Rushing in the North
 

So, obviously rushing in the northern half of the united states, particularly the Midwest, is completely different from rushing in the Southern half. The main difference is that we rush to pledge the young men in, rather than the young men rushing to join us. It is a much, much, MUCH more difficult process.

Well my fraternity is running into a bit of a hard place currently. Our numbers are the lowest they have ever been and we can't seem to catch a break anywhere. Dorm storming is illegal on campus, and campus authorities are pretty much unresponsive to everything we do thats not illegal.

What I am writing this thread about is any assistance possible for rushing, ideas, suggestions, pretty much anything. Mainly ideas to try to dramatically change the way we think about rushing. Everything around here is very stagnant and I think there needs to be a dynamic change.

Any assistance would be very welcome.

Greg Malcolm
Guard
Kappa Sigma
Nu Zeta

Tell us a little more about your school's IFC and your chapter. How many fraternities are there? How big are they? Do any fraternities have houses? Does your chapter have a house? How is fraternity rush structured at your school? Can first-semester freshmen pledge or is rush deferred? What sorts of events/techniques have you been using? What would you say is your chapter's problem (image, lack of visibilty, etc.)? It's really hard to give advice to a struggling chapter without knowing anything else.

ETA: If Good Guys is anything like I Heart Recruitment, it has good advice on how to meet potential members and introduce them to your brotherhood, rather than having rush events and hoping that great potential members just magically appear and are dying to join your chapter.

Based on his signature, he's at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

http://www.uwosh.edu/KS/home_2.html

http://www.reeve.uwosh.edu/greek/?page=organizations

I've read both books and they're very similar and I think would be a great place to start with an open bidding campaign. I really like the philosophy that you make a friend before you make a brother/sister.

I can't help you at this broski...

perhaps try a few barbeques...

Have like a pig roast or something. With free beer. Free beer and free pig will attract people.

Do they even know what this is in the North?

I'm being serious.

Bar-b-queing to them means simply throwing on a hamburger I think.

bratwurst, sausages, dogs, burgers, steaks with good marinade.

otherwise have a few parties, get lots of girls to go, forget to invite the wierd brothers.

have everyone look their best all the time.

In Wisconsin, it would be Brats and other fabulous sausages, and beer.

The face is still on the pig. Hideous.

I thought pig roasts were common. Guess thats just another thing the north misses out on.
I was going to say a crawfish boil at first but then I realized that those are definitely not known up north.
Well, since you are in Wisconsin, brats and beer are your best bet.

And by delicious I'm sure you mean spine tingling, roasted, suckling goodness.

More for you, mac, I'm a vegetarian.

ETA: It must be a guy thing, It feeds the male primal urges to roast a whole animal on a spit.

The Northerners that I know do.

If these don't, they can Google it.

Yes, Pig roast is known to happen just about everywhere Brother;):D
But would they dip it in cheese where the OP is from????:confused::confused::rolleyes::eek:

Perhaps, as other have posted, best to stay true to the traditions of location unless other wise known.

Yeah, it's even known out here in California. I've been to two! :eek:

Oh, come on, guys, really. The south does NOT have the corner on bbq'ing. You should see the stuff that gets cooked and how it gets cooked up here (especially during and after hunting season ;)).

As to the OP's location, I found plenty of references to pig roasts in WI, here's an example: http://eauclairefood.blogspot.com/20...pig-roast.html

Haha. That's pretty funny.

I think people were debating about whether pigs are roasted in other parts of the country or not. Everyone barbecues. Even Norwegians barbecue! (ok...that may be a stretch...)

Yes. I hate it when Northerners say "I'm bar-b-quieng" while cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. No you're not. You're "grilling out", "having a cook out", etc.

you know i dont think ive ever roasted a pig on a stick, but now im really liking the idea of it!!!

Why don't we have more of these?

Our Phi Sigma Kappa chapter has a pig roast every homecoming. I would prefer a crawfish boil, I have to say, but I don't think we can get those out of the river.

We usually have a few crawfish boils a year. Great food.

south>north

hardly. Not saying one is better than the other, but both have their ups and downs. Having spent significant time in both, I'd rather live in the (preppy) northeast, mainly though, because I prefer fresh lobster to fresh crawfish.

then again I could be biased because I am born and bred in the north east. however nowhere beats beale street.

also, classifying the north as guidos, is the same as classifying the south as rednecks. In both situations they exist and get more attention than they are worth.

But out here they tend to be more Filipino or Hawaiian style than Southern BBQ style. Do Southerners bury the pig for a few days?

I agree.

I also hate when Northerners think they are outsmarting "those slow Southerners." Even those who aren't from the "Deep South." I met this cornball the other day who tried to be a fast talking Northerner with me. He's from Jersey. I was like :rolleyes: "tell me something I don't know."

******

MTV's True Life: I'm a Southern Belle is on right now and it's the MOST ANNOYING THING. I don't know any Southern Belles but I'm guessing (or hoping?) they aren't as annoying as they are depicted on this show. :)

If they are down on numbers I highly doubt they can afford a pig roast.

Many campuses I know of have dry rush and take that seriously - nixing the beer idea.

I feel their best option is to get the list of incoming men and send them all a nice mailer and then have rush events over the summer, getting a jump on the other fraternities. Show how getting involved in your currently small chapter can give them an opportunity to help build a fraternity that they can take some real pride in.

Why wouldn't we? I have been to a pig roast, and let me tell you, I will never again. Seeing that face as it spun around and around really freaked me out. I don't eat pork anyway, so it WAS burgers on the grill for me!

Clam Bakes are huge in our area. They typically take place in the fall.

I think the whole idea is to get men interested in coming up to your house. One suggestion would be to center the theme of your event around an informal holiday.

For instance, in early May, you could do Cinco de Mayo and have a fiesta. During the World Series, do Hot Dogs, Brats, Peanuts and whatever else they serve at a Baseball game. Or, do a Sports Bar theme with several TVs going with different games, serving chicken wings and other bar food. I know of one fraternity that does Poker night, with beer and cigars.