Upper limit on new pledges/associate members
 

Excuse me if this question is too much in your kool-aid.

I get the impression (in general) that fraternities in the NIC, or otherwise participating in a campus IFC, typically have a more laid-back sort of rush/recruitment process in which they just take the guys they want without regard to quotas, release figures, and all that chichi froufrou npc stuff.

(If there is a flaw to the above statement, please help me understand more clearly)

Otherwise, with all that said, I have a question:

Can an NIC fraternity pretty much take whoever they want without regard to any sort of upper limit?

Or are the "available slots" ever based on beds at the house, if there is one?

Or are there other factors I am overlooking?

We can take however many we want. You don't want giant pledge classes that are significantly larger than all the other pledge classes though or else you can end up with a situation where they just elect their pledge brothers to every position even if there are more qualified candidates.

Beds and stuff don't matter though. And there is a bottom limit because you plan the social budget (and the rest of the budget too, but social is the one that ends up getting cut if you take too few) based on a certain number of members, and if you don't get enough members to have that amount of dues than your budget is screwed up.

No limit.

But risk management, brotherhood and quality of the overall house could suffer.

We limit the amount of pledge partly (mostly) because of risk management.

It's a good question. Men would not put up with limits or quotas, at least not at a public university. I know of one or two private shcools that impose limts but it's extremely rare.

But on some campusses, especially in the midwest, often fraternities are expected to house their members. There are schools where the purpose of summer rush is to fill a certain number of "freshmen beds" in the house.

It's not true in the south. Here the houses are beautiful but don't actually house that many men. However, the larger fraternity chapters in the country tend to be in the south.

The answer to your question varies depending on where you are.

Thanks!

We didn't have an official house during undergrad, so space wasn't a concern for us. There was no official limit or quota for us, but we did keep some of the above concerns (risk management, etc.) in mind when deciding pledge class numbers.

Usually, though, we didn't go into rush with a specific number in mind. We may have had a goal, but nothing like a quota or upper limit.

This is the key I think. Too large a pledge class will have an undue political influence as that pledge class reaches the point where the guys can run for office and be assured of votes from pledge brothers.

It is not just a matter of loyalty to pledge brothers, but also the fact many may vote for members of that pledge class on the notion that a large pledge class is a reflection of a great rush effort and thus is composed of superior guys.

When I was an active, we had such a pledge class- and while they actually did a very good job running the place, the fact their stronghold was so obvious created resentments that were not always rational.

I agree with all of this - especially the bolded part.

Maybe if your chapters didn't haze, members would think for themselves how to best run the chapter instead of voting along party lines because of the "loyalty" forged by mutual suffering.

You don't have to haze - or be hazed - to form a strong bond with your pledge brothers.

I'm referring to chapters that are little more than isolated pledge classes.

Which is not a characteristic of hazing chapters.

Stick to sorority things.