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I got a PM from someone asking about what types of things made parents excited about our house as part of the rush process. This is going to stray from the focus of rush, but it might be interesting to some of you.
I can think of several things that really were important this past weekend.
First off, was the answering of any hazing questions by looking the parent directly in the eye and telling them that we don't haze and meaning it. For some parent's that's huge and really allays any fears that they may have. It really probably makes them feel that they can trust us with their pride and joy.
Another thing was just having our house clean. We pride ourselves on having the cleanest house on campus and we make sure that every room is clean enough to show. I heard a lot of moms making that comment on Saturday of how clean the place was.
The other thing, that I really noticed got parents excited was talking to them about our Parent's Alliance and all the things that Parent's can get involved with. We have a Parent's day that coincides with Homecoming week that has a silent auction, a luncheon and of course the game. We also have parent's come and decorate the house for Christmas, and a program that has parent's send snacks for Dead Week and Finals week. Another thing is that we have our parents come for our Winter Formal, and serve us and our dates dinner; the parents then order pizza and clean up, while really getting to know each other.
Another things the mom's all love is the fact that we have a Mom's Day each spring. Nothing super fancy, just a nice luncheon and some singing.
The Parent's Alliance is really great about raising money for the house too, and I think that gives the parents the feelign that they're making the house better for their sons. This summer our Alliance raised money to get all our bathrooms steam cleaned, as well as get new patio furniture for our deck. Also the Parent's Alliance allows all the parents to stay involved with their sons in some way and that can't be underestimated.
Obviously the last way is through the Parent's Day rush event. My parents along with alot of other brother's parents came to the house to meet rushee's parents which I think shows that our parents think very highly of what we're doing at house, and that we're happy to have our parents help out and be involved...
Hope I explained just how we get our parents involved and excited about the house, and how that really can help during rush.
PS: Some people mentioned retention earlier. Our initiation rate over the past 4 years has been about 95% (only 5 out of 93 were not initiated).
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