Why is Rush so Cut-throat on the Sororities' End at Big Greek Schools?

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by UF56
They had to go and use "bless her heart"....all you southern girls know what that means My family is very southern and you always hear "bless her heart" before an insult or "oh isnt that nice" when they dont like something.

I knew that "Bless her heart" is an insult!!!! Someone on GC wrote that it isn't. Now I know the truth. You Southern gals can't put anything over on me. lol!

[carnation]

bump! Good discussion topic--

[kk_bama]

I know that here at Bama, it's all about tradition.

Tradition, tradition, tradition.

And this means many things. Many things

It's also about what sororities you've heard of in your hometown. For example, North Alabama girls know of ADPi, Zeta, Alpha Gam and Phi Mu, because those are the chapters at the University of North Alabama.

There are some sororities with MULTIPLE chapters across the state, and those often do well because of name recognition.

It's also about how long you've been on campus. Old Row chapters do well because they're older and well-backed by lots of alum $$$ for Rush.

[FSUZeta]

what are the "old row" chapters at bama, and what is "the machine" and which groups are (unofficial) members?

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally posted by aephi alum
Actually, we used SORUSH but based our quota on the # of women actually attending pref. We got lists of who to expect at each party, but then turned in lists (within a few minutes of the start of the party) of who actually showed up. Quota was calculated during the final pref party; chapters were informed once that party ended, and constructed their bid lists accordingly.

Still doesn't solve the problem of people cross-cut before prefs, though, or people who get their hearts set on 1 or 2 GLOs, then drop out if those GLOs cut them.

Wow! These are the most intelligent analyses of recruitment (AKA rush) that I have ever seen!

I believe Auburn is trying out this way of setting quota this year. Any comments here from Auburn Tigers? AEPhi alum, does this system work better?

To reply from the sister from FSU, "old row" at U of Alabama is a fairly recent term referring to a group of established, wealthy sororities and fraternties. They created a group that throws a couple of parties a year and each pays into the kitty for this extra frivolity. Many of these same groups make of "the Machine," a shadow organization that controls SGA elections, Homecoming queen elections etc. Its main importance comes from the fact that many young men from "the Machine" later hold high state political offices and they have l-o-n-g memories. But that's something for another thread.

[FSUZeta]

thanks anchoralumna!!

[bamabelle005]

the old row sororities are alpha gamma delta, kappa delta, delta delta delta, chi omega, phi mu, alpha chi omega, and kappa kappa gamma. and for the guys it is kappa alpha, sigma alpha epsilon, delta kappa epsilon, phi gamma delta, phi delta theta, sigma nu. "old row" just means those people pay more $ for more parties within the "old row" group; and old row isn't always the first 6 or 7 sororities and fraternities

[kk_bama]

I'll go ahead and say that The Machine is the majority of greeks on campus at UA, though not all. Most freshmen coming in aren't aware of it, however, so I don't think it really plays into Rush. I think Old Row plays into it more, and that's more of an open thing.

The subject is definitely worthy of a completely different thread. UA is not the only school with a greek machine; it's common on many campuses. Honestly though, I feel like greeks are usually the best candidates for SGA, homecoming, honor societies, etc., though others should be included as well.

So anyway, back to the subject of the thread...

[adpiucf]

I believe (ZTAngel, Sherbertlemons, please correct me if I'm wrong) that our quota was determined solely by dividing the number of PNM's who were invited to prefs by the number of sororities. Thus if 500 women were invited back to prefs, and there are 10 sororities, quota was set at 50.

Now, of course UCF hasn't seen a quota that low since 1995... but you get my drift.

It's interesting to read what others have to say about the "pecking order." I think it exists, at some level, at UCF, but we have this marvelous cycling in and out of the perceived chapter rankings, mainly due to a huge amount of sorority expansion in a very short time. I think also, as the Greek System has grown at the university, you've seen a certain level of exclusivity go up a notch.

