some more questions about rushing - sorry, i'm not very knowledgeable abt this stuff!

[UMCP'06]

I know that I started another thread with questions, but everyone's responses were really helpful, and since I have some more questions I thought I would ask again.

1. I know that rushing is the term used when someone is in the process of joining a frat/sorority. Is this only used for the very beginning, before the bids are given/accepted? is the period after this when those rushing are referred to as pledges/new members?

2. (kind of a correlary to the first question) - I don't really know how accurate the sorority on MTV is (I know it's a local), but I noticed that they have a points system - is this for new members who have already received bids? do you need to obtain a certain number of points so that you can become a full member? what happens if you don't get enough points?

3. what are the events like during the informal rushing period? when i was at orientation this summer, the vp of recruitment for the panhellenic association spoke to us about this briefly, and mentioned that if we were serious about rushing then we should attend more than two of these events, but she didn't mention what kinds of things they were (i know this might be different at different schools).

4. I know that the sororities at my school do not have parties at their houses like the frats do, but is drinking a huge part of the sorority life? or is it more a personal choice type of thing? (i realize that most sororities probably don't want their members running around completely trashed every single weekend, but in general, what is the partying situation like?)


thank you all again!

[maggieaxid]

First off, these are really great questions!!! However, Greek Life, requirements and vocabulary can vary from each campus, but i (as well as other GC'ers) will try and be helpful as possible.

1. Panhellenic is trying to get rid of the word "rush". They prefer to use "Recruitment". Though, you will hear both words probably thrown around quite a bit, they mean the same thing. You go through Rush, and you go through Recruitment.(even though i think Recruitment sounds like you are joining the millitary!) After you go through Recruitment and you are extended a bid, most likely you would be considered a "new member"...however different orgs. sometimes call their new members differnt things, like my org. sometimes call's them Xi's, Phi Mu call's theirs "Phis", AOTT calls them "Rosebuds". However not all chapters use these terms.

2. Pay no attention to MTV! I can't stress that enough. It's the antithesis of almost all Panhellenic Sororities. Most likely you will have to meet certain requirements during your New Member Orientation, but they are not nearly as insane as SigmaAETT/MTV made them out to be. And I have never heard of a new member getting booted bc she didn't have enough "points". (however, sneaking out of a new member retreat like on MTV would be a big deal and would get that person in TONS of trouble!)

3. On my campus, our events before Recruitment/Rush were a picnic day where all the sororities had tables set up to meet the girls and snacks set out, Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street where the PNM's could come down to the greek courts and mingle withh the sororities and fraternities outside, and Decoration Disaster we allow PNM's to help all the sorority women compete for tackiest holiday decorated house, they get to help make decorations for the giant xmas tree in the middle of the court. But not all schools do this.

4. For the Glo's on my campus, drinking was a personal choice, and all of our new member periods were dry anyway. Yes, their are parties, mixers, formals, exchanges, ect., but they aren't all the time and noone should ever pressure you to drink.

hope that helps!
-Maggie

[justamom]

Beautiful Maggie! I agree, those were all very good questions!

[FuzzieAlum]

Informal rush varies a whole lot between campuses. At some campuses it is fairly organized - there is a general meeting potential new members need to go to, and then there is a week or two during which they can go to any sorority parties they please. At my school, it was a mad free for all. Any chapter could hold informal rush any time they darn well pleased (as long as freshmen weren't rushed before formal rush), and they sure did. For example, this past semester, two of the chapters had informal at the beginning of the semester, and two held it at the end.

[PenguinTrax]

Please refer to the Recruitment FAQ in my sig....that will answer many questions.