Fraternity Recruitment - Harder Than Sorority Recruitment?

[pearlbubbles]

I can't speak for the entire Greek system, but I know that at my alma mater (University of Colorado-Boulder), by the end of the next school year, there will be twice as many fraternities as there are sororities (18 and 9, respectively). Despite this, during last year's recruitment (there were only 14 fraternities at the time), the men only had about 500 potential recruits go through, whereas the sororities had about 900. Both of these were the campus' largest recruitment for either group of organizations. The sororities completed the process with around 1800 members total (including the new members, though not all 900) and the fraternities had about 1100 total (including new members, but not all 500).

I think a great deal of the disparity might first come from a lack of publicity, but that isn't necessarily the fault of our fraternities, per se as the fraternities' situation is a unique one (http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_12960503). Secondly, though, I think a lot of it is because a gentleman is not required to attend all houses or go through some sort of party system; likewise, the fraternities do not guarantee a bid (following full completion of a preference card) or have any sort of quota system (the largest houses have around one hundred twenty members, while the smaller houses have somewhere between twenty and fifty members).

I am not necessarily sure which recruitment is easier--I think they both have their own specific hardships/peculiarities. It is definitely true that the sororities tend to have larger numbers of PNMs going through and larger numbers of them joining houses, but I do not know how a structured fraternity recruitment would compare. Are the numbers more comparable at universities that have a more structured fraternity recruitment?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by pearlbubbles

I can't speak for the entire Greek system, but I know that at my alma mater, by the end of the next school year, there will be twice as many fraternities as there are sororities (18 and 9, respectively). Despite this, during last year's recruitment (there were only 14 fraternities at the time), the men only had about 500 potential recruits go through, whereas the sororities had about 900. Both of these were the campus' largest recruitment for either group of organizations. The sororities completed the process with around 1800 members total (including the new members, though not all 900) and the fraternities had about 1100 total (including new members, but not all 500).

I think a great deal of the disparity might first come from a lack of publicity, but that isn't necessarily the fault of our fraternities, per se. Secondly, though, I think a lot of it is because a gentleman is not required to attend all houses or go through some sort of party system; likewise, the fraternities do not guarantee a bid (following full completion of a preference card) or have any sort of quota system (the largest houses have around one hundred twenty members, while the smaller houses have somewhere between twenty and fifty members).

I am not necessarily sure which recruitment is easier--I think they both have their own specific hardships/peculiarities. It is definitely true that the sororities tend to have larger numbers of PNMs going through and larger numbers of them joining houses, but I do not know how a structured fraternity recruitment would compare. Are the numbers more comparable at universities that have a more structured fraternity recruitment?

Um, hello????

Your fraternities are unrecognized by the school. Anyone looking at your college's Greek life page would think that they don't even exist. It's a minor miracle that they still have and are still able to attract as many people as they do.

Sorry, but your school is a huge ginormous anomaly and you don't get to answer this question.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Um, hello????

Your fraternities are unrecognized by the school. Anyone looking at your college's Greek life page would think that they don't even exist. It's a minor miracle that they still have and are still able to attract as many people as they do.

Sorry, but your school is a huge ginormous anomaly and you don't get to answer this question.

Wow, yeah that would make a big difference.

[pearlbubbles]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Um, hello????

Your fraternities are unrecognized by the school. Anyone looking at your college's Greek life page would think that they don't even exist. It's a minor miracle that they still have and are still able to attract as many people as they do.

Sorry, but your school is a huge ginormous anomaly and you don't get to answer this question.

I am fully aware of that. I simply posed my opinion in regards to a lack of structured recruitment (like rush parties at all houses) which seems to be the case at many other universities and colleges. You will notice I did first cite a lack of publicity which is based on this lack of recognition--but I figured everyone knew about that situation by this point in time as it happened half a decade ago.

Despite their lack of recognition, I do think they are doing quite well for themselves and their numbers are largely similar to surrounding schools, whose fraternities, as a whole, are recognized by their respective universities. I also said I could not speak for the entire Greek system, as again, CU's is a special case.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by pearlbubbles

I am fully aware of that. I simply posed my opinion in regards to a lack of structured recruitment (like rush parties at all houses) which seems to be the case at many other universities and colleges. You will notice I did first cite a lack of publicity which is based on this lack of recognition--but I figured everyone knew about that situation by this point in time as it happened half a decade ago.

Despite their lack of recognition, I do think they are doing quite well for themselves and their numbers are largely similar to surrounding schools, whose fraternities, as a whole, are recognized by their respective universities. I also said I could not speak for the entire Greek system, as again, CU's is a special case.

None of us can speak for the whole Greek system. But for those people who didn't read your location or who aren't aware of the CU situation (like people who've only been Greek for a year and were in HS when the fraternities were first derecognized), yeah, you should have maybe mentioned that teensy point.