How is your Fraternity Rush structured?
 

Okay, so this year I'm a Rho Chi (Rush Counselor) and have to guide the little fratpups through rush...that being said...how does it work at your University?

Ours is very structured to the point of the girls...but I'll start..

We have 14 fraternities on our campus now (when I rushed, it was only 12 or 13)... the first two days are round one. Every rushee goes to every house in round one. On the first day you go to seven houses, on the second day, a different set of seven houses. Each "party" lasts for 20 minutes, and you have 10 minutes to get to the next house. Each party will hold somewhere around 40-45 guys in it. People give speeches about alumni etc, the speaker stands up says "guys stand up and meet my brothers", and you get to talk to them for 10 minutes. At the end of the 2nd day, you sit with your rho chi's and one by one they give you a list of fraternities that want you back. If you have more than 6, you cut fraternities down to 6 (or maybe 7...this year..half it)
On the 3rd day, you go to each of the 6 houses you picked for 30 minutes...with 10 minutes to get from house to house. That night you cut them down to 3.
On the 4th day (pref night), you go to the 3 houses you had left and get to talk for an hour and twenty minutes.
That night order the 3 from favorite to least favorite. Get your bids at 12 noon on the next day (Sunday).

That was kind of long, but if you have a short version, lets hear it.

Wow. That just reminded me how much I hate formal rush.

I'm confused on two issues.

1 - You say that when you rushed there were only 12 or 13 houses. But, I thought you previously stated that you pledged and joined at LSU.

2 - Did they make a special exemption for you to be a Rho Chi? Rho Chi's at Arkansas (at least according to my friend in the Greek Life office) have to be active and affiliated the semester before rush. By your own admittance you are not enrolled this semester and had refused to affiliate with the chapter at Arkansas.

If you could just clear this up, it would be appreciated.

I was just thinking the same thing.
This OP not only seems to change background a great deal, but this is the first time they have claimed not to know something.
Usually they post as if they know everything, about everyone, everywhere.
And in prior postings, indicated that they were off campus this year, and did not know what was going on:confused:

What an interesting process!

Monday-Thursday
9-12
Go to houses, meet guys, get a bid.
12-2
Every fraternity rents out a different bar

I am being confused also!:confused:

Sounds strangely like a wantabee who acts like an I am?:rolleyes:

Never said I wasn't enrolled.

Said I was not on campus. I'm currently taking 6 hours at the UofA...but not in the same Hemisphere. Enjoy that mindfuck.

I kind of like how formal our process is. It forces people to consider every house...even if some are wastes of time.

You don't necessarily need IFC to make cuts, you can just have 1 or 2 open house parties and make subsequent parties be invite only (make calls and have rushees check in with brothers who have a guest list), and explain that to every rushee that comes to open house right before they leave. You'd still have to make calls, but you could delegate that to 3-4 brothers so one person doesn't have to do all the calling.

If you have 2-3 brothers greeting and checking in rushees that were invited back at the door, you won't have guys you don't want at the party, and that means you don't have to waste time talking to guys you would never bid(and money on the food they may eat), which means focusing more time and energy on the guys you do want. Even if a rushee is so thick skulled to show up at the house after not being called (and informed of the "we'll call you" policy), the brothers with the list at the door can explain to him that he was not invited back, encourage him to check out other fraternities, etc.

Correct me if I am wrong, but don't you need to carry a full courseload to be active in a GLO, let alone be an officer? I thought that it was standard?

We don't have "formal rush."
Thank God..

On Monday you get the chance to meet all the fraternities during a 5-10 minute presentation for each one, and then after that you just go to the different events the fraternity is doing throughout the week. And the "Meet the Fraternities" thing isn't even mandatory for rushees.

If I was forced to have visited/talked to/mingle with every fraternity I would've killed myself.

Rules are not the same everywhere.

Well, that answers one question. What about the others? Did they grant you an exemption? You have to be carrying a full course load and be affiliated with a chapter the semester before rush. You've said that you refuse to affiliate with a bunch of "Shanes". Did you change your mind?

Just curious.

I dont know.
We have a big BBQ and then the PNMs just start rolling in for a few hours every day for like four or five days. We invite some back and stuff. I don't know the exact rules. I just meet the ones I like and then vote on bids. Regardless, the system works.

And just how can one be a Rho Chi if one is not in the same Hemisphere?

Perhaps because I'll be in the same Hemisphere during Rush in the Fall...

good lord what kind of idiot are you?

But I'm glad you've effectively highjacked the thread for your own pursuits...if you have questions feel free to PM me...but not hijack threads over stupid bullshit.

Seems as if anytime and everytime you get questioned, you snap back.:confused:
While never answering the questions of your posting inconsistencies.

I figured by not living in the same Hemisphere you cannot be a Rho Chi, but ah had to be living within the college confines and belong to a current Sorority! So, how does a person do so from a whole different country where no contact is kept up where there is little if any contact!

Doth think that the protestions are to much from the big trunk tooting animal.:rolleyes:

Sounds like a BSer Troll!:rolleyes:

Rush is next fall idiot. Maybe, just maybe, he'll be back on campus by then from his semester abroad.

