Quote:
Originally Posted by melindawarren
Or, honestly, first week of freshman year rush (which is what I had, and, at the time, seemed worse than pre-freshman rush-hey, pre-freshmen don't have homework!  ).
I see nothing wrong with deferred recruitment? Maybe I'm the one missing something? |
I think deferred recruitment is a dandy idea, as does 33girl, welcome to our vocal minority
Whether later in a semester, spread out over a few weekends from one semester or quarter into the next, students coming back early after the New Year, it would vary for each campus. I see chapter housing facilities as driving a lot of this, and though they are great, they are also an albatross around the neck of many a chapter when there aren't enough members to pay the bills.
If there is an insistence on rush and joining before sitting in a class room, then don't allow new members to move in right away and live on campus (which many schools require). Meeting other people, having a space away from the chapter for reflection or to take a break, making friends who live in your hall (who could be potential future members) as well as having a support system and friends in the event one decides Greek Life isn't for them, some people outside the system including an RA who aren't members and may see warning signs or be able to report hazing, and so many more reasons play into my support of deferred recruitment.
Maybe if new members didn't move in right away and weren't isolated we could go back to longer new member periods to assuage the ideas of hazing since non-Greeks are living with freshmen. I also think that moving in right away may deepen or widen the schism between those who join and those who don't. I'm a huge supporter of waiting for semester or quarter grades to initiate and letting people get their bearings as I've seen plenty of kids fail first semester, get a waiver and be on academic and chapter probation, do it again, and leave school at the end of the first year.
If we're really life long organizations then waiting a semester is not going to hurt us in the long run. People say "we have to get them before they join other stuff!" but that makes me feel like we can't let our organizations stand on their own and let people get to know us and be sure they want to join for a life time by making educated and informed decisions. All groups have alumnae who have had no contact since graduation and maybe they were burnt out or it wasn't important to them, but if we're going to "keep rushing our pledges" we should keep rushing our alumnae as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby
One of the big issues is that it doesn't work on campuses where you have to sign housing contracts in the fall. In Champaign, if you wanted a good apartment, you had to sign a lease by October or so for the following year.
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We have recruitment before classes start, and all freshman are required to live on campus so those who receive bids move in on Bid Day and the women who don't complete the process are guaranteed campus housing. Including Greek Chapter Facilities as housing for freshman men and women is not something many schools allow. Students who are interested in Greek Life are told to not sign housing contracts, which includes non-freshman students as moving in right away is expected and often required. Currently Delta Zeta is based in a Residence Hall, but when there is "overflow" women's chapters often have sisters live in a residence hall as a group and rotate in and out of the house, or upperclasswomen will move out of the facility to make space for freshmen/new members as finding off campus lodging in Moscow is not a problem.
Our nearby neighbors at Washington State University require freshmen to live on campus and for men have approved living facilities, women move into the dorms. Some are able to move into the chapters between semesters but many move in as sophomores. We're also alike as we have sleeping porches (cold dorms to some) so there is some flexibility for some chapters of how many people live in to pay the bills to comfortable space, to a rush hour train in Tokyo. Often women who join through informal recruitment will be expected and/or required to move into the house as soon as their lease or housing contract is up, and some chapters would financially help a woman who broke a lease or housing contract as the money will be recouped with her living in and being a full dues paying member. To be honest I think that practice is fading into the distance as chapters were robust enough that we opened for expansion and Delta Zeta became a colony.
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