Why A Wet Rush?
 

If the "target" of RUSH is Freshman students (generally speaking) and most Freshman students are under the legal drinking age of 21 (generally speaking),

Why would you want to commit an illegal act by giving the beverages that they are not legally allowed to have?

I agree that the rules presented (All RUSH events will be dry) should also have some contextual explainations (just my opinion/suggestion) provided.

However, common sense of the chapters should also recognize that not all students are of legal age to drink and creating the proper party space so underage persons do no get served is more hassle than just having a good time without alcohol.

I can accept that most freshman cannot legally drink...but in actuality neither the cops, school, nor most bars really care about that. If that law was taken seriously then it would be different.

I think there is a middle ground between Coramoor and the other "rules are rules" guys.

The first thing is that I believe is important is campus climate. If you're going to be the only house using a completely dry rush, then you're at a competitive disadvantage.

The reverse of that scenario (only wet rush) doesn't mean a competitive advantage, but more than likely that you're going to be bringing in a very different type of member.

I don't think that rules should necessarily be follewed just because they are on the books. If there is rationale, then they should be followed to a T, regardless of whether you feel the rationale is appropriate. At least to a certain extent.

However I don't buy into the "alcohol is everywhere, so that's why we have a wet rush." Yes, alcohol is a social lubricant, and it is a part of being an adult. being able to handle alcohol responsibly is a big deal of being mature, but that's not justification for rushing with it.

The most important thing that I consider in the arguement is if going one way or the other is going to prevent or enhance your chapters ability to get the cream of the crop of rushees.

For my chapter, we do use a completely dry rush. (Although as soon as a guy signs, he's usually invited to every subsequent post rush event party). Most of the rush done by other houses is also dry, although every summer there are rumors and known cases in which a rushee was taken to a party by a chapter as sort of a way to tip the scales. It happens, and sometimes chapters do get caught by Greek Affairs (very tough to prove though). However, dry rushing has not prevented us from competeting for any rushee since the year I pledged. It hasn't hampered our ability to be a great chapter. Yes, we've lost out on guys here and there because of it, but in the end, it hasn't hurt us. The fact that we arent' handicapped from bringing in a great pledge class combined with the possible penalties from Greek Affairs, pretty much means that for us there is no benefit to providing booze to rushees. If things changed and possible repurcussions diminished, and we needed to keep up, I believe that I could support going to a wet rush policy.

It's also not a matter of "what type of members" you'll bring in, or get interested in your chapter, because you have to remember that you're still in control of the bids. There are plenty of good, successful Betas who enjoy the hooch **raises hand**. There are also plenty of shitty, piss poor members who have never touched the stuff. If you think a kid is only there for the parties and the fact that you gave him alcohol, then you don't have to give him a bid.

In the end, I really think that every chapter should be reaching for those rushees that did it all in HS and early college careers. The guys who got good grades, played sports, did community service, had a job, like to party, pull all sorts of girls, and are basically just all around rock stars. If that's the goal, then your chapter needs to be doing what it can to be competitive for those types of guys.

Recruitment can always be improved. We are doing ok with how things are, but the goal I set for the recruitment chair this semester is to begin an effort over the summer. I'm wrestling with a few ideas on how best to do that.

1.Regional captains. There are about 4 main areas that I think we can begin our efforts in. The first criteria is to have brothers in these areas.

2.Funding. I will try to have local alumni from those areas help fund the effort.

3.Contacting potential men from those area's that are going to attend my school. I'm going to check into the my school's admission/records and see if I can get a list of incoming students. Hopefully I can. It would be nice if I could get more info before the initial contact, but it might come down to just sending an RTS letter to their homes. Hopefully their parents will have them respond b/c of the potential money.
**Does anyone have any more input on this?

Perhaps contacting the highschool/coach/teachers or something.

4.Set up small gatherings to meet the guys and sell them Beta.

5.Make the transition to them pledging here.

One problem we've had in the past is guys being very interested in Beta, but then when rush comes we loose them. I have some ideas of why, but nothing concrete.



We are up to 12 pledges now, one guy that decided to def. until next semester changed his mind and is pledging now.

University of San Diego's rush just ended today with a 20 gentleman Gamma pledge class. Active membership is ~36.

That's awesome. Do you guys have deferred rush?

I graduated last May but freshman have deferred rush, all others can rush either semester.

Do you usually have more numbers in ther spring or fall?

Spring semester is the large one.

Alpha Beta at Iowa, 6 new members this semester