After growing up in the best part of the country, BestCoast is now learning to appreciate snow and beer in a state where fried cheese is a delicacy. As a former sorority president and current law student she welcomes any and all comparisons to Elle Woods. When her head isn't in a textbook she can be found yelling at football referees and roping polite strangers in to Deep Meaningful Conversations about their life choices.
I think it is wonderful that you have the bravery to share your story. I was heavily cut after the first round of recruitment and I still don’t like to discuss it, despite having ended up in the best possible chapter for me. As a 2 time PNM you have every right to say that the process is hard on PNMS or that you wish things had gone differently. To say that the membership selection process of NPC organizations isn’t aligning with their values is out of bounds however when you have never been on the other side of the process. Until you have that experience you aren’t in a position to comment on the criteria used to determine invite lists. Membership selection is a private process, and it is as simple as that. It probably isn’t that chapters hated you or any of your friends, it just may have been that there were X number of girls they liked better and the number of invites available was limited. RFM was designed to ensure parity between chapters and reward PNMs who maximize their options, and while I have my own set of gripes with the system, it has been predominately successful on a variety of campuses.If we’re being honest the majority of PNMs who go unplaced are those who choose to drop out while still having 1 or more chapters on their schedule, and statistics from most major universities corroborate this. Sometimes there are tangible steps a campus Panhellenic can and should take to increase placement rates, for example my campus added a second quota for Panhellenic this year. The entire process is complicated and stressful on both sides, and I’m sorry you had to watch your friends experience heartbreak. Please though, do not throw around blanket statements regarding private selections process’. Frankly, it is insulting, makes you sound bitter, and detracts from any other insight you might offer. Also don’t be so quick to throw the fraternity process up on a pedestal, because goodness knows who you know in a house has every bit as much weight, if not more, with men as with women. Good luck with the rest your collegiate career, and I hope that you find an organization that offers the experience you’re looking for.
This is WONDERFUL! Panhel love ladies, you nailed it <3
I think it is wonderful that you have the bravery to share your story. I was heavily cut after the first round of recruitment and I still don’t like to discuss it, despite having ended up in the best possible chapter for me. As a 2 time PNM you have every right to say that the process is hard on PNMS or that you wish things had gone differently. To say that the membership selection process of NPC organizations isn’t aligning with their values is out of bounds however when you have never been on the other side of the process. Until you have that experience you aren’t in a position to comment on the criteria used to determine invite lists. Membership selection is a private process, and it is as simple as that. It probably isn’t that chapters hated you or any of your friends, it just may have been that there were X number of girls they liked better and the number of invites available was limited. RFM was designed to ensure parity between chapters and reward PNMs who maximize their options, and while I have my own set of gripes with the system, it has been predominately successful on a variety of campuses.If we’re being honest the majority of PNMs who go unplaced are those who choose to drop out while still having 1 or more chapters on their schedule, and statistics from most major universities corroborate this. Sometimes there are tangible steps a campus Panhellenic can and should take to increase placement rates, for example my campus added a second quota for Panhellenic this year. The entire process is complicated and stressful on both sides, and I’m sorry you had to watch your friends experience heartbreak. Please though, do not throw around blanket statements regarding private selections process’. Frankly, it is insulting, makes you sound bitter, and detracts from any other insight you might offer. Also don’t be so quick to throw the fraternity process up on a pedestal, because goodness knows who you know in a house has every bit as much weight, if not more, with men as with women. Good luck with the rest your collegiate career, and I hope that you find an organization that offers the experience you’re looking for.