<p>Someone just sent me the link to this story from the September 2014 issue of Marie Claire. I really hope many students of color are invited to pledge this year!</p>
<p><a href=“Discrimination at University of Alabama's Sorority Rush”>http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/inspirational-women/revolution-on-sorority-row-september-2014</a></p>
<p>Me too, Lucie.</p>
<p>I’m stuck on Kappa Delta. Sorting girls into different rooms based on their desirability? Disgusting.</p>
<p>The Crimson White is trying to stay on top of the story, but apparently there’s some disagreement about what constitutes appropriate “media guidelines.” They’ve turned to the Student Press Law Center for support:</p>
<p>
<a href=“Student Press Law Center expresses concern over media guidelines – The Crimson White”>http://cw.ua.edu/article/2014/08/student-press-law-center-expresses-concern-over-media-guidelines</a></p>
<p>It looks like the CW turned to SPLC after being frustrated in their attempts to speak with sorority representatives: <a href=“University restricts media access to rush – The Crimson White”>http://cw.ua.edu/article/2014/08/university-restricts-media-access-to-rush</a></p>
<p>UA’s Greek system is current no less integrated than most others around the nation.</p>
<p>I mean to say, “currently, no less integrated”</p>
<p>Great article. I found it interesting that many of the white girls seemed surprised that discrimination was still “a thing.” That gives me some hope that more and more kids are growing up in a less racist world.</p>
<p>
<a href=“Alabama sorority segregation: Belatedly being addressed.”>http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/08/11/alabama_sorority_segregation_belatedly_being_addressed.html</a></p>
<p>Again, it is currently just as integrated as most other Greek systems. </p>
<p>The irony is that UA has one of the highest percentages of Black students among all flagship schools. So, is this more of an issue because it’s more diverse than other schools like Auburn, and UGA?</p>
<p>The real question is whether or not the percentage of non-Caucasian women invited to pledge is in line with the percentage who rushed. There’s no doubt going to be some self-selection here, but last year it was Panellenic Association sorority members who blew the whistle, believing there was some overt discrimination taking place, people like this recent grad: <a href=“Why I Quit My Sorority Over Racial Discrimination”>http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-i-quit-my-sorority-over-racial-discrimination</a></p>
<p>Recruitment was a little different this year:</p>
<p><a href=“21 black women, 169 other minorities accept bids during University of Alabama sorority recruitment - al.com”>21 black women, 169 other minorities accept bids during University of Alabama sorority recruitment - al.com;
<p>I think this shows, as last year did, that it was the alums that were causing the lack of progress, not the current sisters.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting that @yaupon. It’s too bad folks in the comments section are already decrying the outcome, arguing that worthy non-minorities were pushed out for them to accept all the black PNMs. Two steps forward, one step back always, I guess! I only wish there were a place for every girl who wanted to join one of these sororities, but that isn’t how real life works, sadly. It’s gotta hurt to be one of the girls who didn’t receive a bid.</p>
<p>I seriously doubt the systems at FSU, Auburn, UGA, UT, Vandy, and most other schools are as integrated as Bama’s at this point.</p>
<p>The way the process works is that there IS a place for every girl going through rush, at least initially. The caveat is that, if a PNM drops a sorority that she isn’t interested in, i.e. doesn’t go back to the maximum number of houses she was invited back to each round, she can be eliminated when she gets dropped from the other houses on her list. It isn’t only girls who don’t know anyone and aren’t “in the know” who get dropped. Sometimes, “top rushees” get dropped. </p>
<p>This happened to one of my pledge sisters. She went to two Old Row houses for Pref night (we used to only go to two, so she went the max number of houses), and Preffed House A. Unfortunately, she was on House A’s second bid list, and House B’s first list. Because she didn’t “match” with either house, she got lost in the 1st list/2nd list shuffle and got dropped from rush. Another girl in our pledge class had gone through rush after her parents told her she couldn’t and had to drop out of our sorority the first week. We snapped up the “dropped rushee”, and she went on to win every scholarship on campus, was in every honorary on campus and was in Homecoming Court–but she had NO bid card on Bid Day. </p>
<p>So, like college apps, the Bid process is not perfect. The Sorority can’t read the rushees minds and vice versa. But, theoretically, if you don’t drop any houses below the max number, you should get a bid. It’s probably a better process now that things are computerized. </p>
