NPC and NPHC/NPC Recruitment
In my last post, I covered common vocabulary/terms used in fraternities and sororities. I will be using many of those terms and abbreviations in this post.
Please note that this post is not written to disparage any particular organization/sorority or their practices. Additionally, this is not judgment and does not seek to show preference over one process or another. It is not my intention to incite hate or any racial bigotry. Instead, this post is intended to give concise information that may be useful to parents and PNMs.
The recruitment process will vary depending on the region, university/college, size and number of chapters on a campus, and the type of rush/pledging (e.g., formal, informal, NPC, NPHC, etc.) being held. The information discussed in this post most likely will pertain to sororities located at large southern universities. I am sure some of this information applies to smaller colleges/universities, other parts of the region, and fraternities as well.
NPC and NPHC
I covered this in my previous post, and I do not intend to rehash everything here. However, I want to do a quick recap of NPC and NPHC, as this post will discuss the recruitment process and what I found to be true in my daughter’s case. (Disclaimer: What I found to be true with my daughter’s experience may not apply to all others who are wanting to participate in recruitment.) To do this, a basic understanding of NPC and NPHC is necessary.
The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is composed of 26 national women’s sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Current members are the following: Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Zeta, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Mu, Phi Sigma Sigma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Kappa, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Theta Phi Alpha, and Zeta Tau Alpha. These sororities are historically, predominately Caucasian.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is composed of nine organizations (fraternities and sororities) that are historically, predominately African American. They sometimes are referred to as the “Divine Nine”. Current members are the following: International Greek letter Sororities and Fraternities: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Let me stress “historically, predominately”. This does not mean these organizations are not integrated or do not have members of minority races. (I’ll come back to this later.) In general, the recruitment/rushing/pledging for NPC and NPHC organizations are vastly different. In fact, it is the differences that have led me to research and ultimately writing these articles. Note that I said “different”. I am not claiming that one process is better than the other.
NPC Recruitment
Typically, NPC organizations participate in a formal rush or recruiting process, where all potential new members (PNM) a given an opportunity to meet members of all participating sororities to determine if they would be a good fit. It is a mutual selection process and consists of multiple rounds.
The following is an overview of what a typical NPC sorority rush would look like. The process begins with completing an application to participate in recruitment. This entails a pledge (or who is now referred to as a Potential New Member or PNM since “pledge has many negative connotations) listing basic information about herself (e.g., name, birthday, the school she graduated from, classification, major, etc.). During this, she will also be asked to provide proof of enrollment in the college/university, a high school transcript to verify GPA, a photo, and an application fee. It is all pretty straightforward. Most universities/colleges do these registrations online, but some may still use a paper form. There is a fee, the first of many, associated with this.
Now, for those budget conscious parents, here’s a very important tip that I learned the hard (meaning expensive way). Most registration fees are non-refundable. So, parents will want to be sure recruitment is a process their child is serious about doing. The fee varies, depending on the institution. At my daughter’s university, the cost started at about $120.00 and was arranged in tiers. The later the registration, the more expensive. Because my daughter drug her feet, her registration fee was almost double the original fee. The lesson here: register early. Even dropping out and losing the initial fee would have been cheaper than registering late.
At my daughter’s university, there is a website dedicated to NPC recruitment that gives additional information (e.g., the types of events/parties, what to wear, where to send recommendations, bios of the sororities, etc.). My daughter’s university also asked her to upload a photo and resume. Let me stop here, and briefly discuss each of these.
First, if the university has one of these websites, visit it. Read every word. Learn it. This will later be your friend and save lots of headaches. As soon as the decision is made to begin recruitment, begin working on these things. Start in advance, and do not wait until the last minute. Many of the things listed have deadlines. Also, the longer one waits for enrolling, the more expensive the application fee is. Signing up two weeks earlier can save a hundred bucks.
What I’m about to list next will scratch up a lot of folks’ dandruff. Go shopping. Now, many will claim that PNMs are not judged by appearance or what they are wearing but think about this. How realistic is that view? Hundreds of PNMs registered for an allotted number of slots in each sorority. They have only a few minutes to impress a handful of active members in very generic conversations that are repeated by nearly every PNM. How will one stand out and be remembered? Sure, it may be a witty conversation. But ask yourself how many times have you remembered a person based on some physical attribute or possession rather than something they said. “Sally, the woman with the cute shoes, works in accounting.” “How can you forget Jill? She was wearing the bright orange lipstick and had the live python around her neck.” This is not to imply that active members are superficial or snooty.
