Can graduate students rush?

[anaballerina]

Hi all,

My biggest regret of UG is that I was never able to rush. I did get a chance to go to an interest meeting and really loved getting to know the different chapters. Anyhow, I've graduated and decided to go to a school closer to home for my graduate work. Since I'm still so young and really want this opportunity, I thought I would write and ask if graduate students are allowed to rush. (I'm really interested in NPC sororities).

I have the contact # for my school's Greek Life office, but thought I would write here first to see if it's a possibility.

Thanks so much for your help!

[Dionysus]

I don't think you can rush for NPC sororities. I know that two allows grad students to remain active, but I don't know if they allow them to rush. However, some chapters of Alpha Phi Omega allows grad students to rush. That could be a nice alternative, depending on what you're looking for.

[PhoenixAzul]

Well, although I'm not NPC...I think that there are a *few* that will allow graduate students to have collegiate standing, but you'd probably want to check the various national websites and you can get that from http://www3.telus.net/greek/.

however, you might want to look into Alumnae Initiation if the rushing route is closed to you and you're still interested, although it is a lot of work (but worth it!).

If there are local sororities, you mighthave to approach them on your own accord rather than through rush, as their rules of initiation and membership are probably different from the NPC sororities. I believe my local sorority has initiated graduate students before, but because our school doesnt have a huge graduate program, it's not "regular". We've had several older initiates in organizations here...one fraternity initiated 9 guys last year with an average age of 25. Most of them were exchange students and one was just an old fart coming back to get another degree (he's really nice though!).

Good luck!

[WCUgirl]

Alpha Xi Delta allows graduate students to pledge, as does Phi Sigma Sigma (I believe). If you'll do a search, there's a thread on here that mentions some of the NPCs that allow graduate students to pledge.

Good luck!

[anaballerina]

The school I'm going to has some chapters that allow grads to rush, so that's a really great start! I'll check the board for that post you mentioned so I can find out about the other sororities at my school.

Thanks so much!

[PenguinTrax]

As far as I know, only AXiD and Phi Sig allow graduate students as members of the collegiate chapter.

[WCUgirl]

Here's one of those threads. I know there's another one somewhere that I posted in...but this should help.

[theta4life]

We found that all NPC groups signed a non-discimination policy, which does state, among other things, they they do not discriminate based on age. We had a couple of grad students rush, and I think one pledged, though I'm not sure.

[WCUgirl]

Originally posted by theta4life
We found that all NPC groups signed a non-discimination policy, which does state, among other things, they they do not discriminate based on age. We had a couple of grad students rush, and I think one pledged, though I'm not sure.

But that wouldn't really count as age...it's academic status.

[AUDeltaGam]

One thing to keep in mind- just because a group CAN pledge a grad student doesn't mean they WILL. I hate to bring in the "southern" rush thing, but we know how it can be

[Sister Havana]

Originally posted by AUDeltaGam
One thing to keep in mind- just because a group CAN pledge a grad student doesn't mean they WILL.

Exactly. Individual chapters can have different policies. For instance, the Phi Mu chapter at Indiana would only pledge freshmen...no sophomores, juniors or seniors. Same with three others (Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma and I forgot the other) I think part of the reason is that these chapters required sisters to live in the house for three years. It was much rarer for houses to pledge sophomores, though it happened. If you were a junior or above you were pretty much out of luck, since only two or three houses took upperclassmen. Granted, this was in 1993 so things could have changed since then.

At other campuses, upperclassmen are welcome to pledge, and some systems have a certain amount of upperclassmen that can pledge without counting towards quota. It all depends. Check with the Greek system on your campus...that's the best answer I can give.

My chapter of Alpha Phi Omega pledged grad and nontraditional students...in fact the president of my pledge class was a married grad student.

[anaballerina]

Thanks for all of the great input! I've already contacted my school's Greek Life office. From there I'll be able to find out more about each chapter's policy.

Thanks again!

[AUDeltaGam]

Good luck!

[lovingalphagam]

Hello_
I don't know if this helps; but if you do not have the option of actually going through recruitment, several sororities allow alumnae intiates. At my chapter, we had one last year that was the mother of a current member; but, they go through intiation and they would be allowed to attend any chapter sponsored event (ex. philanthropy or formals) without being required to attend events (such as philanthropies). Its usually someone who is the mother/sister/friend of an already intiated member or someone who has contriubuted to the organization. But ask around, you never know!

[pixell]

Even if the groups technically allow it, the chapter might have never done it or not be open to the possiblity. If it's a competitive school, then you have a much smaller chance of getting a bid even if you are allowed to rush. My suggestion would be to contact the Greek Life office at your school and get the official information from them. Good luck!