Another take on delayed fraternity rush...

[DeltAlum]

With all of the controversy over delayed rush at the University of Colorado, I was interested in this...

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
October 10, 2005

Fayetteville
Delayed rush helps UA Greeks
Moving recruitment period revitalizes fraternities' numbers

BY CHRIS BRANAM ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE


FAYETTEVILLE - The University of Arkansas' fraternity system was on life
support at the beginning of the decade.

But efforts over the last three years, motivated by a task force's
recommendations, have reversed a decline in membership that forced some
chapters on the Fayetteville campus to close.

UA announced last week that its fraternities extended 409 bids to new
members during fall rush, an increase of 18.5 percent over last year and
double the number of bids in 2003.

Scott Walter, an associate dean of students and director of Greek life at
UA, credits the delayed fall rush for the surge in pledges.

With the approval of the campus' Interfraternity Council, UA moved its
pledge recruitment period from early August - two weeks before school
begins - to late September.

The change allows the university to promote the Greek system to freshmen,
Walter said. As a result, the fraternities are attracting students who
might not otherwise have joined, he said.

The largest fraternities - Kappa Sigma, Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and
Phi Delta Theta - were holding steady through their own recruitment
efforts, Walter said. But the numbers at smaller chapters were dwindling,
Walter said.

"Going back three years ago, the fraternity system was failing," Walter
said. "This was a quick fix. We needed more guys going through. We were
going down a road where instead of having 12 to 13 groups, we were going to
have three or four.

"What we were doing wasn't working," he said. "There was zero disagreement
about that."

The task force didn't make recommendations for UA's sororities, which are
running smoothly with strong membership, Walter said. But the sororities
agreed that they could be subjected to the recommendations in the future if
they run into problems, he said.

J.D. Lowery, president of the Interfraternity Council and a member of Sigma
Phi Epsilon, said his chapter has been one of the biggest benefactors of
delayed rush. The fraternity chapter didn't have a single pledge in 2003.
This year, it extended 20 bids.

"We were able to recruit guys that weren't normally interested in going
Greek," said Lowery, a senior from Maumelle. "It gives more people an
opportunity to see what the fraternity system is all about. The numbers
have just skyrocketed."

NON-TRADITIONAL PLEDGES Estevan Cantu, a freshman from Dallas, decided to
pledge Sigma Phi Epsilon two days before rush week began Sept. 19.

"I was really unsure if I was going to rush or not," Cantu said, taking a
break from watching a baseball game on the house's bigscreen TV.

His biggest obstacle to joining a fraternity was financial; he didn't think
he could pay the membership dues. He wouldn't have rushed if he'd been
forced to make a decision before school began, he said.

Cantu didn't know anyone in his fraternity before he came to UA. That makes
him a new kind of pledge, UA's fraternity leaders said.

Brenton Glassell, a member of Sigma Chi who serves on UA's Interfraternity
Council as a vice president for recruitment, said 25 percent of his
fraternity's pledges this fall were from outside the state.

That's a change from the past, when UA's fraternities relied on familiarity
to get new members, said Glassell, a junior from Clarksville, Tenn.

"The only people that were involved in rush [when it was] before school had
fraternity ties or friend ties," Glassell said. "Now, you see a lot of
people who don't have any ties to that fraternity."

The task force also recommended banning freshmen pledges from living in
fraternity houses until their sophomore year.

Baxter Drennon, a junior from Helena who belongs to Kappa Sigma, said
pushing rush week back lets fraternities bring in new members who have made
friendships elsewhere at the university, particularly the dormitories. UA
requires its freshmen to live on campus.

"These guys are living in the dorms and they are making friends with each
other long before they join fraternities," said Drennon, a vice president
for recruitment on the Interfraternity Council.

BECOMING A TREND Fraternities at UA are still allowed to recruit potential
members during one-day functions throughout the summer.

UA's policy is consistent with the standards of the North-American
Interfraternity Conference, an umbrella organization for fraternities in
the United States and Canada, said Peter Smithhisler, vice president for
media and community relations.

The Indianapolis-based organization has seen delayed rush become a new
tradition on campuses, Smithhisler said.

"It's a very campus-specific and a campus-beneficial kind of decision," he
said. "If the campus made a tactical move that's going to increase numbers
in that formal process, good for them."

Dave Gearhart, UA's vice chancellor for university advancement, led the
Task Force for the Enhancement of Greek Life, which made its
recommendations to Chancellor John A. White in fall 2002.

The task force was formed because UA's administration believes that a
strong Greek system enhances campus life, Gearhart said.

"Fraternities and sororities can be the social glue for many students that
come here to the university," he said. "Fraternity and sorority life, while
not for everyone, can get students connected."

The University of Mississippi moved its rush activities from August to
September in 1996 to let freshmen get acclimated to college.

"It's been a huge success. I don't think there is a single group here who
would want to go back," said Chad McCracken, an assistant dean of students
at Ole Miss who is also the university's Greek system adviser.

Unlike UA, Ole Miss didn't delay its rush to bring in more pledges,
McCracken said. The idea behind the move was philosophical, he said.

Ole Miss administrators noticed that under the previous system, freshmen
were identifying themselves with their Greek-letter organization before
identifying themselves with Ole Miss.

"The school thought that was kind of backwards," he said.

Universities should care about the health of their Greek systems because
they help promote the campus culture, Mc-Cracken said.

Gearhart, who joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Westminster College in Fulton,
Mo., agreed.

"There are just a lot of things that are good about fraternities and
sororities," he said. "To turn our back on that would be just negligence on
our part."

Copyright 2005 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc