north vs south vs east vs west vs midwest

Fuzzie906 · #1 04-03-2002, 04:28 AM

Hi all,

OK OK so I know the topic is long but maybe it'll catch an eye or two... after a visit from an ELC my curiousity of sororities from different areas of the nation seemed to be sparked... I was told of how BIG recruitment in the south is and how grandmothers will send granddaughters to other schools to get them into a chapter then transfer them to the school they want them to attend just because their granddaughters are "up to standards" of what the "certain" sorority looks for. It just intrigues me I guess.... Here in the midwest it is nothing like that we do have legacys come through recruitment but it's not like it's life or death (ok well in a few rare cases it is) that they get into a certain sorority.... what are some of your opinions on this or what are strange recruitment storys.... Such as Our pres had a girl tell her to her face... "i don't want to talk to you" and how do you handle this?
stuff like that...
come on ladies let's see the feed back!!

xi love and aom
valerie
u of toledo

87azdalum · #2 04-03-2002, 11:20 AM

I went to school and was initiated into Alpha Xi in Tennessee. Unfortunately, I don't have any first hand stories about extreme cases like you were describing, but I have heard tales of girls joining a certain sorority in a certain area where it may be easier to get an invitation to join, getting initiated, and then transferring to a school where the group is much harder to get into. I personally think that is pretty crummy. Does Alpha Xi Delta have a policy on transfers? I don't know.

In my former chapter, legacies were always treated with the same courtesy as other PNMs, but their names were always known by the chapter during recruitment. I don't think they were desired any more (and certainly not any less) than other PNMs. Wish I had more juicy stories for you!

TFJ

SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi · #3 04-03-2002, 08:45 PM

Talk about the cart driving the horse! Here in the west you'll get women who will pick one sorority over another because it also has a chapter at the school she's looking ultimately to transfer to, but I've not heard of anyone joining a sorority at one school in order to belong to it at another school. Shouldn't the education be more important than the sorority?!

Alpha Xi Delta does have a policy on transfers: "Any initiated collegiate member in good standing, transferring to a college or university where there is a chapter of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity, shall be invited to affiliate after confirmation of good standing from her initiating chapter. No initiated member in good standing may be excluded from affiliating with a chapter of Alpha Xi Delta without permission."

Our attitude on legacies is much like 87azdalum says it is in the midwest: Great if their legacy chapter can pledge them, but not the end of the world if it doesn't. Of course, if I'm the mom then I'm thinking my chapter had better be inviting my daughter back! I understand why that doesn't always happen, but if I'm being truthful then I have to say I'd hate to be the person on the other end of the phone explaining to me why my darling girl has been cut! Let's just be glad I only have two boys!!!

FuzzieAlum · #4 04-03-2002, 09:10 PM

906, since I went to Case, I suspect my experience was much like yours. Girls were _not_ dying to get in, in general, and legacies weren't all that big a deal. Plus, not a lot of girls were going to Case with the intent of transferring; the couple of sisters I know who did transfer ended up not affiliating.

I've noticed a couple of things are different out here on the West Coast, but I think it has more to do with UW being a different kind of school.

1) Rushees are likely to know sisters from h.s. and that might improve their chances.
2) Since rush is before orientation or classes start, you haven't seen the sorority in action or formed much of an image of the chapter before rush (unless you're a legacy or something).

But otherwise it's equally casual. I would say refs count more here just because the Greek system is bigger, but it's not necessarily more competitive.

CarolinaDG · #5 07-17-2002, 11:31 PM

Hey, sorry to bust in on your forum, but my aunt's an AZD alum, so I was just curious about y'all...

As a greek southern belle myself, I'll tell ya, legacies are BIG pull around here. Most mothers already have their girls set on the sorority that they want them to be in. I even heard a girl practically crying to her mom b/c her mom wanted her to rush her sorority, but she didn't want to rush at all. I have another good friend who dropped out of rush because she got cut from her mother's sorority as soon as they could according to rules. We have a double legacy in our sorority... both mom and sister were Delta Gamma's... and even though she says that she picked DG because that's where she was most comfortable (and she fits in wonderfully, so I'm sure she was) she probably would've gone DG, anyway, because of the legacy issue... But I always thought this was normal everywhere else. And we always joke that we're going to transfer down to UF or over to U. of Southern California because those are two of our best chapters, but Carolina was where we were meant to be DG, so it's all just joking. I know, though, that because my aunt was AZD, I probably would've given AZD's a better chance than any other (there's not a chapter here), but I still couldn't imagine transferring schools and such. It may just be my impression, but I think we have one of the most competitive greek systems, anyway. Also, the thing about South Carolina is that even though there are definitely variations in chapters, there are a couple of sororities, ZTA and tri-delt among others, that pretty much have the same reputation no matter where you go in the state, so someone would have to transfer pretty far to switch to a so-called "better" chapter.

