justamom--how's lsu??

[justamom]

It really is interestng how the line ups change. That's why I believe a couple of great pledge classes (I used to think ONE, but now I think you need two in a row) can turn things around.

Do you guys think it's easier to build up or fall down? There is some speculation about next years rush and who may have an easier or more difficult time due to their recent pledge classes. Either way, it a slippery slope. From what I've gathered, so many say "When I was active XYZ was #1 but now we aren't so strong (or it goes the other way-they got stronger) It seems here that the only "untouchable" strong house is KKG, perhaps because of it's history.

Another question, do ALL sororities have a final vote prior to initiation? I don't recall AXO doing that, but I "heard" some girls have been released from their pledgeship and will not be initiated.
BTW, this is not connected to grades. This is one area that has both good and bad points.

It amazes me that I know MORE about Sorority life now than I did as an active!

[aggieAXO]

I think if you are in a middle of the road house you can go either way-build up or fall both in my opinion would be easy

if you are in a weak house-just from seeing this at A&M it is pretty much impossible to build up and the 2 weak houses that were there are now gone (weak meaning very low numbers, rushees could usually tell who was weak as these houses had 2 rushess per rusher during rush)

[lyrelyre]

justamom-we don't have a vote as a chapter but the CRSB can vote to release a girl if she has broken too many rules or has proven herself to be undesirable. My chapter released 3 girls in this manner this year. Basically it is like depledging but at the chapter's discretion. When we went to this setup I was a bit worried but the chapter fully supported these three decisions. As far as the entire chapter voting I haven't heard of that in AXO.

That brings to mind another question: Do most chapters vote as an entire chapter whether to invite or release a PNM?

[ladybug1116]

I think it is much easier to fall down than to build up. It's so hard to build up (especially with sororities I think) because the preconceived notions of a group are so ingrained in everyone's mind. Often you have many generations of family members going to the same university and there is so much pressure to be an XYZ or an ABC because those have always been the "good" houses. In the end it all comes down to perception and even if a sorority winds a million awards it takes something very drastic to see the image of the house as changed. This is from my observation anyway...

[carnation]

My AOII daughter says that in her chapter, they do release girls who keep doing things that are undesirable for the chapter's reputation but they don't take an all-out vote on everyone. I guess it's involuntary depledging, just like we were able to do although we didn't while I was active.

Although one very good sorority at Arkansas released one of the other cheerleaders while I was there... seems she ran stark naked from her boyfriend's car into the sorority house. Too much, even in the wild seventies...

[ErikaXO]

Unfortunately I think it is a lot easier to fall.....this seems to be the case in much of life in general.

We didn't have a final vote, but there were those who did not get initiated. We had what we called "Diamond pledges" who had a second semester of pledgeship and after that if they did not get initiated they were pretty much buh-bye. We also had the option of revoking pledgeship but it had to follow the normal channels that any member would.

It is amazing how things change. Fortunately my chapter is still extremely strong. But without naming names I have seen girls walking around wearing letters that they would not have had a PRAYER of wearing when I was an active. On the flip side, I have seen girls walking around wearing letters that they would never have accepted at that time. And so it goes....

[33girl]

Nowadays with Greek life not having the popularity it used to, a lot more seem to be falling down than coming up, but I have seen it go both ways.

We could vote for someone to go through pledging again, but we could NEVER revote on someone - that was considered "blackballing" and hazing. Pretty much once we had bid her we were stuck with her unless she quit (of course, allowing repledging is supposed to do that - tick someone off and get them to quit). I think this might have changed now though, I'm not sure that repledging is even allowed anymore.

[mmcat]

so did your daughter bring her new letters home for thanksgiving?
you should be so proud.
mmcat

[justamom]

They will be initiated (she thinks) in Feb. All is clear for those remaining with the exception of grades. I don't think that will be a problem for any of the girls.

My "second son" brought my daughter home and stopped in for a
while. Lawdy, lawdy, did I get an earfull! He is a fraternity pledge this year, and his house is very active. If you ever want to know what's going on, ask someone of the opposite sex! I really think guys talk (gossip) more than girls. Suffice it to say
I'm REALLY happy where she is at in all aspects of her life. I would like to add, GIRLS-GIRLS-GIRLS, word DOES get around. There is a confidence between us, he knows he can talk freely but others might not be so noble or discriminating about who they tell what.

mmcat-what's going on in YOUR life these days? Anything new or exciting?

Carnation-that's pretty funny! So, we have the walk of shame- would that episode be called Chicken Run?

So, most seem to think it's easier to fall. I think that may be true.
When one falls, another must rise. Greek Life at LSU appears to be strengthening and most of the sororities made a general upward move in terms of numbers and "great girls" pledging.
Here's hoping it continues.

