, and help move the PNMs between the three rooms. When the whole thing was over, she rejoined us. She told us that while some of the PNMs were moving from one room to the next, she overheard some of them saying that they liked how we had our party set up, and they really enjoyed the one-on-one conversations. I’m not entirely sure what the other groups did, but it was good to hear.

We were all sitting around afterward, talking for a bit, and the Greek Advisor popped her head in the door. She told us that while there were 62 PNMs that had attended, because we bid to total, there are only 55 spots open between the three sororities. She told everyone to keep a more formal kind of recruitment in the back of our minds, and that we’d have to see where the numbers ended up over the next two weeks or so before bid day.

While the sisters were kind of nervous about how membership selection procedures were going to go because there were so many PNMs, I reminded them to simply keep inviting girls to future recruitment events, and to see how many of them actually attend. I think that tomorrow and Wednesday’s events will give them a better idea of the girls they will really be focusing on.

I’m unable to attend the recruitment event tomorrow night, but I’ll get an update afterward, and try to provide as much information about it as I possibly can.

And the sisters have also planned an extra event. This Saturday, September 12th, they are co-hosting a kind of "Greek Olympics" with Delta Chi that will be open to all students. There will be games such as cornhole and ladder golf, and from what I understand, a few members from each organization will dress like Greek gods and goddesses and will act as judges and/or officials for the games. It should be entertaining!

Just a little over a week left until bid day...

[33girl]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Our Recruitment Chair, who is also the Panhellenic President

I know it's a small chapter, but this is a bad plan, hon.

[srmom]

I think a problem with it is that being that she is panhel pres, she has to remain neutral, and your recruitment chair should be the biggest proponent of your chapter to all the pnms. If there seemingly is no recruitment chair due to her "mysto" status, it could hurt your recruitment efforts.

Best of luck to y'all I can't wait to hear how it goes.

[ASTalumna06]

Oh, well she doesn't have to remain neutral throughout all of recruitment. It was just that one night while taking the PNMs back and forth between the three parties. Again, this is still COB. It was just one event that was a little more formal than the others, and since there are no Rho Chis (or whatever you want to call them) the Panhellenic President and VP (I think?) are used, in addition to the Greek Advisor, to bring the PNMs to the different rooms.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

...the Panhellenic President and VP (I think?) are used, in addition to the Greek Advisor, to bring the PNMs to the different rooms.

I think this is the issue, though.

You want your recruitment chair to be the welcoming person (with your president) when the PNMs show up. They should be right at the door with a huge smile and welcome your guests into the room. They should be "working the room" all night.

Once the party is over, instead of making sure that she is in place to take the next group (and being neutral) to the next party, she would be better served making sure that she is saying bye to each PNM and exuding mad-love for AST!

In other words, this is *her* event. Both the PNMs and the chapter should be looking to her to set the mood, enthusiasm, organization, leadership, etc. You want someone who can be in the room the entire time.

On the flip side, since there are no Rho Gammas, it sounds like she and the panhell president are the only ones that the PNMs can discuss things with. It might be better to have 2 completely neutral individuals in these positions. My campus (and I am sure that others as well) had all panhell officers disafiliate for recruitment.

I know that you are a small chapter and system, but it sounds like you are growing quickly. (yay!) This may be something to consider for future years when officers are selected. The bigger that you get, the more that you will want these two positions to be completely separate.

Best to you and your chapter. I love following your story.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

I think this is the issue, though.

You want your recruitment chair to be the welcoming person (with your president) when the PNMs show up. They should be right at the door with a huge smile and welcome your guests into the room. They should be "working the room" all night.

Once the party is over, instead of making sure that she is in place to take the next group (and being neutral) to the next party, she would be better served making sure that she is saying bye to each PNM and exuding mad-love for AST!

In other words, this is *her* event. Both the PNMs and the chapter should be looking to her to set the mood, enthusiasm, organization, leadership, etc. You want someone who can be in the room the entire time.

On the flip side, since there are no Rho Gammas, it sounds like she and the panhell president are the only ones that the PNMs can discuss things with. It might be better to have 2 completely neutral individuals in these positions. My campus (and I am sure that others as well) had all panhell officers disafiliate for recruitment.

I know that you are a small chapter and system, but it sounds like you are growing quickly. (yay!) This may be something to consider for future years when officers are selected. The bigger that you get, the more that you will want these two positions to be completely separate.

Best to you and your chapter. I love following your story.

I completely understand what you're saying. But the PNMs aren't really discussing anything with them. We're talking about a few feet in between doorways. The whole point is to simply bring them from one room to the next. This isn't nearly as formal as I might be making it sound.

And again, our chapters are still very small (which hopefully will change very soon!), so it's extremely difficult to even find people who are able to attend Panhellenic meetings and hold a position, let alone stay neutral and avoid holding certain positions within the chapter.

And remember, PNMs here are still completely clueless about sororities and how this whole process works. To be honest, so are most of the sisters, as they have never worked with a formal system before. I can see, at the very least, a partially structured recruitment coming in the near future, and I think problems such as this will be tackled then. For now, everything is still very informal, and we're all working on things slowly.

Hopefully I'll be able to post an update for you all tonight

[ASTalumna06]

The recruitment event on Tuesday consisted of “speed dating” and was more of an informational night where the sisters explained what it is we do as a sorority in greater detail. They also answered any questions posed by the PNMs.

In speaking with the Recruitment Chair following the event, there were approximately 25 PNMs who attended!

The next night was supposed to be philanthropy night, but there were scheduling conflicts with rooms, and it turned out we had no where to go! The Recruitment Chair, on a whim, decided that we’d have our event outside. It was actually a really nice night, and the sisters spent most of the time talking about their favorite memories of being in the sorority, while the PNMs (about 20 of them!!) told us some of the reasons why they were interested in joining. Everyone eventually started in again on one-on-one conversations, and one PNM, who I’ll refer to as Melissa, really seemed to be getting along well with some of the sisters. One of the sisters came over to me and said how funny it was that she was having a great time and kept coming back. I inquired as to why, and she told me that she had seen Melissa at Club Rush last Thursday. Melissa had tried to get this one sister to join the College Democrats, and the sister basically told her, “I’ll make you a deal.. I’ll go to at least one of your meetings if you come to the Panhellenic Recruitment kick-off tonight.” Clearly it paid off!

Bid Day is Wednesday...

[ASTalumna06]

The girls added in a recruitment event for tonight, in order to get to know a few PNMs a little bit better. It was very relaxed and laid back, and very helpful for the sisters, as well.

And I know how many bids they're giving out...

... but I'm not telling!

Tomorrow!