pollywogg23 · #6 07-18-2002, 01:41 AM

I'm from California, and legacies don't really seem to be that big of an issue, at least not in my chapter. We did have two legacies going through recruitment last year, we were all told their names and told that we should make a very big effort to meet them. But that's it.
However I do kind of understand the mentality of mothers wanting their daughters to be in their sorority. If I ever have a Daughter I hope that she wants to be an Alpha Xi, mainly because I'm so happy with it. But I would never pressure her to rush, or join a sorority she didn't want to be in, that seems a little harsh.

PinkRose1098 · #7 07-19-2002, 12:21 AM

I can tell ya'll that leg are a huge deal here! We're in the process of going through the applications (that's a nightmare unto itself!) and you can basically pick out were a person will end up based on what they list themselves as legacies to. Coming into rush I had no idea how cut-throat it could be. Some sororities down here encourage you to have mulitiple recomendations and basically be almost perfect. It can get really annoying. Enough about rush though! It's only two weeks away and I don't want to think about it right now.

Xi love,
Tina

SoExited@FSU · #8 07-19-2002, 04:22 AM

Is An experience in itself!!!! It's cutthroat and crazy, though legacies are in no way "guaranteed a bid"... Unfortunately, most of them act like they are...!

maggieaxid · #9 07-19-2002, 12:25 PM

I went to Elon, in NC and we always knew and made it a point to know our legacies, just out of respect for our sister's who are their relatives. They also usually came with recs too.
Other more "southern" sororities were notorious for taking girls and then they would transfer to "better greek schools"...those girls usually came from the deep south. where as most of our members came from the northeast/midatlantic area.

FuzzieAlum · #10 07-19-2002, 12:57 PM

And with sisters transferring out, how did that affect their sisterhood? I can't imagine it would be very good for those chapters.

maggieaxid · #11 07-19-2002, 01:43 PM

That organization was notorious for having girls de-pledge and de-sister. That glo looks really good on the outside, but they have lots of internal problems. i have a few friends in it, one who ended up de-sistering, and she told me how bad it was.

CarolinaDG · #12 07-19-2002, 03:58 PM

Here's another southern thing...

Southern sororities take southern girls. I've been born and raised in SC and Georgia, but I was so afraid to tell people when I was rushing that my parents are from Ohio. I mean, I come from a VERY good family. My grandfather was a professor at OSU, my grandmother worked at the Med School, all of my family went there. But I knew that if I brought that up, I'd be cut right on the spot. Another one of my sisters told a story about how she told the girls that she was a northern girl who "loves the south" and they invited her back to another round. There are three fraternities on campus who are the same way. I'm not saying whether or not this is a good thing, but this is the way that it works down here. Wanna know something funny? DG was founded in Mississippi, which makes us the most southern sorority on campus as far as heritage, but somehow we aren't included as a "southern" sorority. Is anyone confused by this other than me?!?! Pi Kappa Phi was founded in Charleston, and it's not included as southern, either.

kristiAZD · #13 07-21-2002, 12:43 AM

I can't believe there is a bias against northern girls! What a shame......the sororities that accept this behavior could be missing out on some really great girls. I don't mean any disrespect, but it makes me glad I went through recruitment where I did.

CarolinaDG · #14 07-21-2002, 04:02 PM

I don't take that as disrespect... Like I said, my family's from Ohio. This is big time the attitude of South Carolina, anyway. KA's are revered for their love of the confederacy, and you can't drive 2 miles without spotting a confederate flag. I'm so ready to go back to Georgia... at least, I don't think it's this big in Georgia. I love the south, don't get me wrong... great weather, beaches, and I love the cute little accents, but I just wish that we'd get out of the "we're right, you're wrong" attitude towards northerners. I mean, how long ago was the war? And sometimes I wish I had just gone to OSU, for many reasons... my aunt was AZD up there, so I'd have a legacy (though not technically) to follow. I've had to fight for everything that I've gotten here, while true southerners many times have it easier... I know it's made me stronger in ways, but sometimes I wish I had the fall-back that many southerners have.

maggieaxid · #15 07-22-2002, 09:07 AM

I totally know where you are coming from! i am from PA and went to school in NC. Besides KA, the fraternities didn't really care where you were from and mainly only one sorority was the "southerner sorority" with most of it's members coming from SC, GA, TN and LA. Granted, they had a handfull of girls from VA and MD, but those were "exceptions"....they would never look at someone from ohio, pa, or north of that.