Has the tradition of Legacies outgrown its usefulness?

[Betarulz!]

Just like the title says, do you think that the system of giving legacies preference has become more of a nuisance than a help?

With the recent threads about cutting legacies, and conversation that I had last weekend with a date, I have begun to question if we need to honor the legacy system like in the past.

Someone described the legacy system to me early on in my Greek experience as "well you were good enough to become a member, so we'll assume your relatives are too." Now this may not be even close to being right, but I cant' come up with anything more profound. I assume that at one time, it was used to have a constant pool of members...who would turn down an automatic invitation, but today with so many people who are interested in Greek Life, this theory no longer seems worth it.

The only other reason I could come up with was to inspire alums to begin donating again if they had a new relative in the organization...

For me, if the system is "well your relative was good, so we'll give you a chance", then I have to think that legacies who are not in the same generation (ie mother/daughter, grandfather/grandson) are iffy at best, b/c we all know people with cool parents but the kids are absolutely worthless to society. Plus GLO's have changed so much in the course of 25 years, let alone 50.

If it were up to me, I'd say that the only legacies worth honoring are those that are between siblings. Even then, in my own experience this is not a good assurance of character or worthiness.

Does anyone have opinions or thoughts?

[Kevin]

I think a legacy has the potential to be a better member (as long as their relatives were good members). They have a family connection with the organization that will last longer than their time with the chapter. This will theoretically in turn make both the legacy and the person that is their connection closer to the chapter and the organization.

I'm sure there are financial considerations as well.

Personally I'm in favor of it. Being a chapter founder I'd be pissed if my son didn't make the cut

[JerzeeBoy26]

in our chapter we have 3 legacies. 2 of them are chapter legacies. however, this year we cut 2 freshmen who were Beta legacies (not from our chapter but thats not that important). we give them a shot if we run into them or are recommended to rush them. Its tradition I guess. I am a big fan because its really cool to see a 70 year old guy come back to his fraternity house and hangout with his grandson and talk about the old days and whatnot. I also think that connection with past generations is important for fraternities. we dont give out bids to guys just because they are legacies but they do get special consideration

[DeltaBetaBaby]

My understanding of legacies is that they are more of a consideration to the member, not the relative rushing.

[Little E]

Our chapter has not had a single legacy. But at the same time I like the idea. We give so much to our chapters, I think it is consideration to the alum to give their relative a chance. It isn't guarenteeing bids so the chapter still has a choice.

There was a girl looking at Beloit, and it turns out her mom was an AST from out east. The idea that the daughter would like to wear the same letters is very neat. To get the same meaning out of something is powerful. Think about how much you love your organization, now share that with someone you love, your family. I think it could give the organization more meaning. We are about creating family and why not extend that to blood lines when possilbe. I think it can help strengthen the ties in that family but also for the chapter to alumnae. We all struggle with that.

That is my opinion, but like I said, we've never had a legacy so...

[LeslieAGD]

From my experience, legacies tend to be more important at big/competetive Greek Life school because they give you an extra edge. From my experience, legacies at smaller/less competetive school will give their legacy GLO a closer look but will often not feel as pressured to join that group.

[shadowstar]

i definitely agree with LeslieAGD. i'm a legacy (although not a chapter legacy). i didn't go through formal rush and didn't have my mom send in a rec for me or anything. i go to a really small school and knew the women in my chapter before they offered me a bid, and a lot of them had no idea i was a legacy until after i had pledged. in some ways i think this is good, because i never had to wonder if they took me only because i was a legacy. i knew that they wanted me for me. i have also seen legacies at our school go to a different house, just because they fit in better there. sometimes i think the pressure on legacies to join the same house can be pretty great and they may end up somewhere that they'd rather not be.

[33girl]

I don't think the tradition has outgrown its usefulness...it's just that there are so many more legacies than there are spots at some schools.

However, sometimes parents put pressure on without realizing it...one of our sisters that was a non-chapter legacy (her mom went to school in Michigan) pledged us, and she is a sweet girl, but I think she might have been happier someplace else.

[FuzzieAlum]

I honestly don't think it's about the rushee. I think it is about the parent and their money or influence within the org.

That's why I don't think the system will disappear. Imagine some of these parents who are determined their kid will be XYZ too and how upset they will be if Johnny or Suzy will lose that extra edge.

[ZTAMiami]

I think it's really only a problem at large, primarily southern schools. Although I've been an alumna for quite a fews years, I remember being so excited about the 2 or 3 that came through each year. I don't know know if that number has gone up recently.

[LXAAlum]

I like the legacy considerations. In NO way is this a guarantee for a bid, but, I've seen too many legacies that were OUTSTANDING members - they seem to have more commitment in most instances than non-legacy members (especially if their relative was a very active member of his chapter - could me more pressure or expectations, not sure) - just an opinion from direct observations.

Also, what is more moving emotionally than to see a father, grandfather, or uncle, witnessing their legacy go through Ritual? I've seen grown men reduced to tears many times as they watch their son (I know I will become a complete basket case if either of my sons decide to join LXA!), grandson, or nephew learn all about the fraternity at initiation time.

In fact, I'll be seeing this personally TONIGHT at an initiation where we are having a legacy initiated, and his uncle will be in attendance.

[KillarneyRose]

I love the idea of legacies. As greeks our organizations are steeped in tradition, and what better way to carry on tradition than through our children?

I'm happy that my girls are legacies of two extremely strong NPC organizations, although it annoys me that my (non-greek, clueless about greek life) husband equates the very word "legacy" with the Kent Dorfman character from "Animal House" and wonders how being a legacy could possibly be considered a good thing

[XOMichelle]

Not wher I go to school. We LOVE legacies, and only have a few going through rush at any given year.

[aephi alum]

The idea of legacies getting some extra consideration is still a good one.

As I understand it, most NPC sororities' legacy rules call for legacies to be automatically invited back to the second round of parties during formal rush. After that, they can be released, but the chapter must be able to justify it (and some NPC sororities set that bar very high). If they get to pref, they're pretty much guaranteed a bid if they want it.

I don't see a problem with the automatic invite to round 2; it gives the sorority members and the legacy a second chance to meet each other, and maybe they will "click" if they didn't during round 1.

I do believe it should be easier to release someone who is obviously not a good fit after that point; it shouldn't be as silly a reason as "well, her socks didn't match" but you shouldn't have to present proof that she has a criminal record or anything.

As far as legacies at pref automatically going on the first bid list, I disagree if it means that a lot of great non-legacies get crowded out because the number of legacies is close to or greater than quota. But if there are only a few legacies relative to quota, the legacies should go on the first list.

For non-NPC sororities and fraternities, I don't really know enough about the rush/intake process to comment, except to say that I don't like the idea of legacies being guaranteed bids (a la Kent Dorfman) - just because your dad was an XYZ at University A 25 years ago, doesn't mean you're a good fit with XYZ at University B now.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally posted by aephi alum
The idea of legacies getting some extra consideration is still a good one.

I don't see a problem with the automatic invite to round 2; it gives the sorority members and the legacy a second chance to meet each other, and maybe they will "click" if they didn't during round 1.

I think this is a great point. Sometimes, you just didn't meet the right rusher in round 1, or it was the last party of the night and everyone was tired, etc.