There’s another very practical reason clothing would be important. A sorority may have 500 active members, but during open house, a PNM may on talk with 2 or 3 of the 500. How a PNM is dressed may snag the eye of an active member across the room who is not in her bump group. This may draw the interest of other members to want to meet the PNM.
Furthermore, if one searches YouTube, there are dozens of what to wear at recruitment vlogs. Collegiate line up to model their outfits, jewelry, makeup and tell where each article was purchased. If one watches enough of these things, one will notice common themes. Honestly, some brands may want to consider becoming an official endorser of recruitment. If clothing was not an important aspect, why would so many people take the time to post these types of vlogs and videos? My conclusion is because it is important. This isn’t to say one needs to spend hundreds of dollars on clothing or shop on Rodeo Drive—especially, not in this economy. It does mean PNM may want to plan a recruitment wardrobe that is cute, functional, put together, coordinated, and fills her with confidence. Shopping early will afford PNM options and ensure that she meets dress requirements. Let me give another example.
My daughter’s rush happened late. Many southern sororities hold their formal fall rush a few weeks before classes begin or the first week of classes. Generally, this is the middle or late August. At my daughter’s university, rush did not begin until the last week of September. Anyone who knows anything about the south knows the weather can be very finicky. It’s not unheard of to have snow in late April or 85 degrees on Christmas Day. One never really knows. Usually, hot is what should be expected. However, September is one of those bipolar months where one day it is toasty and the next sweater weather. A few events during recruitment specify “cocktail attire”. My daughter is a good distance from home, and her schedule does not allow for many weekend visits. Basically, what she has with her is all that she has. She does not have a car on campus; although, she does have access to public transportation that could take her to the mall. So, if necessary, she might purchase another outfit if need. However, it is more convenient to have this all sorted prior to rush beginning. My point is, starting early will alleviate stress by creating a backup plan.
For the “cocktail” event, I purchased two outfits for my daughter—one for very hot weather and one for milder weather. On three of the days, my daughter was given a t-shirt to wear. One would think this is nice because it negated having to plan. Wrong! I do not know how it works at other universities, but my daughter was not informed of the color or designs of the t-shirts until a week prior to the first day of rush. That meant shopping bottoms clueless as to if they would match. Again, a PNM wants to stand out in the sea of PNMs. Therefore, the bottoms should be “cute”. (They also should be appropriate. That should go without saying, but several girls didn’t get the memo and ended up getting cut for looking like a hoochie. One guideline of southern recruitment is to cover it up. No one says a PNM must look like a nun, but strip club Debbie needs to not make an appearance.) A good solution is a denim skirt with some type of detailing. I purchased my daughter striped, linen shorts in neutral colors. Purchasing a stripe was a little risky, but it worked out.
While on the subject of clothing, I purchased all of my daughter’s recruitment outfits from boutiques. By no means should parent feel this is a must, but here’s why I did it. First, I like to support local businesses when I can. Second, the quality of some (not all) of their clothes was better than what I could find in some of the larger chains. Third, the boutiques offered more unique styles. The large chain stores would have racks of the same dress. In the boutiques, there were fewer of the same styles, and some brands were exclusive to small stores. Another reason was for sizes/fit. My daughter can be difficult to fit in dresses. She’s tall but petit and that combo is havoc for dress shopping. If something fits her body, it’s too short. And if the length is correct, it looks like a sack. I don’t know why, but I have an easier time finding her dresses in smaller stores.
I didn’t just shop for clothes. I made sure each outfit, she would have accessories. Anyone who knows my child knows she is not an accessory person. In fact, she’s not a fashion person at all. She’d prefer a baggy t-shirt, jeans, hair in a messy bun, and no makeup any day. And while I find nothing wrong with her style, I did explain to her that while she might feel “dressing up” was superficial, sororities would view it as her putting in an effort. Rushing is very much a competition. PNMs are competing for a place in a sorority. Sororities are competing for the best girls. A PNM who outwardly appears to be making an investment increases her odds of being accepted into her first-choice sorority than a PNM who looks as if she’s been ridden hard and put up wet. What I told my daughter is that she’s not expected to change her personality, values, or who she is, but she did have to play on someone else’s field for a while. The key is to find the medium. I suggested she search for articles she liked and felt comfortable wearing. For example, she doesn’t normally wear earrings. But she likes mermaids (probably from Harry Potter) and found a cute pair of mermaid earrings.