[mmcat]

not much new and exciting. mine is actually pretty dull.
i teach high school in socorro. we are on year round which means we are coming off a three week downtime. we started in july, will get two weeks at christmas and then three in march and then out in june and back in july.
sounds like it's all good for your daughter. that's neat.
cheers
mmcat

[ErikaXO]

I think that's great that your chapters are so strong.....I think a fundamental difference, though, at least from my day, is that the seniors were the lifebood of our greek system. They were the ones with the most invested, the deepest relationships, and it seemed like everyone was trying to suck as much out of it as they could before it was too late. It's a shame that a lot of seniors now don't stay involved.....it's over so quickly and then you have your whole life to devote to work and everything else. My biggest regret is that I didn't get more involved my freshman year. I was doing a lot of other things and it took me awhile to find my niche in the chapter, figure out who my girls were going to be. I missed almost a whole year of quality Chi O time!!!

[justamom]

"Burnout" may relate to the chapter's and individuals level of involvement. For an example, here is my daughter's schedule.
Sun-chapter study hours, church. Mon-an org. meeting, sports practice,chapter meeting, study hours, Tues- mentorship, org meeting, study hours, Wed- sports, Greek night at the clubs-she would go but not stay too long. Thurs-mentorship-mixer. Fri-Mixer Sat-SLEEP LATE-game/date. There were other study hours throughout the week and the girls are expected to eat at the house at least once a week. All of the outside organizations as well as the sorority have retreats. This is a lot of scheduling! Add to that, trying to keep your grades high and all the other little chores that go along with "independance" and you can see how some would be overwhelmed. Now, what if the girl had to have a JOB!

I've talked to some parents of Sophomores who say their daughters pulled back from their Freshman level of involvement.
Reasons range from losing touch with their "other" frends, grades slipping, not getting the "warm fuzzies" from their sisters, work, on and on.

The saving grace in my daughter's case was when their pledge trainer said "Delta Gamma will NOT be your whole life." They made them get out and keep in touch with life outside the chapter. It did mean an additon of an activity or two to an already busy schedule, but it keeps it from being repetitive.

Juniors are expected to live in the house, so that would help keep the older ones involved. Parents' Day, we didn't stay for the game and had dinner here in town. I ran into a Senior of XYZ and asked why she wasn't at Homecoming. Basically, she said she'd been to so many games, so may parties, it was no big deal to miss it. She was looking forward to getting out and starting her life.

[aggieAXO]

oh if she only knew that someday she will miss it and the starting the life part could have been put off for just a bit longer, but I can understand this girl's burnout

[ErikaXO]

Burnout is inevitable with all of the overprogramming. We had a real problem with it. Everyone wanted to have these philanthropy weeks....ie Sigma Chi Derby Days, DG Anchor Splash, etc. There were events every day and night that you were expected to attend so your chapter could win. It was tough enough at our school, with only 7 sororities and 13 fraternities. I can't even imagine some of these schools. Plus there is Homeless Awareness Week, which was big at Kent because it was part of the Triple Crown (H.A. Week, Greek Week, Songfest.) Plus there were date parties, formals, mixers, casual parties, greek nites, study tables, committee meetings, etc etc etc. In Chi Omega we were required to participate in at least two outside activities. It didn't have to be campus related, but we had to be able to prove it was a real activity (for example one of mine was participating in my community theatre.)

I know Kent has been combatting the overprogramming for years. I think now the "weeks" are down to a day or two. It was a lot of fun, like when we only really had Derby Days, Paddy Murphy Week, and Anchor Splash, but then everyone started trying to have a "weel" and it got out of hand.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally posted by justamom
[BI ran into a Senior of XYZ and asked why she wasn't at Homecoming. Basically, she said she'd been to so many games, so may parties, it was no big deal to miss it. She was looking forward to getting out and starting her life. [/B]

JAM, that is SO TRUE! I can well remember being on both sides of that. Spring of my freshman year, the bars around Pitt sponsored something called "Greek Bar Night" (we weren't politically correct back then, remember) during Greek Week, where Greeks could buy a T-Shirt for 5 dollars and wear it to the participating bars and get in and drink free (we had lots of fun finding "creative" ways to wear those ugly-ass shirts ) We were all up in the suite getting ready to go out and I remember asking the President why she wasn't going and she said, "I've been to three of these things already, I'm just sick of them." I remember thinking "How could ANYBODY be sick of this; it's so fun!" Sure enough, three years later I WAS sick of it! But it was great while it lasted and I'm glad I was so active my first three years.