<p>I’m sorry but your statement makes no sense. These alumnae don’t know the pnms they are giving a rec to from a hole in the wall, so you learn nothing from the rec that you couldn’t learn in 2 seconds from the resume that the pnm supplies to you (and which she supplied to the alumnus who wrote the rec, so now you’re getting it second hand).</p>
<p>If you need to know that Suzy was a flyer on her cheer team in Charleston and a member of the DAR, you don’t need a rec from an alumnus to tell you that. Doesn’t the pnm supply you with an application?</p>
<p>And, I’m not “complaining” about recs. I have no interest in greek life at all except to the extent my daughter does. She didn’t get recs, had no interest in getting recs, and, unless her freshman gpa holds her back, I will not be at all surprised if she gets a good bid. Then again she doesn’t go to Bama, although they tried.</p>
<p>That’s not necessarily true snowdog, while a rec is a standard form, the information on it varies from organization to organization. Alumna are also able to, at least in my organizations case, write more than just the standard form answers including letters of support. </p>
<p>I understand that in your opinion it’s just a different way of giving the chapter a resume on the girl and I know this isn’t a satisfying answer. But the blunt truth is, recs are how it’s always been done and how it’s done now and there is no sign it’s changing anytime soon. Like it, don’t like it but as it stands recs are a way of life at some Greek systems as much as they’re looked at as foreign objects at others.</p>
<p>Some schools do send information to incoming freshman. DS just started Georgia Tech. About a month before school started they sent a really nice magazine that had pictures, descriptions,websites,when rush was and other information about all the frats and sororities.
I found it interesting. DS barely glanced at it. lol</p>
<p>It’s fascinating how our chapters (around 120 women apiece) get to meet each woman for about 5 minutes apiece too, but we are able to evaluate and make decisions and the recs are nice-but-not-necessary.</p>
<p>I’m not a big Greek supporter or detractor. It’s not all that important to me one way or the other. But I know several OOS girls who rushed successfully and easily at Bama this year. I think that is a school making changes. Just adding anecdotal info to the thread.</p>
<p>A local girl I know slightly got in at Bama. She was late to the game and had to play catch-up with recs, etc. and I doubt she went to the Spring Preview. But she trusted the system and it worked for her - apparently it was one of her top houses and she’s very happy.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl- With release figures management, they are required to cut a certain number of women from that first night too. We never had those kinds of requirements in my day. That’s a whole 'nother topic though. </p>
<p>I think Indiana’s system is messed up too but “living in” is a huge part of their experience. I went to a school with no housing so that seems strange to me. It definitely leaves a lot of young women disappointed, but at the same time, so many people want to be greek there.</p>
<p>What is there about Indiana that it has to be that way? Our houses only housed about 30-40 (differs slightly by house) and the memberships are around 120 per house. So? Then only some women live in - like all juniors, that type of thing, and then officers. But everyone goes there for chapter meetings once a week. </p>
<p>My son’s fraternity house can only house x men. So only some live in. Not that difficult.</p>
<p>So many other systems manage to deal with houses that only house x% of the women, I don’t know what’s so special about Indiana that they can’t figure that out.</p>
<p>I don’t really get it either re: Indiana and bed rush.</p>
<p>With release figures management, each chapter is told what percentage of women they have to release after each party. The percentage is based on previous years’ return rates. In the past, at these huge schools, some chapters would carry PNMs when they knew they probably wouldn’t be able to give them a bid. The new method makes them release more earlier so those women can give the chapters who WILL take them a chance. It’s been in effect for several years now and it is balancing out chapter sizes pretty effectively. It does make it hard for chapters who are told they have to release 40% of the women at their first parties though.</p>
<p>It isn’t that women have to be released from recruitment completely… just that some chapters have to release more women from their party lists.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl you’re such a recruitment genius you should devote this year to becoming a recruitment consultant, first you can go to Indiana and tell them how they’re doing it wrong and it’s not working for them and tell them how they should change, then you can head down south and revamp all of those terribly struggling Greek chapters in the SEC. </p>
<p>Even I think the bed rush system at Indiana sucks because it doesn’t accommodate the most number of PNMS possible, but as with anything in society if one wants change it doesn’t happen overnight. As it stands right now living in is a gigantic part of that Greek systems identity, would it be great if it changed? Absolutely, but it’s not something that would happen overnight even if the campus wanted it to. </p>
<p>I get it, your campus does it right, everyone who does it different does it wrong and not as good as you. At this point I’m just talking to a brick wall of stubbornness who can’t acknowledge any flaws in their position. </p>
<p>Barnardmom Thank you for your POV and understanding of the points I’ve been trying to make about the greater implications of culture and it’s effect, as well as the fact that these systems have made tremendous effort in recent years to get the word out about going Greek long before recruitment starts.</p>
<p>Let me be clear - I loved my sorority. I was an officer, I lived in for 2 years, I made my closest lifelong friends there, I met my husband through there, I serve in an alumnae capability.
