Whats Rush?
 

Sorry to sound like an absolute idiot, but what exactly is rush?
Im from england and im not sure entirely what this entales. Im pledging for AKpsi Manchester/UMIST (soon to be member if all goes swimmingly).

Regards

The Smitten Briton

Paul

Paul,

Rush is a 'slang' term for fraternity/sorority recruitment events. Goes back to the old days when active members would run at (aka 'rush') the incoming freshman and entice them to join their group as opposed to a rival group.

Good luck with AKPsi !

Congratulations on your pledgeship Paul - you'll have to tell us all a bit more about this group in the UK! Rush is... basically 'recruitment'. The time when fraternities look for new members and potential members look to fraternities. It's a mutual process. They meet up, look around the different groups etc. Sororities do similar - they also have "formal rush" which is a structured process for all the NPC groups (NPC is a governing body for many national sororities - all female fraternities) and that involves rounds of parties, noting preferences down, being offered a bid (place in a group as a new member), bid matching etc!
That's a very broad brushstroke on the whole thing but those are the quick answers :).

Welcome to GC.

He cool to be here
 

Pretty cool you guys replied so soon.

England is cool, but mostly cold. I think our Fraternity/Chapter is not as I'd see one in say California, but it is still really cool. We dont live in the houses and party all the time. (You may ask whats the point...) :-) . ive met loads of people and hope to work in america. AKpsi will help me develop the skills and contacts to make such a dream happen. It's an awesome concept, and i hope it takes off more in england. I think theres only 3 chapters in the country, soon to be 2 since my University is merging With manchester.

Rageards p

Three?

Do tell. :p

lol, just a guess
 

I think there 's one in london, just through the grape line, but Manchester, UMIST and Man Met are definately Chapters. I am only a pledge, but i can get more information off our President, Im sure he would be fine with helping your group get underway. It would be a pleasure. I think we have a website, but its not too good. I outlines the last trip to i think it was Boston. One of our pledge tasks was to organise the re-furbishment of the site, so soon it should be grand. I'll try to getb you some information about us. Didnt realise how cutting edge this was in England. To answer your questions, it is rather open, but you have to show interest, ie turn up to meetings, complete your pledge tasks and generally be above average in your work.

regards paul

Paul.. I saw where you implied that we were all about partying here in the states...

Not exactly.

We are for bettering the college experience through positive interactions with individuals that we share close fraternal bonds with. We have values that we place great importance on. For example in Sigma Nu, we place emphasis on the three virtues our organization was founded upon: Love, Honor and Truth.

Yes, many of our members choose to drink beer, party, etc... Some do not. Drinking and partying is something EVERY college student has available to them in the states. I'm sure it's the same in England. Greek organizations do provide more of an opportunity for it though.

I think your statement was "We don't all live in houses and party all the time". Well, neither do we :D

I think you'd find more in common with American and Canadian GLO's than you would find differences.

Sorry, didnt mean anything bad
 

I didnt mean any offence. Of course you dont drink etc all the time, what i meant was if the fraternity was more engrained in the system, as i guess it is in america, we would have a better time. The experience of living in a frat house must be phenominal. I envy that side that we miss here in england. I think that the whole greek ethos is one to better yourself. Its a great institution to be in.

Regards
Paul

Are you affiliated with the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity (co-ed) over here?

Don't worry about your comment; it is a very common belief and the Greek system here is constantly fighting negative stereotypes portrayed in the media and throughout society. Therefore, it can be a sore subject on Greek Chat as we are all, as you can tell, big advocates of all Greek organizations!

I think it is great to hear that the Greek system is finally jumping across the Atlantic!

Good Luck to you and your chapter! Keep us posted on how it goes...

hey paul- i'm studying in london right now- its so great to hear that you are joining a greek organization- almost every british person i've met here had no idea what a fraternity/ sorority was and i had to try to explain the concepts to them- they were still pretty confused... i'm glad to see that your enjoying your experience:) good luck!

Hey, I'm from England too! Where about r u from?

Alpha Kappa Psi is a coed Professional Business fraternity (though it's moving more and more to not being "just a business fraternity").

We do have chapters in United Kingdom. Our friendly arch rival is Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, and this year we are celebrating our cenntenial.

Our prominent alumni are Ronald Reagan, Sam Walton, J.C. Penney, Arthur Andersen(crap hit the fan years after his death) :)
We also have others.

We have professional speakers come in, we do service, we have educational events and conventions(we have several each year not just the main one), we do fundraising, networking(very big thing for us, especially by way of internships), and social stuff. My particular chapter has a bowling league in addition to get togethers and formal banquets. How social a chapter is varies from chapter to chapter,mine happens to be very social.

You can find out more about us at our national website at www.akpsi.com

Congrats on pledging AKPsi. I hope to claim you as a new brother soon :)

Dumb question:
You say Delta Sigma Pi is your rival, but at our school there's only Delta Sigma Pi... are there schools that have both? And if so, doesn't it kind of take away from the prestige? I mean, it's a pretty big deal here to get invited into Delta Sigma Pi, so I would think if there were two different groups, it would take away members from each one so that one of the two isn't as difficult to get into??? How does that work at schools that have both, or do you just mean on a national level?

I think some schools have both, though I'm not for sure. I know both groups compete with each other to see who can colonize first at a campus(with accredited business schools). I dont know about Delta Sigma Pi, but Alpha Kappa Psi has a rush process with informationals, as well as mid semester interviews, and then a national exam that must be passed before initiation can take place. We also have a GPA requirement that varies chapter to chapter and thus we usually take no younger than second semester freshman (or that's how my chapter used to do it.......).

But to use Golden Key Honor Society as an example(because I dont know how Delta Sigma Pi recruits), we dont send out invitations to join to those who qualify. We let people who are interested approach us during rush informationals and what not. I cant speak for Delta Sigma Pi because again I dont know about their recruitment or pledging process, but in my opinion, AKPsi isnt hard to get into, or my chapter wasnt anyway.

There are a few statistical things I've been told in comparison with the two groups, but because I havent verified them yet as fact, I'm not going to post them here.

Did that answer your question? :) If not let me know and I'll try my best again :)