Sorority Rush

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a first gen student. I had zero interest in joining a sorority. Nobody in my social group growing up had any experience with them, so it was not on my radar.

Moving forward, my daughter is rushing this week. We are supporting her, a little reluctantly though. All the girls she has met her first semester are also rushing. Her school does not ask for recommendation letters from previous members, thank God, because we really don’t have those connections.

My question is, how disadvantaged is a first gen student who is rushing at one of the schools where they still ask for rec letters? Is that system in place to continue keeping the “poors” out of the greek system? Also, don’t get me started on how expensive some of those soroties cost. Just another reason why they are so out of reach for most first gen students.

Depends on the school. There's another thread about SMU rush right now that caught my eye because I grew up walking distance from SMU's campus (but did not go to school there); the system there is not so much about "keeping the 'poors' out" so much as keeping the people of a certain class and culture in -- which effectively keeps everyone else out. My DH who is from here (FFX) saw a picture of my niece with her sorority friends posing in identical outfits and they all had cowboy boots on and he asked me if wearing cowboy boots is a real thing in Texas. I laughed, and told him it is, but that isn't why they all have those boots -- I'd bet a lot of money that all of those girls have those boots because they ride in them, and have been riding at one of Texas's sorority feeder summer camps for years (sorority-feeder camps are a thing in TX). So it's not just "We're Texas girls, we wear expensive cowboy boots." It's "We're Texas girls who have been to the right summer camps where we wore these boots as we learned to ride and care for horses because it's a thing here that people of our class do." It's not just about money, it's about shared lived experiences (that most people cannot afford, and that some people who can afford are clueless about).

Some schools are not like this, and have at least some houses that embrace diversity and first gen students.

You’re way over thinking the boots. Plus, the boots that you ride in, are not the type of boots that you’d wear any time other than riding.

- A former Mystic camper/UT sorority girl with a sister/cousin and many friends who were in sororities at SMU and went to Mystic or Waldemar

Inaccurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. I just looked up the process and my group takes recommendations from non-members now. They have also gotten rid of legacy preference. I don't know how many other groups have done this but there have been a lot of changes recently in the greek system.

Which sorority has gotten rid of legacy preference?

My niece just rushed and she is a legacy for Pi Phi…pi phi doesn’t provide legacy preference anymore.

Phi Mu ended legacy and recommendation preferential treatment a few years ago.

Same with Kappa Alpha Theta re legacy preference. Theta still asks for reference letters, but they don't have to be from members. Coaches, teachers, close family friends, etc. can write the letters for rushees.

[Anonymous]

Legacy almost hurt you when I was one - we’d be extra hard on the and want to cut early for any signs that it wouldn’t be a good fit. This is 25 years ago, but I don’t think being a legacy was all that helpful generally- then once you got in it people would remember the legacy part especially. (Yes rude all around not defending any of it)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. I just looked up the process and my group takes recommendations from non-members now. They have also gotten rid of legacy preference. I don't know how many other groups have done this but there have been a lot of changes recently in the greek system.

Which sorority has gotten rid of legacy preference?

DP. Almost all of them as far as I can tell. My sorority has, and I think it was one of the last to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a first gen student. I had zero interest in joining a sorority. Nobody in my social group growing up had any experience with them, so it was not on my radar.

Moving forward, my daughter is rushing this week. We are supporting her, a little reluctantly though. All the girls she has met her first semester are also rushing. Her school does not ask for recommendation letters from previous members, thank God, because we really don’t have those connections.

My question is, how disadvantaged is a first gen student who is rushing at one of the schools where they still ask for rec letters? Is that system in place to continue keeping the “poors” out of the greek system? Also, don’t get me started on how expensive some of those soroties cost. Just another reason why they are so out of reach for most first gen students.

Depends on the school. There's another thread about SMU rush right now that caught my eye because I grew up walking distance from SMU's campus (but did not go to school there); the system there is not so much about "keeping the 'poors' out" so much as keeping the people of a certain class and culture in -- which effectively keeps everyone else out. My DH who is from here (FFX) saw a picture of my niece with her sorority friends posing in identical outfits and they all had cowboy boots on and he asked me if wearing cowboy boots is a real thing in Texas. I laughed, and told him it is, but that isn't why they all have those boots -- I'd bet a lot of money that all of those girls have those boots because they ride in them, and have been riding at one of Texas's sorority feeder summer camps for years (sorority-feeder camps are a thing in TX). So it's not just "We're Texas girls, we wear expensive cowboy boots." It's "We're Texas girls who have been to the right summer camps where we wore these boots as we learned to ride and care for horses because it's a thing here that people of our class do." It's not just about money, it's about shared lived experiences (that most people cannot afford, and that some people who can afford are clueless about).

