[Firehouse]

Almost all sorority systems conduct formal rush. Few fraternity systems have formal rush today, although at one time nearly all rush was formal for both men and women.
If your campus has men's formal rush, then your key to success is "time". Your chapter rush program must be highly organized and you must be prepared to make fast decisions about who to recruit. For good fraternities this is not a problem. The best, most successful fraternities spend their time & energies recruiting the men they know they want, instead of laboring in endless meetings trying to reach consensus about who they want to bid.
Unless you have a small school with small chapters, rush is a competition that requires organization, decisive leadership and a will to win. And above all, to succeed in a super-competitive atmosphere, it requires the chapter to have a strong sense of identity.
Good fraternities know that rush is work; it's business, so don't let the members get too wrapped up in distractions. Here's an example: one year a neighbor fraternity of ours got an unexpected will gift of something like $25,000 cash from an alum who died over the summer. They decided it would be great to hire a top name band an throw a super rush party for the whole campus. All their brothers brought their girlfriends and had a great time. Most of the rushees on campus came and had a great time, and the house & grounds were flooded with hundreds and hundreds of students-in-general.
We knew all our rushees were going to our competitor's party, so we put together a 'guerrilla rush team' of a dozen or so Brothers who could move through the crowd, find our rushees, and enjoy the party with them. We ended up actually pledging eight men that night, and our competitors pledged not one man. Yes, they had a great party, but all their members came to play, not to work.
You asked about "activities". Keep it simple. If you have rush girls there to help, make sure both they and the Brothers understand that this is business. Pay attention to the rushees. Have fun with them, make friends with them and talk to them about Sigma Chi. A mistake you're likely to make is to NOT talk to them about your fraternity, because that's a mistake a lot of inexperienced chapters make. The purpose of rush to get your pledge class. Decide who you want as quickly as possible, then spend your efforts talking to them about your fraternity. Think of it this way: it's like NCAA Division I football recruiting. The top schools are all after the same pool of talented guys. Oh, some schools concentrate on prospects from particular geographic areas, some need to emphasize certain positions this year, but in the end everyone wants a first class recruiting class made up of the most talented players thay can get. The best schools decide up front who their top prospects (blue chips) are, who the red and white chips are, and they prioritize their efforts. In fraternity rush, always - always - go for your blue chips first. Those guys are going to pledge somewhere, and they are generally going to commit quickly, so they are your first priority. The more blue chips you get in the beginning, the more excited and motivated the Brothers will be.
So, summing up: 1) tell your chapter/colony going in that this is business and that everyone is expected to contribute, if not by being a great salesman then at least by being there and being nice to everyone; 2) tell your chapter that the rush leadership is going to be moving fast and that the members will be told who to target. If you have any questions about individuals, take it up with the rush chairman privately; 3) tell the chapter that you are going to hold basic social events, nothing too cute or elaborate. They will be fun, but their will be to make rushees feel comfortable and surrounded by friends who make the feel at home. 4) Learn how to talk about your own fraternity; be able to articulate why a man should join. Not only don't trash your rivals, don't even mention their names if you can help it. If the rushee asks, deal with it delicately. "What makes Sigma Chi the best?" "Well, I can tell you that Sigma Chi is the best for me, and for all these guys. And you seem like you feel at home here with us, is that right?" Remember this mantra: the rushee is going to choose the best fraternity he can find where he feels he has the most friends (however he defines friendship).
One final thing - and this illustrates the brutally bottom line nature of fraternity rush in a competitive system. If you want to know who won, wait a week and ask the top sororities. The girls make it their business to know who got the stud classes.
All my best to you, and good luck. I don't know if my fraternity has a chapter at UT-Martin. If we do have a chapter there, well, give them some good competition to remember.