But when a system feels the need to reach out to seniors in high school and inform them of the “rules” – when local panhels need to set up seminars on “how to rush, what to wear,” etc. – when the system doesn’t seem to really give a hoot that the rules are favoring well-connected wealthy white girls whose mommas went there and to heck with everyone else – when systems are set up such that there’s no attempt to make the number of girls who are dropped as minimal as possible – I am allowed to express the opinion that I’m not impressed.</p>
<p>And part of my resentment is that it’s those systems that are what everyone judges Greek systems by.</p>
<p>I think that’s the whole point! Why does it have to be so “serious” that girls really need to know a lot before recruitment starts? Why can’t it just be – hey, you’re on campus now, it’s starting, here’s the schedule, go and meet some new friends? This is the classic taking-it-all-too-seriously.</p>
<p>“And part of my resentment is that it’s those systems that are what everyone judges Greek systems by”</p>
<p>Actually I doubt most people give that much thought. I think that it’s more likely people judge the Greek system as where kids have lots of parties. At least that’s my view and my mom was in a sorority, my husband was in a frat and my son is pledging one…that’s not to say they don’t do good things too just that they do have parties…</p>
<p>And it’s really a very small percentages of campuses where it is so competitive that you must have recommendations to make it past the first cuts, etc. </p>
<p>I’ve been a volunteer with my sorority since I graduated from college and have worked with a variety of campuses so I’ve come to understand the differences and nuances. The vast majority are not like that, but then, in most places, your whole social status after graduation isn’t dependent on what sorority you were in either. There are places where you can’t get into the Junior League if you weren’t in the “right” sorority. It’s a total cultural difference in the area. It is very foreign to me, but I do understand it is their reality. </p>
<p>There might be campuses where I wouldn’t have encouraged my daughter or her friends to go greek either because of that kind of culture or because of the party culture. My own experience over my life time has been phenomenal. I hope my daughter gets as much out of her experience as I have.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, you’re ignoring the facts to bolster you’re argument, it is not all about well connected girls whose mommas went there. Every single chapter at Alabama this year took over 50% out of state girls. Legacy status these days holds very little weight, it’s no longer a guaranteed in. WITH the introduction of RFM girls who go through and maximize their options will get a bid at the end. Yes some girls fall through the cracks and get completely released, but that is not unique to the SEC it can and does happen at any school in the country. </p>
<p>For the girls who didn’t know Greek life existed until they got to campus there are often COB opportunities in the spring and one can always go through recruitment next year as a sophomore. Schools have even started implementing separate upperclassmen quotas to maximize those students chances. </p>
<p>These campuses are not blind to their downfalls, they are working their tails off to accommodate everyone who wants to go Greek, but it is a work in progress. It’s reevaluated every year and looked at for how to make it better. Just this year Arkansas made changes in relation to quota caps to help chapters out in terms of numbers, the details are far more complicated than I feel like explaining. But the info on those changes is out there. </p>
<p>I agrees wholeheartedly that if you were to pick Greek life’s major image problem it is in no way inclusiveness, it’s the party life stereotype that totally ignores all the amazing positives of Greek life. From the philanthropy work they do, to the millions of dollars for charity they raise each year, to the stellar academics Greeks statically maintain in comparison to campus gpa averages. But alas the media loves to latch on to the negative stories, even though it’s college and kids who aren’t Greek party and make bad decisions every day. It’s unfortunate that because Greek letters are attached a whole system gets dragged through the mud for the bad decisions of a few.</p>