Unique (Off-Campus?) Rush Events?
 

Hi. I'm in a local sorority at a small private college. There are four local sororities on our campus. Ours is the largest, at around 25 girls each year, two of the others maintain around 15-20 but are quickly catching up to us, and the fourth currently has only 3 members. All fraternities on our campus are national and have anywhere from 15-45 members; I really don't know much about their specifics.

I've read a lot of the threads for small and local sororities within the forum both last year when I was the underclassmen rush chair and this year during our rush process since I am trying to create a portfolio of ideas and plans to present when I run for senior rush chair next year. I haven't really found the information I am looking for, however, to help improve our rush process.

We hold our rush in the spring, and the college places a lot of specific restrictions on us and is very involved. Rush begins on a Friday and lasts a little over a week until that next Saturday or Sunday. It is an entirely dry Rush and all events must not conflict with normal class hours which are 8-4 M-F. All events are approved by the administration in advance and we cannot deviate from those plans unless there are problems due to weather.

Currently we follow the same schedule every year:
Friday Night: Meet and Greet with the Sisters
Saturday Day: Tye-Dying (or a similar craft)
Sunday Afternoon: High Tea
Tuesday Night: Movie and Pizza (or Chinese)
Wednesday Night: Laser Tag and Chipotle - Invite Only
Friday Night: Bowling - Invite Only
Saturday Evening: Final Formal Dinner - Invite Only

We are located in a very smal rural area, about 45 min to an hour from the closest city; everyone lives on campus all four years, and most freshmen don't have cars, so treats like chinese food and chipotle are nice. But since rush is during jan/feb, it is also frustrating to drive cars full of girls 45 minutes in the snow just to play laser tag.

I am hoping for some ideas for events that could replace bowling at least, and possibly laser tag, and make our rush a little more exciting and unique.
The fraternities take the guys to sporting events, strip clubs, and one even gets an old junk car every year and allows their rushes to destroy it with a sledgehammer! We need that kind of pizzaz but in a more feminine style.

As far as locations to hold on-campus events, we do not have a house. We have:
1. A portion of the dormitory that is considered our "division." Only Zetas live there and we were allowed to paint a mural on the wall. Other than that it is basically a hallway in a dorm.
2. Each year we attempt to have a group of seniors get an apartment together. With the housing our school offers this isn't always possible but we're attempting to do so right now. So theoretically we will have an apartment with a small kitchen and living room.
3. There are areas on campus we can reserve to use if other groups do not reserve them first. These include 2 small cottages with kitchens and living rooms. They are in very high demand, however.
4. There is a "sorority lounge" in the same dormitory where our division is located. It is shared by all four sororities and the CA can use it for housing events as well, since there is no independent lounge in that dorm. It's basically a big room with a TV and couches.

Thanks so much for reading! Any ideas would be super helpful. Greek life isn't that big on our campus so an extra sparkle could really help us stand out.

-Kimberly

Cookie decorating was always one of my favorites; it also tied into philanthropy because they got donated to a local fire station after the event (most of them made it there anyway :rolleyes:)

You could also do a rotational food-based event (i.e. Road Trip featuring foods/appetizers from different countries in the world; Day in Paradise with mocktails/appetizers, etc.)

Something totally random: you could make a giant collage/drawing with the potential new members about what Greek Life represents to the current member and what the potential member hopes to get out of joining a sorority (this might make it easier to talk about the different benefits of membership) and you could leave it up all throughout recruitment.

Hey, I tried! :p

How many rushees typically attend each event?

arrow13:
cookie decorating is always fun! sometimes we do that instead of tyedye.
i always like around the worlds, where each room or location is a different theme. we've done that before as part of our welcome party.
thanks for your ideas!

deltabetababy:
the first few can get up to like 35 or 40. but all rush events are optional, and since we have deferred rush, many girls have already decided where they fit and don't attend the events of more than one or two groups after the first day. so the rest will get around 15-20. i think the lowest we ever got was that only 4 girls showed up, but it was scheduled at the same time as an exciting event that another sorority was holding.