Some schools are not like this, and have at least some houses that embrace diversity and first gen students.

You’re way over thinking the boots. Plus, the boots that you ride in, are not the type of boots that you’d wear any time other than riding.

- A former Mystic camper/UT sorority girl with a sister/cousin and many friends who were in sororities at SMU and went to Mystic or Waldemar

+1. I’ve been to a SMU football game in the past year, and about 80% of the girls were wearing “cowboy” boots with cute dresses. However, these boots had never seen a horse (think tall white boots, like the ones you see on Instagram posts of girls attending bachelor parties in Nashville).

The whole Park Cities/Waldemar connection to SMU sororities is a thing, but much less influential than it used to be. Theta was kicked off campus last year, and it seems like 70% of the girls going out for rush are from California these days. It has made rush harder, since there’s one less sorority, but they are colonizing a couple of new ones, I think, and it will be interesting to see where the sorority scene ends up.

I think the school isn’t actively trying to get rid of Greek life, but they also aren’t cutting any of the houses any slack when they break the rules. There have been so many frats thrown out that the number of guys in frats has dropped and it’s really not as big a deal for boys (at least not like it used to be)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a first gen student. I had zero interest in joining a sorority. Nobody in my social group growing up had any experience with them, so it was not on my radar.

Moving forward, my daughter is rushing this week. We are supporting her, a little reluctantly though. All the girls she has met her first semester are also rushing. Her school does not ask for recommendation letters from previous members, thank God, because we really don’t have those connections.

My question is, how disadvantaged is a first gen student who is rushing at one of the schools where they still ask for rec letters? Is that system in place to continue keeping the “poors” out of the greek system? Also, don’t get me started on how expensive some of those soroties cost. Just another reason why they are so out of reach for most first gen students.

Depends on the school. There's another thread about SMU rush right now that caught my eye because I grew up walking distance from SMU's campus (but did not go to school there); the system there is not so much about "keeping the 'poors' out" so much as keeping the people of a certain class and culture in -- which effectively keeps everyone else out. My DH who is from here (FFX) saw a picture of my niece with her sorority friends posing in identical outfits and they all had cowboy boots on and he asked me if wearing cowboy boots is a real thing in Texas. I laughed, and told him it is, but that isn't why they all have those boots -- I'd bet a lot of money that all of those girls have those boots because they ride in them, and have been riding at one of Texas's sorority feeder summer camps for years (sorority-feeder camps are a thing in TX). So it's not just "We're Texas girls, we wear expensive cowboy boots." It's "We're Texas girls who have been to the right summer camps where we wore these boots as we learned to ride and care for horses because it's a thing here that people of our class do." It's not just about money, it's about shared lived experiences (that most people cannot afford, and that some people who can afford are clueless about).

Some schools are not like this, and have at least some houses that embrace diversity and first gen students.

You’re way over thinking the boots. Plus, the boots that you ride in, are not the type of boots that you’d wear any time other than riding.

- A former Mystic camper/UT sorority girl with a sister/cousin and many friends who were in sororities at SMU and went to Mystic or Waldemar

+1. I’ve been to a SMU football game in the past year, and about 80% of the girls were wearing “cowboy” boots with cute dresses. However, these boots had never seen a horse (think tall white boots, like the ones you see on Instagram posts of girls attending bachelor parties in Nashville).

The whole Park Cities/Waldemar connection to SMU sororities is a thing, but much less influential than it used to be. Theta was kicked off campus last year, and it seems like 70% of the girls going out for rush are from California these days. It has made rush harder, since there’s one less sorority, but they are colonizing a couple of new ones, I think, and it will be interesting to see where the sorority scene ends up.

I think the school isn’t actively trying to get rid of Greek life, but they also aren’t cutting any of the houses any slack when they break the rules. There have been so many frats thrown out that the number of guys in frats has dropped and it’s really not as big a deal for boys (at least not like it used to be)

ADPI came back this year and just participated in rush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my DD rushed this week - said being URM is a HUGE advantage with all sororities

Yes, after three years of such terrible rush experiences that mothers were sending their girls to the other big state U to avoid it, a house picked a girl with a visible disability and of course the school got lots of attention for it. It’s PR. “See, we’re nice and inclusive!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a first gen student. I had zero interest in joining a sorority. Nobody in my social group growing up had any experience with them, so it was not on my radar.

Moving forward, my daughter is rushing this week. We are supporting her, a little reluctantly though. All the girls she has met her first semester are also rushing. Her school does not ask for recommendation letters from previous members, thank God, because we really don’t have those connections.

