Why do Greek houses need photos of prospective members? If they need a photo to remember anything about the pledges how can they know enough about them to know whether or not they’d be a good fit?
They need photos because physical appearance is an essential part of the fit they are assessing.
I will never forget watching a U of Alabama sorority recruitment video on a comedy show - I thought it was a spoof, but nope, it was real! Short shorts and bikinis, blowing kisses and glitter! Slow motion running…it was hysterical. It kind of validated my preconceived notion that yes, Greek life does fit the stereotypes. I know, not all, but enough that I think it’s more of a negative than a positive at most schools.
To ask for a picture is really just a formality. Prior to rush they have already done their research on the perspectives on social medias.
When I went through rush in the 90s, my school’s Panhellenic council required a completed rush card (like a resume) with a picture for each sorority on campus.
The sororities used them to learn the girls’ faces and names. We would go through the cards over and over at rush retreat to try to learn as many as possible.
I know tons of girls who have gone through rush and don’t know anyone who has taken professional pics specifically for rush, but I’m sure it may happen, just like people do things to try to get an “edge” in every facet of life, private coaching, lessons, etc.
I understand Greek life isn’t for everyone, but it turned me into a leader. My sorority was the one with most of the campus leaders, and I was encouraged to run for SGA my freshman year and ended up being SGA President my senior year.
OP- I’m so sorry your son didn’t get a bid. It’s so hard to watch your children get hurt. I would encourage him to get involved in other things on campus and then try rush again if he decides he is still interested in being in a frat. (((Hugs))) to you and your son!
And if I recall correctly, it was apparently a requirement to be blond to belong to that particular sorority.
^ when you have time please google Pi Beta Phi at George Mason University. You will see a very diverse group of young women.
Of course this is not a representation of all sororities, but then neither is one chapter at Alabama.
Requirements that a girl has to be blonde to join a certain sorority are urban legends. I worked for my sorority for a year and visited dozens of schools.
The Alabama recruitment video that made national news in 2015 clearly shows girls of all hair colors. Its issues aren’t hair color, the video is extremely shallow and makes it look like all the sorority does is put on booty shorts and curl their hair.
I was on Instagram last night and stumbled across the page of an Instagram influencer couple. They are traveling the world for free in exchange for shallow content advertising travel products. Most of the pictures included the woman in a thong or booty shorts. Shallow social media content is a constant in the world today, unfortunately. I’m glad I grew up in a time when we didn’t have all these pictures and videos trying to influence how we feel about ourselves and our lives.
Yes, it does appear more diverse than many sorority chapters on many campuses (although in the context of GMU students overall, not so clear). Unfortunately, many chapters at many colleges still give the appearance of segregation.
I think this thread has drifted way off topic. The crux of the original issue is the feelings of rejection, which we all have experienced at some point in our lives. And, Greek organizations are not the only groups of people who reject others. After reading some of the responses, it is obvious that many reject those who decide that Greek life is for them. That, in my opinion, is just as bad if not worse. Because - the Greek houses have a maximum number of people they are allowed to accept. The rest of us don’t. We just reject.
Here is the takeaway from this thread:
If your son is upset he got no bids, he can either try rushing again later on or join other clubs/activities and make friends that way and realize greek life is not the be all and the end all.
Also, while Greek Life is wonderful experience and a good way to make friends, it’s not the only way to make friends in college. And it’s not the be all and the end all. College is what you make it…
Yeah, I do reject people who are intentionally cruel. You want to make something of it?
I read an astonishing thread on Greekchat, a site for people who like sororities and fraternities. This was a group of people who had experience being in sororities and then advising sororities on recruitment. So they knew what was going on. They acknowledged to each other that every year some women are rejected from all sororities, that this was not well publicized to rushees, and that some women found this devastating. In fact, a few women who had been rejected from all sororities posted on the thread, and they said things like, “I cried for a week.”
And their solution for this? They thought professional therapists should be available. So, they know the sororities deal devastating blows to women every year, blows that are so serious the women need professional help to deal with them, and the answer to this conundrum is not “Stop being so cruel and hurting people,” but instead to continue being cruel and have professional therapists available for victims. The therapist would not be paid for by themselves, of course, naturally not, they won’t take even an itsy bit of responsibility, they could have been doing this all along if they had wanted to, but paid for by the university.
Life is about rejection. Careers, jobs, sports, Greek life, admissions, etc.
It happens. I say “put your big boy/girl pants on.” I was taught you get off your derriere and get back in the game.
“ After reading some of the responses, it is obvious that many reject those who decide that Greek life is for them.”
I reject Greek life. I in no way reject those who choose Greek life. I am not superficial, therefore, I get to know people for who they are, not what associations they affiliate with. It’s on an individual basis. There are people I enjoy very much who are in Greek life and people I enjoy very much who aren’t in Greek life.
The same is true for people I dislike or in your words “reject”.
Every day someone’s house burns down. It happens. That doesn’t justify arson. I reject the idea that life is about pain so I should cause people pain.
OP, so very sorry. Good luck to your son.
There are four generations of sorority/fraternity members in my family, including me. In my sorority in the mid 1970s, the photos were used to recognize the young women that were our first choice. I recall photos of top choices taped to bathroom stall doors in the sorority house before and during rush. I don’t remember being asked to look at any other photos.
Many times on this board I’ve proposed a Greek lottery system to replace what happens now. Prospective members sign up and are assigned randomly. It solves a lot of problems, including the issue of more and less popular groups. It won’t happen, because the point of the system is exclusion. Sad, but true.
There were brunettes and redheads in my sorority. There was no one overweight. There may have been very few average weight. We encouraged anorexia and bulimia before these terms were widely known. We’d never heard them. We taught pledges the toothbrush trick if they didn’t already know it. During my sorority years, I was not the only sister dieting to the point of amenorrhea.
I stand with Cardinal Fang, and suggest greekchat for those unfamiliar with the culture, but wanting to learn. It’s current, but not that different from my experience.
A few years back, during a book thread for Paying For The Party, some of us ended up reading a message board about sorority rush at a university where everyone doesn’t end up with a bid. Former sorority moms and former fraternity dads were just fine with the system until their own kids were excluded. Then they thought there were serious problems.
Cardinal Fang - why do you get on Greekchat if you so dislike Greek Life? My kids had great experience with Greek Life, but I do not find it entertaining or informative to read those posts.
Like I mentioned in the up post, I did find it interesting that law internship match up algorithm is very similar to my kid’s school rush algorithm. D2 is going to be strategic on what she puts down as her prefs so she wouldn’t end up with no match up.
Justification? Someone dies of cancer or disease everyday. So, “you” were rejected by Greek life, there are greater tragedies in life. “Suck it buttercup!” Or to borrow another well-worn phrase, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
Do it. Don’t do it. Rushing Greek life is a choice. Rejection is one of the outcomes.
According to ToS, I’ve made my point and CC isn’t a debate society. So, I’m moving on.
Adding to post #175… mostly blond, 90% blond. Just to be clear. I understand that wasn’t a given for everyone reading.
This puzzles me. If it was before Rush you hadn’t met these women yet, had you? How could you choose which were your favorites?