Da, Rho Chi is a Sorority term!

Do you have Rho Chi's?

I was thinking the exact same thing. I didn't know that fraternities had "rho chi's" for their "fratpuppies" (Elephant Walk/original poster's term for a guy going through fraternity rush. :)

Are "fratpuppies" and "new boys" the same thing?

We have summer rush, and I think it's a great process. Freshmen can sign with a house from the day after they graduate up until Friday of the first week of school. There used to be a formal rush week the first week of school, but the last time even half of the guys going through that week got signed (I think it was 7 out of 14) was in 2001. The week has been largely abandoned, though the idea gets kicked around during IFC elections every couple of years.

Admitted seniors usually get a mailing from Greek Affairs about Spring Break introducing them to the Greek System and directing them to fill out a rush application, which is now pretty much exclusively online. The app asks for basic contact information, intended major, ACT/SAT score, class rank, GPA, and 10 HS accomplishments/awards/honors/involvement. There's a fee for the sororities, but no fee to go through fraternity rush. There is a box for guys to say they don't want to be contacted until after they graduate, along with a space for that day, and this request is generally honored (you don't want to be the asshole house that calls early).

At noon on the Friday of finals week (usually the first week of may, it'll be Friday of this week this year), copies of those applications which have been received are delivered to all the chapters. Recruitment officers may then begin calling rushees. Generally, the first 4-5 weeks of the summer is the "travel period" where rush chairs travel all over the state and region to take guys out - dinners, rounds of golf and the like are pretty routine, some guys in Omaha will taken to College World Series games. I've heard of some houses sending their rush chairs as far away as 14 hours to take guys out, but this is a fairly new phenomena which with gas the way it is, is likely to decrease.

By about the fifth week of summer (second or third week of June) most rushees will have graduated, and the University will have started hosting New Student Enrollment for the incoming freshmen. Traveling dies down a little bit, and chapters are required to have at least one rush chair at the house available to give tours and answer questions. Since NSE is the one chance where all freshmen come to campus, tours can get pretty busy, so it's pretty rare for there not to be 2 rush chairs and a couple of brothers around to handle the tours.

Once NSE starts, most chapters start having some sort of weekly barbecues to allow rushees to meet the chapter and see the house. Typically they're Thursday nights, and brothers are lured with free food and parties afterward. The chapters also begin scheduling rush parties at various locations throughout the state on the weekends - usually at someone's cabin or a lake.

Rush is completely dry (and the rule is fairly well followed - there's always a handful of rushees where rumors start flying that such and such a house took them out before they signed and that's why they ended up in that house. Usually occurs when it's a guy that was coveted by the top houses ends up in a second tier chapter) , but once a rushee has signed their bid card, they can begin partying with the house the rest of the summer.

Chapters may give out bid cards at any time, and they're "good" for two weeks, though most get post-dated. Cards must be signed by the student and their parent. Some chapters put a great deal of effort into winning over parents. One of the most masterful recruitment jobs I ever saw within my own chapter occurred when guys in my pledge class were rush chairs and they spent about 3 or 4 times as much time with a rushee's mom and little 9 year old sister (who the rushee was extremely close with) as they did with him. It was the little sister who actually asked him when he was going to sign his card to Beta that got him to pull the trigger.

Generally June is the most hectic time, and by 4th of July, most chapters have the majority of their class signed. For the GDI student, they have to break their dorm contract by July 10th or else pay a fine, but Greek Affairs has an agreement with University Housing that guys joining fraternities have until the 15th to break their contract without penalty, so that kind of represents the major endpoint of rush with most guys having signed by then. Bid cards will trickle in throughout the end of July though, and by August most things are set and whatever parties remain are intended to get the new guys to know the guys in their pledge class better, to build the relationships, and allow roommates the chance to meet and plan out who's bringing what.

I like the setup because it's not hurried. There's plenty of time to meet with most of the houses, and really spend time to see if you fit. I also like the fact that it means guys know before they get to school what their doing and that they'll be living in the fraternity house from day one. It's a little tough for out of state guys, but since they have to come for NSE, they have to be on campus at least one day, and if they're from really far away, they're usually going to stay for at least two days so they have time to meet with houses.

Yes, University of Arkansas (and a couple of other schools) do have male Rho Chi's for IFC rush. However, you do have to be an active the semester before rush and carrying a full course load.

New boys means the guys who were just initiated

ahhh.

In Toronto there is no IFC regulating the fraternities so each fraternity recruits how they want, when they want etc. There are no school rules for rushing and the only rules that need to be followed is each organizations rules for recruitment. I think some of the fraternities tried to organize a formal recruitment a few years back through the Fraternity and Sorority Council but it didn't work mainly because a lot of the fraternities didn't participate.

The sororities are regulated by Pan-Hellenic and used the formal recruitment program up until last fall. Since Fall 2007 they adopted PSR (Partially Structured Recruitment) which spans over 3 weeks instead of 1. There are mixed feelings though and there is a chance it'll go back to FR after this year when they re-vote.

yea at fsu IFC just prohibits any alcohol during the rush hours, but after.....its fair game and EVERY bar is rented out by a fraternity. good way to take your new pledges out to celebrate during the week and show the pnm's how we party.

