We try to utilize philanthropy and such to benefit 'campus image' - that is, we try to get coverage of events to get our name in the papers, and also so that the administration takes a positive view of us. After all, if our name comes up most, and we're not always on probation and stuff w/ the school, rush is going to go much better. That said, the way reputation is cemented with the student body (at least here) is via social events - throwing parties and having guys that are fun to chill w/ definitely is our hallmark in terms of campus image (which is what we're basically trying to do). It's not really the best method (it can create a 'come for the party, stay for the brotherhood' mentality w/ some pledges), but it's the one that works best at our school, where fraternity houses are considered off-campus housing and IFSC has very little real power or regulatory control compared to the school. Anyway, it's long, but bottom line: to increase a reputation for being a solid house, here it's probably best to just have solid people - plus, social events and (to an extent) philanthropy can put your name on the map and start word-of-mouth - sometimes it's funny how just one party can jump-start rush. Pretty much, just keeping the calendar full of events and bidding good people has won us the last few 'best on campus' awards, a lot of which is luck w/ new members, but hey sometimes it's just that easy.
Rob
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