<p>It is still possible for a woman who maximizes her options to be dropped – and it happens to a significant number of women per year – many of whom are not connected and are on the quiet side or who have other issues such as grades. A little background for those without recent experience in sorority recruitment. The recruitment process has been changed in the last decade or so to prevent the strong recruiting houses from holding onto potential new members who ultimately have little chance of ever receiving a bid from their house. Under this process, every house is required by Panhellenic to make a certain number of cuts per round – and the numbers vary widely from house to house and round to round. The number of cuts that they have to make is based on a formula developed based on the percentage of women who have wanted to return to those houses in the past. The houses with the highest return rates have to make their sharpest cuts early in the process; those with the lower rates can invite more women back initially, but must make their sharpest cuts toward the end of the process. </p>
<p>Ultimately, every house has to cut their list to a number that Panhellenic deems will allow them to make quota - again based on historical data regarding ranking. For the stronger recruiting houses this number will be only slightly more than expected quota; for the weaker recruiting houses this may be several times expected quota. The result of this process is that every house has to drop some women that they would very much like to see again – and some houses have to drop hundreds of women they would like to see again after the first round of rush. If a woman is not on any house’s invitation list after particular round, she will be dropped from rush even if she has played the game absolutely fairly, attended every party and ranked the maximum number of houses after each round. (Of course there are also women who end up dropped from rush after failing to maximize their options and then failing to connect with their preferred houses in later rounds. It is harder to feel sorry for this group.) </p>
<p>However, the system has now been improved so that women who do manage to make it through to preference should have a bid. Even if if a woman is crosscut (as happykidsmom’s pledge sister was) and does not match with anyone after attending one or more preference parties, as long as she has maximized her options through rush week by ranking the maximum number of houses after each round and attending all the parties to which she is invited, she will become a quota addition for one of the houses for which she attended preference. The trick is she has to survive the week to make it to preference.</p>
<p>Percentage wise, 85-90% of women who begin recruitment end up with a bid at the end of the formal recruitment process. Of the remainder, roughly half drop out of rush voluntarily before preference and the other half are dropped from rush before preference. It is important to note, however, that some of these women who are dropped from rush who wish to still be considered for sorority membership receive bids through the continuous open biding process, which begins fairly quickly following recruitment and which allows houses who have not reached a number called “total” to add more members. This process is often better for the quiet girls who have a harder time making a memorable connection during the short parties filled with hundreds of people that characterize formal recruitment. If eusriso’s daughter (or any other woman has been dropped from rush) is at all interested in greek life after this difficult experience, I would urge her to register for continuous open bidding. My daughter’s roommate ended up in a house she loves after enduring a similar recruitment experience.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for that explanation, @paying4collegex4 . I thought that there was a “bid guarantee” for girls who maximized their invites, but didn’t want to mention it in case I was mistaken. I didn’t know that the guarantee was only for girls who didn’t get cut before pref night, though. I assume the continuous open bidding is similar to Open Rush that was in place before? Great information. Thanks!</p>
<p>@happykidsmom – You are right, continuous open bidding is the new name for open rush. Regarding "guarantees’ – p.21 of the current Greek Chic explains it in a roundabout way: “Only Potential New Members who maximize their options and list ALL of the chapters that they attended during Preference Round are GUARANTEED to receive a bid for membership during formal recruitment.” (This paragraph doesn’t explain that the young woman must also have maximized her options in prior rounds, but that is likely because this page is explaining the bid agreement.)</p>
<p>@Atlanta68 No it’s more of an issue here because it’s obviously a problem. More than half of this school’s student population hails from out of state, and a lot of them come from places other than the south. Not to say that racism isn’t prevalent in other parts of the country, but it’s more blatant, and obvious here. For a lot of students, coming to this university results in culture shock. The greek system rules this university. And when you have students, white students, asking you why there aren’t any minorities in a sorority, that becomes a problem. Especially when the color of someone’s skin is used as justification for that exclusion. So no, it’s not the fact that Alabama is not Auburn or UGA that makes integration an issue here. It’s the fact the blatant racism is an issue here. </p>