Possible???

kia123 · #1 10-03-2002, 03:52 PM

After reading some rush threads, and some experiences of my own, I actually think greek offices/panhell screw up one time too many. I remember when I rushed as a naive little freshmen, really really loving xyz, and they had to be all about me(I didn't know the signs then but I know now) I mean EVERY sister came and talked to me, they talked about us hanging out after, were telling me about where their formal would be, and asked me would they see me tomorrow. Well the next day I went to pick up my invites, nope......I was dissapointed, but never thought to ask about it, just figured it was fake.
Every day from day 1 my rho chi was all about me. I mean she would ask me what glo I thought she was in, would always hug me and talk to me.....(After rush I found out she was in the same sorority, xyz)
Two days after rush while walking in the food court, like 5 xyz's passed me by... I felt awkward so I didn't say anything...Like 5 secs later they came running back into the food court and asked if I had dropped out of rush..I was like no, I'm pledging zyx. Not thinking then, obviously they were wondering why I dropped them???? I woudl give anything to go back in tiome sometimes and just speak up.
From the other side...I know there are girls we have invited back and seemed to really want us and not come back, I always wonder about the mistakes..... In my campus the only person who goes through the invites is the pres and vp of panhel..They have like one hour... I mean it's time to get at least a computer system
Im curious, has anyone else ever wondered about situations like this?????

UofIL AXO · #2 10-03-2002, 04:20 PM

I've heard of an incident similar to yours. My good friend was dropped by XYZ although she thought she had a great time and had a lot of friends already in the house. Later, a member asked her in confidence if she had dropped out of rush or why she didn't come back. The member was shocked to hear that my friend hadn't been asked back. I'm not sure if this was a computer error or maybe miscommunication through members. I can't readilly blame this on "the system" but after hearing many of these kind of stories I sometimes wonder if computer rush ever has mistakes?

SigK_Bama · #3 10-03-2002, 04:21 PM

I always wondered about things like this happening. You would like to think that in the Panhellenic spirit, everyone involved in the bid matching process would do their best to be honest and fair, no matter if they were dealing with their own chaper or another one. And in no way am I trying to place blame on anyone here or assume that there are greeks out there who blantantly sabotage the rush results, but I think that sometimes there were just a few too many "mistakes" to assume that it's all just the luck of the draw. At least on my campus. Maybe it was because our chapter got quota far less often than other bigger chapters, but there were rumors floating around that we were getting screwed on this and that, and most of it was sour apples in the fact that we felt we were wronged on some various issue. Another problem was that we hardly ever had representation on Pan Council. The offices were voted on by all of the sororities and it turned into a huge popularity contest in which the same sororities dominated certain positions year after year. The positions should have rotated. I saw the rush process from all three sides: rushee, active on the floor, and Rho Chi. Every year got dirtier and dirtier. And, in saying all of this, I'm not trying to have sour apples myself. We had the computer system that matches all of the bids, and even with that bit of technology, nothing can prepare you for 1) the VP of Rush's laptop getting stolen with all of the bid info in it, or 2) having the laptop and the program crash and having to rebuild all of the information literally overnight to prepare for the next day's parties.

Info can get lost, girls can fall between the cracks, people can screw up unintentionally, and one person here and there can add their own personal twist to rush proceedings. That's the "fun" of rush *cough, snort*.

Optimist Prime · #4 10-03-2002, 04:44 PM

why not just do have a time to fix mistakes between when bids go out and pledging starts??

maggieaxid · #5 10-03-2002, 05:12 PM

Everyone also has to remember that all orgs. have their own selection process-- some are more individual than others. members may not know why someone didn't come back-- whether they were dropped by the org, or if the PNM dropped them.... you can't always base your assumptions on computer glitches and paperwork errors...people have their own opinions of PNMs....and their vote too.

Jhawkalum · #6 10-03-2002, 05:24 PM

I was at a party two weeks after I went through rush (it was pretty late in the evening and she was pretty drunk) and this girl from my favorite house who had rushed me actually came up and asked: "What happened? I wanted you in our house so bad, did you drop us or did we drop you?" I told her the truth... I said "No, you guys dropped me, I was wondering the same thing." She just stood there with this dumb look on her face... everytime I saw her after that she just looked so embarassed!

So, if you see your rush crush on campus, don't asked them what happened, you might not like the answer!

sororitygirl2 · #7 10-03-2002, 05:45 PM

This is very true... in my chapter, only three members knew who was cut each night. I would be talking to my girls the next day and they would be so sad -- "I don't know why so-and-so cut us... I thought she was having fun" -- and I wasn't allowed to tell them that WE had dropped HER.