Once again, Tom, the expert on all greek, shows his how limited his fraternity knowledge actually is.

We got nada.... every man for himself. We barely have 30% guys at our school so rush is non-existent as well since we have deferred recruitment for freshmen till the spring.

Also just to clear it up sororities have Pi Chi's guys have Rho Chis, at least that's how it use to be at my school before IFC threw out formal rush.

They are called different things everywhere, fraternities and sororities. Rho Chi, Rho Gamma, Pi Chi, Gamma Chi, and many many more.

ETA: "and like many many more", sounded like a junior high bitch term.

So for the guys who go to schools with "Formal Rush" for IFC, what is that like?

Are you forced to visit EVERY house and talk to all the guys?

My campus has IFC Rush Week 3 times a year (Spring, Summer B, and Fall obviously) but our only "Formal" Rush is during Fall, but even then there isn't a difference between the three... You just have events every night for a week and the PNMs get to choose which they go to.

That is similar to Kentucky. Fall formal just means that each chapter is having parties during the designated rush week and must follow the IFC guidelines. (i.e. no alcohol, over by 11 p.m. etc.) As such, the rusher may attend as many parties as he wants. However, bids may not be extended nor accepted until Thursday of rush week. [see correction below] Some of the chapters may have invitational only parties staring on Thursday. Regardless, since there are summer rush events (but no official bidding), a good portion of the pledge classes have already been lined up. And there is a Spring formal rush as well (held in January). But fewer men rush in the spring.

Correction: According to the UK IFC website, bids may be extended at 9 a.m. on the Thursday of rush week and may be accepted on Friday.

Ah I see. Yeah, that's pretty similar. We have to follow the IFC guidelines (no alcohol, no more than 17 women at 2 rush events) from Monday-Thursday, which is official Rush Week, and Friday is usually the day when each chapter has a party. Chapters can bid whenever they want, but we usually don't bid guys until Wednesday (except for the guys we've had lined up since before).

But these rules apply to all of our Rush Weeks, which is why I mentioned that there is no fundamental difference between the three.

I want to add that the concept behind formal rush at UK is simply that all the IFC chapters are rushing together at the same time. The parties are all registered with IFC, they have a similar start time and end time. (i.e. 7 to 11 p.m.)

And while they are not required to, nor is there a fee to do so, rushees may register for rush if they like. Doing so simply gets your name and information out to every chapter.

Also, chapters may continue to extended bids after the Thursday of formal rush week. That is just the first date when a chapter may extend a bid.

Formal rush at my school is very ...tedious. It occurs during the middle of summer after the freshmen go through something called "summer welcome", they get housed in an all guy's dorm and the whole process is dry, the only time anyone ever used alcohol that i know of, they got caught and the rushees and the fraternity both were thrown out of formal rush...

Day 1: A large expo-type of fair with all 28 fraternities around in a large circle with science-fair type presentations to display the fraternity and the job of the rushee is to semi-interview each and every one of them in about 3 hours time... Its like running a marathon and its the most tiring day of the whole process. That night the students enter the top 15 of their choices into a computer and the fraternities extend invites to those they deem acceptable... then the student has to pick his top 8 invites and that's where he goes the next day...

Day 2: The student wakes up and goes to each of his top 8's houses in 45 minute intervals going from house to house with one lunch break in between the 3rd and 4th house... once again, very tiring. From that you are supposed to get a good impression of the house and the guys and that night the students choose thier top 5 and the fraternities once again extend invites and the student chooses their top 3 for the next day [assuming they get 3 back]

Day 3: The student goes to each of his top 3 houses for hour and a half this is where you really get to talk with the guys and finish the house tours etc etc... at the end of the house tours, the fraternities can offer a bid on the spot for the students... the students don't have to accept it they can wait and accept it during informal rush...

Very stressful and very fast you basically have to make a judgment call on 28 fraternities in 3 day... The sororities [of which there are like 12 or 14 ballpark] get a whole week at least so it all seems very 'rushed';)

Yep. Every house.

If you don't visit every house you supposedly get kicked out of rush. A few houses have guys walk out on them, which is pretty funny.

So if they walk, does that mean they are kicked out of formal rush? Or do they just need to show up for short time, maybe sign in or get their ticket validated (what ever they need to do to prove they attended), and then bail?

And do the chapters have a limit on the number of men they can invite back per round? Again, I have heard that on some campuses, a chapter can can invite as many as they want up to a point. Also, may a rushee receive more than one bid? Again, I've heard that after the *preference* round, each chapter may extend a bid. It is then up to the rushee to accept the one he wants. But in other cases, just making it to the *preference* round is considered receiving a bid. Again, the rushee accepts the one he wants from that group.

For what it is worth, there seems to be various forms of an IFC *structured* formal rush with more campuses moving toward one of those variations. Granted not a heck of a lot right not, but more campuses seem to be implementing some sort of structure that requires that the rushee must attend at least one open house at each chapter. I know that Ole Miss has one of the more formalized rush structures and it seems to work well for them.