[OleMissGlitter]

Don't forget about Ole Miss Rush....we have 9 NPCs, and this year there should be about 1000 girls going through rush. Last year there was about 900....quota was 86 with some houses getting up to 95...and all of the houses here do release...and it is very cut-throat...that is why they moved rush back to take place during school...when I went through rush back in 1996 it was before school started and girls would leave and transfer to Mississippi State or Alabama and go through rush there and get into the house they wanted there....also, which I'm sure all Southern Schools have this, is suicide watch takes place during rush at Ole Miss, apparently girls have attempted suicide because the house they wanted released them....

[ZTAngel]

Originally posted by adpiucf
I believe (ZTAngel, Sherbertlemons, please correct me if I'm wrong) that our quota was determined solely by dividing the number of PNM's who were invited to prefs by the number of sororities. Thus if 500 women were invited back to prefs, and there are 10 sororities, quota was set at 50.

Now, of course UCF hasn't seen a quota that low since 1995... but you get my drift.

It's interesting to read what others have to say about the "pecking order." I think it exists, at some level, at UCF, but we have this marvelous cycling in and out of the perceived chapter rankings, mainly due to a huge amount of sorority expansion in a very short time. I think also, as the Greek System has grown at the university, you've seen a certain level of exclusivity go up a notch.

I think that's correct. UCF has a pretty high placement rate. Most of our PNMs will get one of their top three choices. If not, the chapters that don't make quota are eligible to snap bid.

"Pecking order" certainly exists at UCF but it has changed a lot since I went through rush. Although the "top sororities" are still regarded as being excellent chapters, some of the chapters that were considered "weaker" when I went through rush are now some of the best. I'm sure adpiucf and sherbetlemons would agree but the reason some of the sororities stay in their top position is because of the housing situation. Many PNMs prefer a chapter that has a house on campus and this hurts the 4 sororities (well...5 in the Fall) that do not have a house on Greek Park. They're supposed to start constructing Greek Village sometime this Fall from what I hear and I think this will definitely up the ante.

[adpiucf]

Ditto that! I remember in particular, one sorority got a house in the late 90's. They had colonized strong, fallen back a little and once they got that house, they took off!!!! It was always a great chapter full of campus leaders, but their perceived "value" went up significantly with the addition of their house. I was friends with many of those girls, and I'm thrilled that they are going strong.

It is an unfair advantage on UCF Greek Row for some sororities to have houses, for the most part. Although those without a house enjoy significantly lower dues, PNM's place high stock in a chapter house. It's not right, but that's the campus culture at the university. I am very excited for Greek Park II to break ground, and give all of our wonderful UCF chapters an even playing ground.

[OleMissGlitter]

So only some NPCs have houses at UCF?

[kappaloo]

Originally posted by OleMissGlitter
So only some NPCs have houses at UCF?

I know for sure Kappa does not have a house. I believe UCF has been expanding - Kappa colonized two years ago (?) and I know AEPhi is also colonizing.

[ZTAngel]

Originally posted by OleMissGlitter
So only some NPCs have houses at UCF?

Unfortunately, yes. Greek Park began construction sometime in the 80's. Any chapter that colonized onto campus later on was SOL because all the lots were taken. Greek Park 2 has been planned for years now but there has been a lot of environmental/ecological factors that prohibit the construction of more houses in the area where GP2 was supposed to be built. UCF's campus is already completely planned out; we don't have a stadium yet but there is land somewhere on campus that is slated to be the place for the stadium one day. Because the campus is planned, there was no way to just place GP2 in another place on campus. It's unfortunate because I'd say the majority of our GLOs are unhoused. All of the NPHC organizations, most of the NIC fraternities, and 5 NPC sororities have no house on campus. Here's a list to show how little of the GLOs have a house compared to those who do not:

NPC/NIC GLOs with a house
Pike
ZTA
Alpha Xi
ADPi
TriDelta
KD
SAE
Kappa Sig
Pi Phi
ATO
Sig Ep
Sigma Chi

NPC/NIC GLOs without a house
ChiO
DG
Theta
KKG
AEPhi (coming this fall)
AEPi
Beta
DTD
DU
LXA
Lambda Sigma Upsilon
Lambda Theta Phi
Phi Delt
FIJI
Pi Kapp
Sigma Lambda Beta
Sigma Nu
TKE
Plus all NPHC GLOs

They're supposed to break ground on GP2 this fall. It's going to be set up more as a village as opposed to individual houses to help conserve space.