Vanderbilt: Panhell presidents oppose sorority recruitment consultant

[kdonline]

http://www.vanderbilthustler.com/vne.../433cc42296694



Panhell presidents oppose sorority recruitment consultant


by Rachel Stevens
September 30, 2005

Vanderbilt students reacted to an ad in last Friday’s Hustler for an independent consultant who advises freshman girls preparing for sorority recruitment.

In a letter to the editor today, the ten Panhellenic sorority presidents announced their opposition to the service, urging freshmen to speak to their Greek Ambassadors about any recruitment concerns rather than enlisting in the services of this outside consultant.

Amy Donavan, a 2004 graduate of Vanderbilt, began Sorority Recruitment Consulting (SRC) this year to assist freshman girls in their decision to become part of Vanderbilt’s Greek community.

Donavan said that the service, which costs $50 for a 50-minute session, provides individually tailored consulting sessions. These appointments may include discussing Greek life concerns, recruitment anxiety, feelings toward each chapter and even shopping for recruitment rounds outfits, according to the Web site.

Donavan said that approximately 30 to 40 freshman girls have signed up for the service.

“The responses I have had thus far have been overwhelmingly positive,” Donavan said. “During the recent Parents’ Weekend, some girls chose to do a consultation with their mothers present, which was an extremely fun experience for me.”

Greek Life advisor Kristen Torrey said that she feels Donavan’s services are unnecessary.

“There is absolutely no need for women to take part in that service since it is a service we provide for free through Greek ambassadors, Panhellenic executive board officers and Greek Life staff,” Torrey said.

Donovan said that while she feels Vandy’s Panhellenic Council does a good job of educating potential new members about recruitment, her services offer each of the girls individualized attention.

“The struggle lies in the ratio often Panhellenic executive members to roughly 500 to 600 potential new members,” Donovan said. “While the executive board members do a fabulous job, they will never have the ability to devote individual attention to a significant percentage of the potential new members.”

In addition, on her Web site, Donovan states that she can give better unbiased evaluations of the different chapters because the Greek ambassadors are only familiar with their own particular sororities.

The Panhellenic presidents, however, said that Greek ambassadors are indeed a good resource.

“We’ve had plenty of women for many years without recruitment consultants who have become happy sorority members,” Torrey said.

Contributing reporting by Meredith Casey and Sean Seelinger.


# # #

[James]

What an excellent idea by Donovan. Plus i be she gives more matter of fact advice than the "ambassadors."

[RUASTgrrl]

I think its a good idea too. If you did it thought you'd obviously want it to remain a secret. They've had these in Texas for awhile. Like pagent coaches, you know.

[Janerz222]

If the Greek Ambassadors can't give "unbiased evaluations of the different chapters because the [they] are only familiar with their own particular sororities", how can she? Was she a member of all 10? Or, a member of none (which wouldn't speak highly of her services as a recruitment consultant)...

[kddani]

lol, kids can get the same info from GC for free. Why pay?

[33girl]

Originally posted by Janerz222
If the Greek Ambassadors can't give "unbiased evaluations of the different chapters because the [they] are only familiar with their own particular sororities", how can she? Was she a member of all 10? Or, a member of none (which wouldn't speak highly of her services as a recruitment consultant)...

Perhaps she is a member of a chapter that is no longer there, or more likely, she means that as an alum she can give generalized advice because she doesn't know the current women personally. Kinda like Rho Chis being anonymous. Are Greek ambassadors the same thing as Rho Chis?

I see nothing wrong with it. There are college admissions counselors and we've talked about rush counselors before on here. If they want to pay for it, let them.

[Janerz222]

I don't think it's wrong - she saw a market need and is filling it.

I guess I'm a bit sad/disappointed that we've put ourselves in a position (with the ways we do recruitment) where some PNMs _think_ it's necessary.

[sigmadiva]

Originally posted by 33girl


I see nothing wrong with it. There are college admissions counselors and we've talked about rush counselors before on here. If they want to pay for it, let them.

Sorry to crash, but I just have to comment.


Based on my past knowledge of people like this I believe this is a scam. I get the feeling that she is leading girls to believe that if they buy ($$$$) into her services she can "ensure" them a bid. I would not be surprised that there is some fine print on her contract that says she can not gaurentee a bid. But, she probably leads girls on by implying that they will get a bid if they pay her. Besides, the article says the Greek ambasadors are doing the same service for free.

Of course I do not know about (NPC) rush counselors, but I do know about college admissions counselors and they don't charge a fee.


ETA: Some things you should not have to pay for. Your own efforts should be able to get you where you want to go. If we (GLO members) are telling PNM to go into recruitment and be yourself, then you should not have to pay for a service who is going to try to portray you as something that you are not.

[PM_Mama00]

It sounds like someone trying to make a quick buck. Why should a girl have to charge for that? Sorority members already pay enough throughout college for dues and whatnot.

While my campus is a lot smaller, we have a Panhel Advisor who was in a sorority at another campus as undergrad, and an Organizations Advisor type thing. I believe she was in a sorority in college but I'm not sure which. Anyways, they're services are free and basically the same.

“The struggle lies in the ratio often Panhellenic executive members to roughly 500 to 600 potential new members,” Donovan said. “While the executive board members do a fabulous job, they will never have the ability to devote individual attention to a significant percentage of the potential new members.”

