Discretion please!

33girl · #1 06-19-2003, 07:32 PM

To all the rushees/PNMs on GC and the internet in general:

Excitement about rush is wonderful and welcomed - however, there are some things you should avoid:

-Don't post messages on the group's local or national guestbooks asking to be sent information. The individual chapters are not allowed to respond to you due to NPC contact rules - go through your school's Greek life office if you have questions about housing, costs, schedules etc. If you want to know colors, national history etc all you need to know will be on the website - national offices will not give you "inside info" on a particular chapter. Also (pardon me but this is a pet peeve) many of these requests I've seen have poor spelling and grammar. This is not the way to impress sororities.

-Be very careful about showing interest in a specific sorority, unless of course there only is one sorority on your campus. The sorority you are interested in may take it as being too aggressive/bold and the other sororities may see it and avoid you because of it.

also be sure to read this thread:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...threadid=30758

BlondeGurl · #2 06-19-2003, 08:56 PM

I completely agree wioth this. There are PNM's that have started doing this on my campus and it is considered tacky and in poor taste. If you are interested more than one sorority don't post something on jusst one sororities website asking about "more information" from them because your possiblities for getting cut from the rest of the sororities is hightened, and I'm sure none of you want that.

LuaBlanca · #3 06-20-2003, 12:29 PM

What about if, like in my situation, you have NO information about Greek Life at all and the only people you can contact and get a response from are alumni from a particular sorority? I can't see how that would be considered tacky or in bad taste...?

astroAPhi · #4 06-20-2003, 01:11 PM

LuaBlanca, I'd try contact these orgs, in this order. Other people may have better suggestions.

Panhellenic/Pan-Hellenic Council
Greek Council
Student Activities

Then move on to sorority alumnae. However, if you already know these alumnae, then I don't think it would be too bad for you to ask a few questions. But randomly contacting an alumnae might prove uncomfortable for them.

LuaBlanca · #5 06-20-2003, 01:28 PM

There is only one NPC org. on my campus, and that chapter doesn't have a website. I don't even know if there is a Greek Council because I have so little information about the Greek Life. I tried contacting the Greek Life advisor, but he hadn't returned contact with me after a month...
There's only 1 GLO on my campus that has a website, and I had contacted the webmistress of that last November, so after making sure I wasn't being bothersome, I wrote to her again. Does that sound okay? It never dawned on me that it would be considered a feux pas.

I wrote to her asking for general information, not specifically about her GLO. She assured me it was no bother, and seemed happy to help.

aephi alum · #6 06-20-2003, 01:29 PM

I agree with astroAPhi. A local Alumnae Panhellenic might also be a good resource.

If you do find yourself having to approach alums directly, though, I'd stick with people you already know, and I'd preface it with something like "I'm going to rush at Random U this fall. They have chapters of ABC, DE, and FGH. I'm keeping my options open, of course, but I know you're an ABC and I was wondering if you could tell me..." This makes it clear that you're not interested in only ABC, you're just picking her brain a bit because she's a friend/relative/teacher/etc. And it could get you a recommendation

33girl, good advice as always. Even in the relative anonymity of the internet, showing interest in only one or two GLOs can easily get back to the school you're rushing at, and other chapters may decide "she really wants to be an ABC, so let's cut her and instead invite someone who actually might want to be an FGH."

GeekyPenguin · #7 06-20-2003, 01:53 PM

I think LuaBlanca's situation (which was like mine when I rushed)is a lot different. If you are rushing at a school that HAS formal rush, definitely use discretion. However, if somebody was rushing at my last school, where Gamma Phi was the only NPC, you HAD to contact us to get information - Greek Life wouldn't know, so they usually emailed our school account or me (I'm the webmaster). Obviously at schools with formal, you can get most information from somewhere. At a school like my last one, there wasn't a Panhellenic, let alone an Alumnae Panhellenic.

CutiePie2000 · #8 06-20-2003, 02:05 PM

LuaBlanca,
If there is only one NPC and they don't have a local website for your school, I would email their HQ (it should be www.sororityname.org) and ask them about rush at your school (the dates, the contact information and how do you sign up for it, etc.)

The collegiate chapter will have to be in touch with their HQ so that might help.

LuaBlanca · #9 06-20-2003, 03:24 PM

I'm still waiting for the alumni woman (btw- she is from one of 2 locals on my campus) to reply back with any answers she had to my questions. I'm going to wait a week before I try to talk to her again though...

I think I'm going to follow CutiePie2000's advice and contact the national HQ. I'll let you guys know how it goes! (Thank you, by the way, for the guidance!!)

CatStarESP4 · #10 07-05-2003, 06:02 PM

Those are excellent points, 33girl!