Sorority Recruitment - what worked, what didn't?

[PenguinTrax]

Although most campuses participate in NPC Formal Recruitment, some campuses have deferred recruitment. In addition, many local and regional groups hold their recruitment events separate from the Panhellenic groups on campus. Since one of the benefits of this board is the ability to exchange ideas...why don't we?

If you are a new member or an initiated member that just finished recruitment, tell us what events, themes, conversation starters, etc. that worked or didn't work. Be sure to tell us 'why'.

Barbara

Happy Autumn!

[equeen]

Well, we had the most successful rush ever. Eight candidate members! They are strong individuals, and they are a strong class.

In general, I would say that keeping in constant contact with interested rushees is what worked for us. Having a diversity of events also helped - ranging from fun and informatl to informative and more formal. I think that rushees had a chance to really get to know individual Sisters, as well as a few alumnae in the area. There was good publicity of our events, and a strong committment from all Sisters in the Chapter (just 6!) to make sure events as well as follow-up went successfully.

I can't really comment any more specifically, since I was not directly involved with rush.



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equeen
A Lioness has her Pride!
@>--;--
Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies

[AXO Alum]

What didn't work? Panhell working against us! We have kicked butt for the past 3 years in getting quota plus as well as "stealing" legacies from other orgs (i.e., legacies of other orgs that wanted us and not their legacy group --- I am NOT saying we dirty rushed and literally "stole" them).

This year the 2 panhell leaders were from the 2 "top dog - we're better than you" sororities, and their plan from the start was to destroy our rush. Several of our new sisters told us that they had literally begged them not to go us and told them lies and such. I think this is way past ridiculous on the part of panhell, but since our greek advisor is a man who has NO IDEA how sorority rush works, he was completely snowballed. I hate to sound catty, but when Panhell Rho Chi's are flat out breaking the rules and getting away with it then something is way wrong. I definitely think any campus with greek org's should have a greek man advisor for frats, and a greek woman advisor for soros. Our rush is completely different for IFC which leads to problems like these.

Anyway it didn't work - we still were only 3 from quota (and STILL better than one of the orgs trying to stop us) but it just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The rushees thought it was petty and cruel the way lies were spouted every which way!

Philanthropy night is still new for our GLO's so that's always the weakest night. Its hard for us to be happy and energetic when we deal with such sadness (i.e., domestic violence, hospice, etc.) Skit night is the best night for just about every group. Plus we have 30 minutes longer to talk to prospectives which is always a big help for both prospective & sorority.

Anyway - this is a great topic and I look forward to hearing from you all about your rush!


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"Alpha Chi Omega - If you only had 2 wishes, what would your second one be?"

[33girl]

Hey, maybe this is kinda OT but I always thought the best way to find out what worked and what didn't would be: ask your new sisters-to-be!! Just have them fill out a form on what was best, worst, most interesting etc (anonymously if they feel weird putting their names on it).

[Kymberleigh]

I agree with 33girl. We have post-recruitement evaluations that all our new pledges fill out during our Alpha week (the week following bid day) This helps us to see our weak and strong points.

Kymberleigh
Delta Delta Delta

[carnation]

One of the best things we ever did in Panhellenic was to create a Panhel rush evaluation not only for all the sororities' new members but also for the girls who dropped out. One thing that really opened some eyes was the heavy response to "Did any sorority do anything to totally turn you off during a party?" I know the sororities learned a lot.

[juniorgrrl]

We were given surveys in our Rho Chi groups after each round of parties with questions like "How did you feel during this round: Excited? Bored? Sad?" or "The amount of activity at this party was Too much? Good? Not enough?"

I don't remember if it called for any specifics, though.