Some will argue that clothing, designers, and the way a PNM dresses have no effect on the selection process. I scream bull at the top of my lungs. So, enough about clothes.
Resumes. As an associate said to me, “Sororities are a business.” I couldn’t agree more after seeing this process from a parent’s point-of-view. Every job I’ve ever applied wanted a resume and/or work history. Sororities want the same. Resumes need to be well-constructed and edited. They should include honors, awards, athletics, social organizations, community service, extracurricular activities, jobs, volunteer work, talents, GPA, class placement/rank, study abroad work, and any achievements the PNM may have. Again, some sororities want this on paper while others prefer a digital format. A PNM should not skimp on the resume. It is important.
I can’t say the same thing about letters of recommendation. I don’t know how important recommendations really are, but they are not bad to have. I’m going to veer off slightly again here. According to my daughter’s university NPC’s website, PNMs are informed to obtain a letter recommendation from a sorority alumnae member in good standing from each of the participating NPC sororities. Initially, I thought it was requesting one recommendation that would be attached to her application account and distributed amongst all NPC sororities. Nope. As I said, the requirement is for at least one recommendation from an alumna of each NPC sorority. Since there are there are 11 NPC sororities at my daughter’s university, that meant she needed at least 11 recommendations. (Did I mention starting early and that everything has deadlines?) This perhaps was the biggest pain of preparing for rush.
The problem was, my daughter did not know anyone (active or alumnae) in an NPC sorority. (Well, it turned out later that she did know a few actives but actives are not allowed to write recommendations.) The information listed on the NPC website. suggested contacting an alumnae chapter in the PNM’s hometown or region. However, contacting an alumnae chapter did not guarantee a recommendation. In fact, some alum chapters returned letters that seemed they were offended for being asked. Others were nice but declined, and some did give a recommendation. But how much weight does a recommendation hold when written by a stranger whose only contact with the PNM has been an email asking for a letter of recommendation? Although it was not said directly, it was implied that recommendations from local chapters may hold less weight than recommendations from alums who personally know the PNM. This is logical, but here is the rub. Different universities have different sororities. So, once your daughter determines which university she will attend, she will need to find the listing of all sororities and beginning seeking out alumna members.
Fortunately, I had several contacts that I was able to ask for recommendations on her behalf. Since it’s been many years ago since I graduated, I could not remember which sororities my associates were members. For many, I hadn’t seen in years and only kept track of through social media. I figured it would be rude to ask and not put forth any effort to discover what sororities my former classmates were members. Some I did remember, but I had either lost contact with them or they have passed.
I should note that the recruitment package stated letters of recommendation were not “required” but strongly encouraged. Uh-huh. Do not listen to this. My daughter’s recruitment class consisted of approximately 1,400 PNM. Each sorority has a “quota” of recruits. Some of the PNMs are legacies, which means they are given preference or may be accepted automatically. Legacies potentially decrease the number of available spots. With the 1,400 PNMs, there is no way each member will meet individually with each PNM for an interview. Yet, they will need to cut PNMs from the recruitment. A letter of recommendation may be the determining factor as to if a PNM is cut. However, my daughter’s Recruitment Counselor informed her group that she did not acquire any recommendations during her recruitment, and she still achieved the maximum number of invites each round. And on Bid Day, she got accepted into her top choice. This would indicate, either she was a very strong candidate or recommendations don’t mean a flip. My philosophy is: “don’t give them any reason”. A PNM should want to check as many boxes on the application list as possible.
Next are photos. I didn’t give this much thought until after the fact. What could they be using photos for? Simple, to identify the PNM when they visit the houses. Sure, that’s probably one reason. Then, it dawned on me—cutting. Now, what I’m about to discuss next is 100% my opinion. No one has verified any of this about the photos, but I’m betting my assumption is spot-on. In my research, I read and watched a lot about preffing and the process of releasing PNMs. Basically, at the end of each round, active members gather to discuss which PNMs they would like to return for the following round. In the old days, this was done by reading PNMs name from a list and asking members if they knew anything about her that would make her an asset or concern for the sorority. (In general, this was only done with in-state PNMs, as it was assumed members would not know the out-of-state PNMs.) With more women now attending college, some are bound to have the same name. Take for instance a name like Susan Smith. Even if the hometown is known, what if the address listed on the application is new because the PNM moved recently. Or maybe, there are several Susan Smiths in the same town. How could actives be sure they were discussing the right Susan Smith. Well, a photo would eliminate guessing.