My question is, how disadvantaged is a first gen student who is rushing at one of the schools where they still ask for rec letters? Is that system in place to continue keeping the “poors” out of the greek system? Also, don’t get me started on how expensive some of those soroties cost. Just another reason why they are so out of reach for most first gen students.

Depends on the school. There's another thread about SMU rush right now that caught my eye because I grew up walking distance from SMU's campus (but did not go to school there); the system there is not so much about "keeping the 'poors' out" so much as keeping the people of a certain class and culture in -- which effectively keeps everyone else out. My DH who is from here (FFX) saw a picture of my niece with her sorority friends posing in identical outfits and they all had cowboy boots on and he asked me if wearing cowboy boots is a real thing in Texas. I laughed, and told him it is, but that isn't why they all have those boots -- I'd bet a lot of money that all of those girls have those boots because they ride in them, and have been riding at one of Texas's sorority feeder summer camps for years (sorority-feeder camps are a thing in TX). So it's not just "We're Texas girls, we wear expensive cowboy boots." It's "We're Texas girls who have been to the right summer camps where we wore these boots as we learned to ride and care for horses because it's a thing here that people of our class do." It's not just about money, it's about shared lived experiences (that most people cannot afford, and that some people who can afford are clueless about).

Some schools are not like this, and have at least some houses that embrace diversity and first gen students.

You’re way over thinking the boots. Plus, the boots that you ride in, are not the type of boots that you’d wear any time other than riding.

- A former Mystic camper/UT sorority girl with a sister/cousin and many friends who were in sororities at SMU and went to Mystic or Waldemar

Inaccurate.

Nope. If you’re a sorority girl at SMU, the western boots you wear at school are NOT your riding boots.

-Have owned several horses, was a rider from childhood-20s, attended one of these camps and was in a sorority. BTW, most girls stop going to camp by age 15-16 and don’t ride after that. The boots have nothing to do with camp or riding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. I just looked up the process and my group takes recommendations from non-members now. They have also gotten rid of legacy preference. I don't know how many other groups have done this but there have been a lot of changes recently in the greek system.

Which sorority has gotten rid of legacy preference?

A number of them. It was in response to the wokeness wave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a first gen student. I had zero interest in joining a sorority. Nobody in my social group growing up had any experience with them, so it was not on my radar.

Moving forward, my daughter is rushing this week. We are supporting her, a little reluctantly though. All the girls she has met her first semester are also rushing. Her school does not ask for recommendation letters from previous members, thank God, because we really don’t have those connections.

My question is, how disadvantaged is a first gen student who is rushing at one of the schools where they still ask for rec letters? Is that system in place to continue keeping the “poors” out of the greek system? Also, don’t get me started on how expensive some of those soroties cost. Just another reason why they are so out of reach for most first gen students.

Depends on the school. There's another thread about SMU rush right now that caught my eye because I grew up walking distance from SMU's campus (but did not go to school there); the system there is not so much about "keeping the 'poors' out" so much as keeping the people of a certain class and culture in -- which effectively keeps everyone else out. My DH who is from here (FFX) saw a picture of my niece with her sorority friends posing in identical outfits and they all had cowboy boots on and he asked me if wearing cowboy boots is a real thing in Texas. I laughed, and told him it is, but that isn't why they all have those boots -- I'd bet a lot of money that all of those girls have those boots because they ride in them, and have been riding at one of Texas's sorority feeder summer camps for years (sorority-feeder camps are a thing in TX). So it's not just "We're Texas girls, we wear expensive cowboy boots." It's "We're Texas girls who have been to the right summer camps where we wore these boots as we learned to ride and care for horses because it's a thing here that people of our class do." It's not just about money, it's about shared lived experiences (that most people cannot afford, and that some people who can afford are clueless about).

Some schools are not like this, and have at least some houses that embrace diversity and first gen students.

You’re way over thinking the boots. Plus, the boots that you ride in, are not the type of boots that you’d wear any time other than riding.

- A former Mystic camper/UT sorority girl with a sister/cousin and many friends who were in sororities at SMU and went to Mystic or Waldemar

Inaccurate.

Nope. If you’re a sorority girl at SMU, the western boots you wear at school are NOT your riding boots.

-Have owned several horses, was a rider from childhood-20s, attended one of these camps and was in a sorority. BTW, most girls stop going to camp by age 15-16 and don’t ride after that. The boots have nothing to do with camp or riding.

+1. Riding and field boots are used at the barn. Not for social events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a first gen student. I had zero interest in joining a sorority. Nobody in my social group growing up had any experience with them, so it was not on my radar.

