Recs being dropped for PNMs?
 

Has anyone heard of this? A friend who is a Phi Mu said they're no longer going to require recs for PNMs. It would seem to follow how orgs have changed the legacy policy. Phi Mu has language already on their website explaining this.

Anyone heard of this for other orgs?

Same for us. IHQ doesn't even want chapters to take any recs. The morons who think this will make us more diverse apparently don't realize that having no way to find out about girls with recs, the actives will just choose girls they know. Who wants to pledge someone who looks good on paper, only to find out what a psycho they are after Bid Day? (See the "Weird Rush Stories" thread for examples of this.)

The big chapters have no time to only start learning about PNMs the first day of recruitment. Say they have to cut 800 out of 1000 women the first night--do you really think they won't be texting their friends and alums about girls they don't know? Days ahead of time?

Several other teachers and I have spent years trying to get small-town girls noticed at Big U recruitments by sending fabulous recs. They now only have a very small chance of breaking into the chapters that don't use recs.

I have 4 fabulous students who are rushing this year at Georgia. Years ago, I would have said I would be proud to put my pin on them. Now I hope they choose a group that isn't desperately virtue signaling.

Carnation, I was just thinking the same thing. This could actually make it harder for PNMs that don't have any connections.

It seems to me that this would make recruitment MORE superficial. What else do you have to go on other than appearance and a five minute conversation? And that always turns out for the best. My eyes feel like they are going to roll out of my head now.

For this very reason I plan to write letters of information/introduction for PNMs that I feel would be assets to my GLO.

The membership committee can either read it or throw it in the trash. I do not want great women to not have an honest look at them simply because they do not have connections with the current chapter members.

Thankfully our alumnae group still has a working, year-around Rec Commitee.

I would think that requiring recs to receive a bid (as some orgs have a policy of) and using them are two vastly different things. This changes very little in actual practice, but sounds good for those outside the Greek system who don’t understand how rush or recs or anything work.

True, but I predict the same orgs dropping recs will also drop them as a requirement to pledge.

Besides putting a girl from out-of-state or from a small town on the radar of a chapter, they can be life-saving for a chapter - alerting them to that PNM who is adorable in person and looks great on paper, but has a very less than wonderful background.

When we decided to stop giving legacies preferential treatment, we were told that our rec form was being revised...my assumption is to remove references to legacy status. I haven't heard that we are no longer accepting recs and my understanding is that if the school takes recs, we'll take them.

Isn't this the same thing 33girl said? That they've been required by some orgs to receive a bid (or "pledge" an org), the requirement is now being dropped, but recs can still be received?

Yes.

They can still be used as part of rating and voting, but you don’t have to have one in order to receive a bid.

I mean, I am guessing (hoping) that our national policies have not become so regimented that extracurricular A or personality trait B is weighted the exact same way at every university. If one university’s chapter finds recs useful, treat them as such. If another university’s chapter has found them not useful, treat them as such. It’s already stated a rec doesn’t guarantee a bid.

National HQs can talk until they’re blue in the face about not using recs or even accepting them, but if XYZ at Ole Miss has 2000 girls to sift through and needs to cut half of them, they’ll either do something ridiculous like eliminate everyone with a last name from L-Z or else do something that makes a bit of sense, which is use recs.

And I so agree that this is all ridiculous pandering overcompensation geared to the media.

YES to both!

We are still accepting recs. I wrote one for Winter recruitment for a PNM. She is a legacy but the alumnae was told that the PNM would not receive preferential treatment.

Yep..I wrote one for a young lady heading to Alabama in the fall, but was told to wait to submit until the new form is out.

I asked one of our former national officers about this. This lady is very involved in the fraternal Capitol Hill efforts.
Being recommended for membership by a current member is a vital part of fraternal organizations legally remaining single sex groups.
That's what she told me. Phi Mu has gotten around this by their national prez just recommended everybody sight unseen.
NPC seems to be pushing for this as a body.
It'll be interesting to see how they get around this little requirement....or maybe they just want to open every group up to everybody?