It looks like this topic was started with regards to sororities, but I was wondering how it applies to fraternities as well. A couple of years ago, I heard from some actives that there were a couple of large fraternities on my campus that had 35 pledges in a fall semester. I was amazed and impressed (and yes, jealous) that these houses could get this kind of rush number, but it always seemed kind of high. I wonder if the big houses pledge 35 guys with the intention of keeping them all, or if they like to “whittle down” that group to 25 or so, to make sure they get the highest quality members.
Since my house was one of the smaller ones on our campus, we didn’t have the freedom to “pick and choose” like the bigger fraternities did. Our typical fall pledge class would have 10-12 members, and not all of them ended up being quality guys anyway; always one or two bad apples out of every group. But the bigger chapters would have hundreds of rushees come by their house, so they could give bids to 30-35 guys and still be assured of quality.
I also knew of a few houses that would go out and get a large pledge class and temporarily sacrifice quality, to get their numbers up and start attracting more rushees. Then, once they were established and more comfortable with their size, they could afford to be more choosy, and the following fall they might have a smaller, more “quality” pledge class.
I’d be interested in hearing some fraternity members’ takes on the whole quality vs. quantity argument, as it seemed to be a hot topic for our rush every semester.
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