Questions about Legacy

[NTTGmom]

I am new to all of this and have some questions. How is legacy defined? Does it vary from sorority to sorority? For example, it varies for colleges, some define legacy as biological parent only. For others it includes grandparents. I get the sense from lurking that for sororities it can also include aunts, cousins, sisters, etc. Is that right? Second, what does it mean? From visiting some sorority home sites it appears the legacy rate is tracked making me think it is important. Thoughts? Finally, what does it quota mean? Are there maximums that sorority chapters can't go over? Would love a referall to anothe post if this is obvious and has already been discussed. I could not find it with the search mechanism. Many thanks! I enjoyed reading the recruitment stories.

[AlphaFrog]

First off...thank you for attempting to do a search. :)

Legacy definition varies from sorority to sorority. It almost always includes mom, grandmom, and sister. Cousins in many sororities are considered "courtesies". Alpha Sigma Alpha has recently expanded our definition to include stepmoms, stepgrandmoms, stepsisters and stepaunts. Most sororities have rules about how many rounds a legacy must be invited to attend, and procedure for how to release (cut) a legacy. In some cases, sororities must call the relative and explain to them why a legacy was cut before doing so. I believe all sororities have the rule, that if a legacy attends the last round of rush (pref), they must be on the first bid list. Courtesies mean that PNMs are given special consideration, but legacy rules do not strictly apply.

Basic quota definition is number of girls rushing divided by the number of sororities. 100 girls rushing, 10 sororities, quota = 10 (easy #'s for example's sake). It gets more complicated then that, but that's the general idea.

[alum]

You have hit the nail on the head. Every NPC org can set their own policy regarding legacy designation. Some limit it to direct lineage of 1 generation, some to 2. Some include sisters, aunts and/or cousins. Some groups consider stepdaughters as legacies. My group recognizes great-grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers, sisters. So my D is a single legacy through me and has an extra connection to my group through her aunt (my sister). If my sister and I were members of a different group, my D would be considered a double-legacy. Each NPC group also can set their own policy as to how much preference a legacy can receive from a group. Some sororities extend an automatic invitation to Round 2 of Recruitment to their legacies. Others are more generous. Usually if you type in the full name of the sorority.org you will pull up the national HW website. For the most part, you can find group-specific info regarding legacies.

[NTTGmom]

Thank you for the response. I tried to do a search on the home website of the sorority in question but you have to be a member with a pin number to do so. I will have to ask my sister-in-law to do it. Thank you!

[AlphaFrog]

Check your PMs.

[honeychile]

And in to further complicate the original question, it also depends a lot on which college the PNM is attending. At an SEC school, there can be 101 legacies and quota can be 90 - which causes some concern, too.

[FSUZeta]

i think that it is always good to list any greek affialiation that a person may have, when they are enrolling in recruitment, whether or not you know if the pnm is a legacy or not. i feel that someone who lists relatives as members of greek organizations knows at least a little something about greek life, and may better understand the responsibilities that membership entails.

[violetpretty]

I agree with FSUZeta. List the relationship (aunt I am guessing) and the chapter can take it or leave it depending on their organization's policy.