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This isn't really a greek thing, it's a societal thing. Terms change. Anybody remember George Carlin's monologue about "shell shocked" and "Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome", etc? After each war there is a different term. We've gone from junior high to middle school, from managers to team leaders, from Presidents and Vice Presidents of corporations to CEOs, COOs, CFOs, etc. It's not that big a deal. We went from calling the members at the colleges and universities "undergrads" to "collegians". Times change, terms change.
Personally, I had no clue what the word Rush meant prior to hanging out with fraternity guys in college. Recruitment though, I understand (even though it sounds like the military to me). We recruit new employees at work, we recruit new members into our chapters, we recruit new people into the military, we recruit volunteers for the hospital.. it's a term people know. Perhaps everybody in the South knows the term Rush, but up here, it's like "What's that?" I don't think Rush has a negative connotation, I think people who aren't familiar with the Greek system prior to arriving to college simply don't know what it is. Recruitment doesn't mean it isn't selective, because the military is very selective, as are employers who both "recruit" all the time.
Whether people like it or not, our organizations are businesses. If they don't pull in enough money and members to function, then the business will go bankrupt and cease to exist. This is a reality. We're not a garden club, we're a business and we need to function as one at the Inter/National level.
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