I think this reason is bullshit. She is ONE person, so if all these girls decided to go to her, how is SHE gonna give them individualized attention? There are X amount of Greek Ambassadors (which I'm assuming are Rho Chis?), X amount of Panhel Execs........ what makes her think that SHE can give better individual attention than X amount of girls?

I guess I'm curious about more background information on this woman. If she's a Greek, then I could understand this a little more, but I really don't understand her charging. Is she a psych major? Is she trained (like Rho Chis/execs) to give advice and support to PMNs who don't receive bids and need direction? This all seems like something that should be free.

[KillarneyRose]

I think it's a great idea. It can't hurt anything, and considering what Vanderbilt charges for tuition, $50 is pocket change.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by sigmadiva
Besides, the article says the Greek ambasadors are doing the same service for free.

Of course I do not know about (NPC) rush counselors, but I do know about college admissions counselors and they don't charge a fee.

Independent college admissions consultants---who Ms. Donovan seems to resemble more than your average, overloaded HS guidance counselors--do charge considerable fees. It just depends on what you want and what you're willing to do to get it. If you're planning on paying $35K for tuition for four years, on top of the thousands of dollars a sorority at Vandy will cost you, then paying $50 for an independent consultant to isn't unreasonable at all.

I think this is a great idea! I can think of several GC women who would be great at this.

[WhiteDaisy128]

There is another thread about her somewhere here on Greek Chat - I saw it the other day. Amy is an alumn from Vanderbilt and was in a sorority. She held several offices in her own sorority and several Panhellenic offices, ending up as Panhellenic President. She has a web site advertising her services...

[ZTABullwinkle]

I do not know about Vanderbilt's Greek system (um, where is Vanderbilt???? ) But, I think she has a great idea here. I agree it may be misleading that she can "get them a bid" to a sorority with her advice. (If she is advertising that way....) But for those women who want to go through Recruitment who have

1 - a parent/parents who is/are not Greek, so can't really help them know what to expect.

2 - don't know anyone at Vanderbilt to give them suggestions about what to wear, how to act, etc...She can help with that.

3 - Help them with ideas about what to ask, what to look for - basically help with a PNM conversation side. (This would be great, because I know of several PNM who didn't get all the answers during Recruitment and ended up dropping because of finding out the "whole truth.." Like when and how much dues are. How much of a time requirement? etc.)

4 - Someone who has no idea about recommendations (where to get them, are they needed, how to get them). I know that is a big plus on many campuses.

I could probably come up with several other instances. I think she may be an asset

Originally posted by Janerz222
If the Greek Ambassadors can't give "unbiased evaluations of the different chapters because the [they] are only familiar with their own particular sororities", how can she? Was she a member of all 10? Or, a member of none (which wouldn't speak highly of her services as a recruitment consultant)...

Now, for another point about how Ms. Donavan is tied to the Greek community at Vanderbilt, I don't know. I don't know how their Greek system is set up, how "cut-throat" recruitment is there. Since she is a graduate of Vanderbilt, I think she would have a pretty good idea of student and campus life to give advice to incoming students. My school is very different in many ways from a traditional campus. (PM me if you want details)



The way it works at ODU, for Formal Recruitment, is that over the summer and up till Formal Recruitment, there is a policy about promoting "Go Greek!" and participating in Formal recruitment. Stressing the good points: get to meet and see every sorority on campus (which there are 5 NPC currently here), see sisterhood for all, etc. etc. You know, the benefits to Formal Recruitment. We weren't allowed to promote one chapter over another. (It actually is a recruitment violation on our campus.)
As a Rho Chi (what we were called at the time), all of us met several times to discuss and learn about the other sororities on campus. So we could tell PNM colors, mascots, philanthropy, motto etc. We learned some of the others cheers/songs. We would be doing them outside a party with the chapter sisters. We even learned some random facts about each chapter.

Slightly Off-Topic
For our revealing, we sang a song from someone's chapter. At the end, those sisters would remove their Recruitment T-shirts (we had a different color than the ones given the PNM) only to reveal their letters. It was great fun for all of us. The chapters at Bid Day sang their song with us. So instead of fifteen of us singing, it was the Rho Chis and their sisters singing their song. I still remember the songs for AXiD and Alpha Phi. Plus, we did the ZTA version of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" (I had to google that word to spell it right.) Needless to say, we Rho Chis had a blast that semester!!! We threw off the PNM to our identities. [/color]

Back to the topic...

And yes, I would even tell PNM to go to the National websites for the chapters to learn more info. Many of them I even pointed here to GC for advice.

I have to also agree with Munchkin03...I think there would be TONS of GC members who would perfect for this sort of thing.

Sorry this is so long.....Just wanted to add my two cents....

ETA : I needed to fix my stupid mistakes, man I can't wait for Fall Break!

[CarolinaDG]

I think it's a great idea...

Hey, S. Carolina girls, I'll help! :-)

Just kidding, but it sounds like a lot of fun... I mean, being able to help girls through it, giving them facts, and she has the potential to balance out the greek system a little as well (i.e. telling the girls not to listen to the "tent talk")

ETA: Vandy's in Tennessee... Great school, one of my friends is at Med School there.

[GeekyPenguin]

I really see nothing wrong with this - it is definitely not needed on every campus, but at a school wiht a competitive recruitment, if a girl wants to pay for it, why not? I think it might be superior to the advice on GC given that she actually sees and interacts with the PNM on the same level that the sorority members will be during recruitment.