AchtungBaby80 · #8 10-03-2002, 05:55 PM

This might just be hearsay, I don't know, but it was said during Fall Rectruitment this year that some girls that we had cut after the first day were invited back because of a glitch in the computer system or some other kind of mistake. And of course, some girls we really wanted to invite back were supposedly accidentally cut...not by us, but by "the computer" (or whatever you call the system that handles invite lists and all that). I was also told that this same thing happened to another chapter on my campus a few years ago, except that it happened right before Pref...and this chapter consequently got a large number of girls they didn't really want in their pledge class. True or a bunch of hogwash, I can't say, but I know that technology isn't perfect and I really do believe that sometimes people get dropped or invited back unintentionally.

FuzzieAlum · #9 10-03-2002, 06:48 PM

We didn't use computers, so we were at the mercy of the honesty of the folks doing the invites and matching. You couldn't blame any mistakes on the machines. Naturally, humans can make honest mistakes, but ... let's just say if I was doing the bid-matching, I'd want people looking over my shoulder because I am sure I would make mistakes, whereas, er, the people in charge of our system did not feel the same way. I can't say they actually used the system to get away with things, but at best they shouldn't have been so certain they didn't need another check for human error.

AlphaSigLana · #10 10-04-2002, 12:06 AM

The same thing happened to me pretty much. I really wanted that house bc they were known for being smart. I think that she(the girl who rushed me-whom I loved) didn't know what my GPA was and I believe maybe my GPA played a part. Even though you only need a 2.5 for rush this house is known to take 3.0 or higher. Plus you sign a book at their house during rush where you write down your GPA.
Oh well, I'm one exchange and missing my sisters from the house I did join, like crazy!

ilovemyglo · #11 10-04-2002, 08:53 AM

Yes, mistakes do happen, even with a computer.
I was Vice President of Recruitment in 2001 and I checked the list each day to see if the women we invited back declined or accepted bit since things are so hectic I could only do it after parties were over. We only have 3 rounds here, too. So after 2nd rounds I saw that three PNMS we had invited back were neither listed as declined or accepted. I called panhellenic and was told that WE had dropped THEM... I knew this was wrong so our membership chair and myself went to the office looked at our cards and then panhellenic had to admit that the computer had screwed up and those three girls were accdentally dropped. We had to get our chapter together and decide what to do. In the end we invited the three girls back to prefs and had hte rho chis explain what happened to them. Two accepted and one of them is a sister.
But, yes, it does happen. That is why your chapter's membership team needs to review all of their lists EVERY DAY!

aephi alum · #12 10-04-2002, 05:16 PM

Mistakes do happen, and it's sad that a computer glitch or human error can result in heartbreak for a PNM who "should have" been invited back to her favorite sorority, but who was accidentally dropped.

I saw a situation where there were two girls with the same first and last name registered for rush. One of them never went to rush at all. The other went through and fell in love with XYZ during round 1, and they loved her too. You guessed it: They invited back the wrong PNM. It worked out well, though - the sorority realized the mistake and invited her to pref, and she received a bid.

honeychile · #13 10-04-2002, 06:18 PM

Interesting comparisons! Until I hear otherwise, I tend to assume that everyone does things the same way we do.

After each round, we would always take the time to announce to the chapter who would be invited to the next round and who would not be, so embarrassing situations could be kept to a minimum. Since it could get to be VERY late at night, this wasn't exactly fun at times, but it is necessary. Occassionally, an alumna would announce, "Hortense will not be receiving any further invitations," which meant, "Do not argue with that statement - there's either a darn good reason and/or she had a bad rec sheet".

We also had the 2 (and once 3!) girls with the same name situation. We were VERY explicit when handing in invitations in those cases!

nauadpi · #14 10-04-2002, 07:20 PM

The one computer glitch I know of at my school was on bid day a girl had slept through her alarm. Well it turns out that we were supposed to be giving her a bid, and she did not show up on our list. And later it was found out that she had not shown up on any list. The computer had dropped her name out of the system. Luckily later she contacted the Greek Life Office to find out what had gone on. Finally they realized that she should have recieved a bid from us. We had just thought she hadnt signed a pref card or was recieving a bid from another chapter. It was so confusing, but eventually it was straightened out.

Optimist Prime · #15 10-04-2002, 08:58 PM

Is she unhappy where she ended up? Maybe things happen for a reason, and fate put in her the right place.