Out of State Rushing a Frat at Bama

[Firehouse]

TSteven, you've always appeared to be a free-market sort of guy. Why in the world would an SEC school agree to eliminate summer bids? That has always been a staple of their great success. It angers me when bureaucrats try to bully the fraternities into restricting rush. Unlike sororities, fraternities have no quota, no limitation. Why not open up all sources of new members and allow the system to flourish to the max?

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by Firehouse

TSteven, you've always appeared to be a free-market sort of guy. Why in the world would an SEC school agree to eliminate summer bids? That has always been a staple of their great success. It angers me when bureaucrats try to bully the fraternities into restricting rush. Unlike sororities, fraternities have no quota, no limitation. Why not open up all sources of new members and allow the system to flourish to the max?

I totally agree. Frankly, one rarely hears of issues regarding IFC rush (as a whole) like you do with NPC recruitment. Yet, while the system isn't broken, some administrator feels that they have to "fix it".

Having year round recruitment (Summer, Fall and Spring/Winter) has always been an effective and successful way to recruit. Summer Rush gets you the local pledges and the men already known to the chapter. Fall Rush picked up out-of-state guys, guys from summer rush who needed more time to make an informed decision, guys who - for what ever reason - did not attend summer rush events, and returning students now interested in fraternities. Spring Rush (winter rush) picks up the guys who want a semester of school under their belt, guys who could not devote time to rush (pledge) during the summer or the fall (for example - athletes, band), guys who didn't really have a clue about Greek life on campus before they arrived, and friends and class mates of current members.

Bottom line is that a year round recruitment system supports not only incoming freshemn, but also upperclassmen with rushing. No "one time to receive a bid or else" factor. Year round recruitment allows the rushee to pledge when - and how - he feels most comfortable doing so. It can even the playing field by allowing chapters to use their strengths when - and how - they rush. For example, a chapter might not have a house on campus, but can compete during summer rush. Or a chapter doesn't do well during formal rush on campus but does well one-on-one either during the more relaxed summer rush or recruiting one-on-one during the school year (and then pledging during the spring). Or a chapter may do it's best recruiting during the more formal structure of fall rush.

Restricting how and when fraternities rush is... restrictive. And not good for the fraternity system as a whole. Which is why the NIC (IFC) advocates no restriction and year round recruitment.