Make a Friend a Sister (or Brother)

Sistermadly · #1 03-13-2003, 11:41 AM

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone had any stories about influencing a friend who was initially resistant to the idea of joining a GLO to change their mind and become a member? I have a couple of friends who I'd love to introduce to my organization, but I'm trying to think of the best way to do it.

phisigQT · #2 03-13-2003, 12:40 PM

phi sigma sigma actually has a program just for this it is called Vision. Basically we are constantly inviting potentials (which are friends etc) to attend sisterhoods, come out with us cometo philanthropies. it is a great way to show them all the aspects of grrek life that u may miss during rush

BSUPhiSig'92 · #3 03-13-2003, 01:37 PM

In my chapter we followed the 5 step plan:

1. Meet them
2. Make them your friend
3. Introduce them to other brothers
4. Introduce them to the fraternity
5. Ask them to join

We all used to invite roommates, friends, etc. to do stuff with us all of the time. It can even be simple things like eating together in the dining hall or playing basketball. It works, and the results can mushroom!

To give you an example:

I joined my chapter my freshman year. I invited my roommate and my neighbors from the dorm to different events, and let them get to know the brothers, what we were about, etc.
The next fall, my roommate from freshman year and one of the guys who lived next door joined. They got 7-8 guys from their floor in the dorm to hang out and get to know us. Seven of those guys joined. The following year four of those guys stayed in the dorm and brought 12 guys around... and so on...

The great thing was that all of these guys (me included) came from the Honors Dorm, so our chapter g.p.a. skyrocketed! The bad thing was that after three years everyone moved into either the house or off-campus apartments sooo...

DaffodilDarling · #4 03-13-2003, 06:37 PM

My good friend Lauren, and now sister... she resisted the idea until most of her friends joined my sorority!

EGDeepher · #5 03-14-2003, 12:54 PM

My good friend was anti greek until I joined. She started hanging out with the sisters and coming to events, she's a pledge now and looks like in a couple of weeks she'll be my little

XOMichelle · #6 03-17-2003, 01:50 AM

All the girls in my dorm were either anti-greek or dropped out of rush. When I pledged, my chapter started asking the girl down the hall to come to stuff. They'd come pick me up, and take her too. I didn't try to convince her to join at all, but she never would have kept going to things if I hadn't been around!

sigmagrrl · #7 03-17-2003, 09:34 AM

My best friend wasn't a Greek when we met. I was going through the colonization period and she saw all the things we had to do. She was intrigued. I spent most of my free time (outside of sorority events) with her and would talk about the sisters. I brought her to stuff, and my sisters loved her. But, she wasn't exactly gung ho on Tri Sigma. She did have offers from other sororities and I had to respect that. She brought another friend with her who actually WAS gung ho Sigma, and they were in the same group of PNM's. I couldn't talk to her at all during recruitment so it was agonizing. But, when Bid Day rolled around and she became my sis, it was so cool!!

Sistermadly · #8 03-17-2003, 12:12 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

sairose · #9 03-19-2003, 05:51 PM

Just invite your friend to one of your functions...don't make it clear you are trying to Rush her. When she sees how close-knit your sisterhood is, how much fun it is, etc etc she may consider it. This happened to a friend of mine...I REALLY wanted her to pledge this semester(we only have spring rush)but she was totally against it last semester. This semester she was semi-interested but didn't know anyone. She now knows the sisters and is really excited about pledging next year, and so am I!

The mistake I made when I first tried to recruit her was trying to get her to join something that she didn't know anyone in. She only decided to join when she met everyone. So, invite your friend to your functions, and take it from there.

Optimist Prime · #10 03-19-2003, 07:13 PM

Yeah my room mate last year. He didnt' want to pledge the same time as me but then decided to the next semester. It's cool knowing that some one is there because of YOU personally.

valpogal99 · #11 03-20-2003, 09:08 PM

We had a lot of sorority members who had been anti-Greek at one point in time, including my best friend. I knew I wanted to join a sorority but took my time to find out which one I wanted. My friends followed my lead and we all joined during informal recruitment. We then started taking our transfer friends to things with sisters and found that most of them wanted to know how to join. A few that were anti-Greek still went to events after most of the people joined the sorority. The following fall, they joined because of the phone calls, letters, and visits between sister and them. I agree with the posts that say to make them your friend first. If you push the Greek system to someone who is skeptical, it may not get the results you want. If you take them to hang out with a bunch of great ladies, they may decide to be a part of your group. Just take your time and let them make the decision.