But having a visual also allows actives to consider a PNM appearance. This may not be right, but it’s a fact. If a PNM photographs well, it may boost her chances. Why? Because sororities often upload pictures to their social media to increase interest in their organization. Lots of opinions will be formed based on social media images. Another reason—boys. Oh, I’m pretty sure I’ll get flack for saying that, but check out some of the websites that rank Greek organizations. (I cover ranking websites later.) Call them trolls and petty, but many of these ranking websites have a “hotness” category. Guys frequently rank sororities by how cute they consider the members to be. Personally, I find that sexist and pretty darn appalling. Yet, I cannot eliminate it as a reason active members may want to keep or cut a PNM. My suggestion is that PNMs should submit good pictures that lean towards the modest side. A selfie at the club doing body shots may not be the way to go for this one. A senior portrait, on the other hand, may be sufficient. Give some consideration to the photo. Allow it to be fun but not outrageous. My daughter added photos to her resume. Each showed her personality and interest. The first was her casual senior portrait/headshot with her everyday playful smile and vintage style. The second was from a dance recital that showed her poise and grace (which is really deceitful considering how clumsy she is), and the final was a prom picture that shows a rare instance of her wearing makeup and being glamorous.
On a similar note, many vlogs mentioned that sororities stalk PNMs in the sense that they troll their social media pages. One even went as far as saying they Google Earth home addresses to see what neighborhoods PNMs resides. If that’s true, that’s very alarming. The claim is sororities search PNMs via social media to ensure a PNM does not have a reputation that could harm the sorority and to match actives to PNM during events. For example, the actives assigned to interview my daughter may be members who are involved in dance or enjoy reading (her prom photo was taken in front of a library mural while she pretended to read—she really does love reading).
Hence, it may be beneficial for PNMs to make their social media accounts private or edit the content to ensure nothing controversial is there. This includes removing tags in posts on friends’ pages that may be unflattering (e.g., being in pictures where alcohol is present or while wearing racy attire). It also may include uploading photos that positively boost image (e.g., working a booth at a charity event, winning an award, participating in a sport, etc.). Also, the PNM should not forget to review sites she is following and considers unfollowing any that may be perceived as negative. Whatever deleting or uploading a PNM decides to do her social media accounts, she should do it prior to submitting her recruitment application. Once the sorority has the PNM’s application, the PNM come on the radar.
Finally, bios of the sororities. This is a no-brainer. The more a PNM knows about a sorority, the more impressed members will be. They will recognize a PNM has done her research and has taken a genuine interest in the sorority. Taking an interest does not mean a PNM needs to quote the sororities timeline, but she should know general information about the sorority (e.g., what charities they are associated with, their symbol, some of their activities on campus). Most campus sororities have chapter websites or public pages. Information about the is easily accessible and only takes a few minutes to learn a little about them. It may help make conversations easier.
I mention application fee earlier but let me touch on fees again. On the university NPC website, the dues/fees of membership for each sorority usually is listed. Some of these can be expensive ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars per semester. Viewing them earlier will prevent a huge shock later and allow time to plan how to finance.
All of this happens in the first step of the application process, and I’m sure there are some things that I accidentally omitted. If you’re reading this and feeling overwhelmed, don’t. Remember, thoughts of PNMs and their parents go through this each year and survive. Hopefully, this blog is breaking down the process to digestible parts that will allow PNMs and their parents to prepare. Preparation is the key. It’s the unknown to be feared. As I mentioned previously, I had questions and could not find many of the answers. The answers I did find I spent hours searching across multiple sites. This blog will attempt to put all the answers to the questions I had in a central location. In the next post, I will continue discussing the NPC Recruiting process…moving on to step two.
If you liked this article or found it helpful, please leave a like or a comment below. I would love to hear from you. You can also email me questions at genevivechamblee@yahoo.com. And if you would like for me to do more of these type posts, let me know that, too. Subscribe to my blog Creole Bayou at www.genevivechambleeconnect.wordpress.com to see what other content I have. I post there every Wednesday.
Additional sites readers may find helpful:
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https://genevivechambleeconnect.wordpress.com/2018/12/10/vocabulary-common-terms/
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