Moving forward, my daughter is rushing this week. We are supporting her, a little reluctantly though. All the girls she has met her first semester are also rushing. Her school does not ask for recommendation letters from previous members, thank God, because we really don’t have those connections.

My question is, how disadvantaged is a first gen student who is rushing at one of the schools where they still ask for rec letters? Is that system in place to continue keeping the “poors” out of the greek system? Also, don’t get me started on how expensive some of those soroties cost. Just another reason why they are so out of reach for most first gen students.

Depends on the school. There's another thread about SMU rush right now that caught my eye because I grew up walking distance from SMU's campus (but did not go to school there); the system there is not so much about "keeping the 'poors' out" so much as keeping the people of a certain class and culture in -- which effectively keeps everyone else out. My DH who is from here (FFX) saw a picture of my niece with her sorority friends posing in identical outfits and they all had cowboy boots on and he asked me if wearing cowboy boots is a real thing in Texas. I laughed, and told him it is, but that isn't why they all have those boots -- I'd bet a lot of money that all of those girls have those boots because they ride in them, and have been riding at one of Texas's sorority feeder summer camps for years (sorority-feeder camps are a thing in TX). So it's not just "We're Texas girls, we wear expensive cowboy boots." It's "We're Texas girls who have been to the right summer camps where we wore these boots as we learned to ride and care for horses because it's a thing here that people of our class do." It's not just about money, it's about shared lived experiences (that most people cannot afford, and that some people who can afford are clueless about).

Some schools are not like this, and have at least some houses that embrace diversity and first gen students.

You’re way over thinking the boots. Plus, the boots that you ride in, are not the type of boots that you’d wear any time other than riding.

- A former Mystic camper/UT sorority girl with a sister/cousin and many friends who were in sororities at SMU and went to Mystic or Waldemar

Inaccurate.

Nope. If you’re a sorority girl at SMU, the western boots you wear at school are NOT your riding boots.

-Have owned several horses, was a rider from childhood-20s, attended one of these camps and was in a sorority. BTW, most girls stop going to camp by age 15-16 and don’t ride after that. The boots have nothing to do with camp or riding.

+1. Riding and field boots are used at the barn. Not for social events.

+1 my dd rides and wouldn’t be caught dead in riding attire anywhere but around horses. I know it’s different western but trust me, they have barn boots and party boots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a first gen student. I had zero interest in joining a sorority. Nobody in my social group growing up had any experience with them, so it was not on my radar.

Moving forward, my daughter is rushing this week. We are supporting her, a little reluctantly though. All the girls she has met her first semester are also rushing. Her school does not ask for recommendation letters from previous members, thank God, because we really don’t have those connections.

My question is, how disadvantaged is a first gen student who is rushing at one of the schools where they still ask for rec letters? Is that system in place to continue keeping the “poors” out of the greek system? Also, don’t get me started on how expensive some of those soroties cost. Just another reason why they are so out of reach for most first gen students.

First generation students get recs by networking. It's an early lesson in networking. You start asking teachers and members of your church and your friends' moms and coaches if they were in a sorority. There are also alumni Panhel organizations which can help out with networking and getting recs. Recs don't keep first gen students out of the system. Also, during recruitmet, if a sorority wants a particular person, they will make sure that the PNM is introduced to an alumna during a recruitment event and the alumna will write a rec if necessary. I did that for a couple of years for my sorority as a new alumna. (Thankfully, we don't require recs anymore.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. I just looked up the process and my group takes recommendations from non-members now. They have also gotten rid of legacy preference. I don't know how many other groups have done this but there have been a lot of changes recently in the greek system.

Which sorority has gotten rid of legacy preference?

A number of them. It was in response to the wokeness wave.

It was NOT a response to "the wokeness wave." It is a response to the increasing number of PNMs who have legacy connections. A legacy can be a daughter, granddaughter, step daughter, sister or sometimes a niece. In that case, one PNM can be a legacy at multiple sororities and a sorority may have more legacies going through rush than there are spaces to put them in the pledge class. There wasn't enough space to take PNMs who are better matches for the group or who are better qualified. So, legacy preferences have been cut or scaled back. No one should get a free ride to membership. PNMs need to earn their place, regardless of who their mother is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. I just looked up the process and my group takes recommendations from non-members now. They have also gotten rid of legacy preference. I don't know how many other groups have done this but there have been a lot of changes recently in the greek system.

Which sorority has gotten rid of legacy preference?

Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and IRC, Kappa Delta

[Anonymous]

It’s chapter dependent. For example, if you’re not homegrown (from MA or AL) you’re not getting a bid at KD at Ole Miss or Bama.