How is your Fraternity Rush structured?

[FSUfiji]

Originally Posted by SECdomination

Our IFC will rip us a new one if we get caught having parties after 11 during the week. Just ask Phi Delt...
Does the FSU IFC allow that or are they just less uptight than ours?

yea at fsu IFC just prohibits any alcohol during the rush hours, but after.....its fair game and EVERY bar is rented out by a fraternity. good way to take your new pledges out to celebrate during the week and show the pnm's how we party.

[PANTHERTEKE]

We don't have "formal rush."
Thank God..

On Monday you get the chance to meet all the fraternities during a 5-10 minute presentation for each one, and then after that you just go to the different events the fraternity is doing throughout the week. And the "Meet the Fraternities" thing isn't even mandatory for rushees.

If I was forced to have visited/talked to/mingle with every fraternity I would've killed myself.

[OleMissRebel]

I dont know.
We have a big BBQ and then the PNMs just start rolling in for a few hours every day for like four or five days. We invite some back and stuff. I don't know the exact rules. I just meet the ones I like and then vote on bids. Regardless, the system works.

[banditone]

Are "fratpuppies" and "new boys" the same thing?

[PhiGam]

Originally Posted by banditone

Are "fratpuppies" and "new boys" the same thing?

New boys means the guys who were just initiated

[BigRedBeta]

We have summer rush, and I think it's a great process. Freshmen can sign with a house from the day after they graduate up until Friday of the first week of school. There used to be a formal rush week the first week of school, but the last time even half of the guys going through that week got signed (I think it was 7 out of 14) was in 2001. The week has been largely abandoned, though the idea gets kicked around during IFC elections every couple of years.

Admitted seniors usually get a mailing from Greek Affairs about Spring Break introducing them to the Greek System and directing them to fill out a rush application, which is now pretty much exclusively online. The app asks for basic contact information, intended major, ACT/SAT score, class rank, GPA, and 10 HS accomplishments/awards/honors/involvement. There's a fee for the sororities, but no fee to go through fraternity rush. There is a box for guys to say they don't want to be contacted until after they graduate, along with a space for that day, and this request is generally honored (you don't want to be the asshole house that calls early).

At noon on the Friday of finals week (usually the first week of may, it'll be Friday of this week this year), copies of those applications which have been received are delivered to all the chapters. Recruitment officers may then begin calling rushees. Generally, the first 4-5 weeks of the summer is the "travel period" where rush chairs travel all over the state and region to take guys out - dinners, rounds of golf and the like are pretty routine, some guys in Omaha will taken to College World Series games. I've heard of some houses sending their rush chairs as far away as 14 hours to take guys out, but this is a fairly new phenomena which with gas the way it is, is likely to decrease.

By about the fifth week of summer (second or third week of June) most rushees will have graduated, and the University will have started hosting New Student Enrollment for the incoming freshmen. Traveling dies down a little bit, and chapters are required to have at least one rush chair at the house available to give tours and answer questions. Since NSE is the one chance where all freshmen come to campus, tours can get pretty busy, so it's pretty rare for there not to be 2 rush chairs and a couple of brothers around to handle the tours.

Once NSE starts, most chapters start having some sort of weekly barbecues to allow rushees to meet the chapter and see the house. Typically they're Thursday nights, and brothers are lured with free food and parties afterward. The chapters also begin scheduling rush parties at various locations throughout the state on the weekends - usually at someone's cabin or a lake.

Rush is completely dry (and the rule is fairly well followed - there's always a handful of rushees where rumors start flying that such and such a house took them out before they signed and that's why they ended up in that house. Usually occurs when it's a guy that was coveted by the top houses ends up in a second tier chapter) , but once a rushee has signed their bid card, they can begin partying with the house the rest of the summer.

Chapters may give out bid cards at any time, and they're "good" for two weeks, though most get post-dated. Cards must be signed by the student and their parent. Some chapters put a great deal of effort into winning over parents. One of the most masterful recruitment jobs I ever saw within my own chapter occurred when guys in my pledge class were rush chairs and they spent about 3 or 4 times as much time with a rushee's mom and little 9 year old sister (who the rushee was extremely close with) as they did with him. It was the little sister who actually asked him when he was going to sign his card to Beta that got him to pull the trigger.

Generally June is the most hectic time, and by 4th of July, most chapters have the majority of their class signed. For the GDI student, they have to break their dorm contract by July 10th or else pay a fine, but Greek Affairs has an agreement with University Housing that guys joining fraternities have until the 15th to break their contract without penalty, so that kind of represents the major endpoint of rush with most guys having signed by then. Bid cards will trickle in throughout the end of July though, and by August most things are set and whatever parties remain are intended to get the new guys to know the guys in their pledge class better, to build the relationships, and allow roommates the chance to meet and plan out who's bringing what.

I like the setup because it's not hurried. There's plenty of time to meet with most of the houses, and really spend time to see if you fit. I also like the fact that it means guys know before they get to school what their doing and that they'll be living in the fraternity house from day one. It's a little tough for out of state guys, but since they have to come for NSE, they have to be on campus at least one day, and if they're from really far away, they're usually going to stay for at least two days so they have time to meet with houses.

[banditone]

ahhh.

[EE825]

In Toronto there is no IFC regulating the fraternities so each fraternity recruits how they want, when they want etc. There are no school rules for rushing and the only rules that need to be followed is each organizations rules for recruitment. I think some of the fraternities tried to organize a formal recruitment a few years back through the Fraternity and Sorority Council but it didn't work mainly because a lot of the fraternities didn't participate.

The sororities are regulated by Pan-Hellenic and used the formal recruitment program up until last fall. Since Fall 2007 they adopted PSR (Partially Structured Recruitment) which spans over 3 weeks instead of 1. There are mixed feelings though and there is a chance it'll go back to FR after this year when they re-vote.

[PhiTheta337]

Also just to clear it up sororities have Pi Chi's guys have Rho Chis, at least that's how it use to be at my school before IFC threw out formal rush.

[nate2512]

Originally Posted by PhiTheta337

Also just to clear it up sororities have Pi Chi's guys have Rho Chis, at least that's how it use to be at my school before IFC threw out formal rush.

They are called different things everywhere, fraternities and sororities. Rho Chi, Rho Gamma, Pi Chi, Gamma Chi, and many many more.

ETA: "and like many many more", sounded like a junior high bitch term.

[PANTHERTEKE]

So for the guys who go to schools with "Formal Rush" for IFC, what is that like?

Are you forced to visit EVERY house and talk to all the guys?

My campus has IFC Rush Week 3 times a year (Spring, Summer B, and Fall obviously) but our only "Formal" Rush is during Fall, but even then there isn't a difference between the three... You just have events every night for a week and the PNMs get to choose which they go to.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by PANTHERTEKE

My campus has IFC Rush Week 3 times a year (Spring, Summer B, and Fall obviously) but our only "Formal" Rush is during Fall, but even then there isn't a difference between the three... You just have events every night for a week and the PNMs get to choose which they go to.

That is similar to Kentucky. Fall formal just means that each chapter is having parties during the designated rush week and must follow the IFC guidelines. (i.e. no alcohol, over by 11 p.m. etc.) As such, the rusher may attend as many parties as he wants. However, bids may not be extended nor accepted until Thursday of rush week. [see correction below] Some of the chapters may have invitational only parties staring on Thursday. Regardless, since there are summer rush events (but no official bidding), a good portion of the pledge classes have already been lined up. And there is a Spring formal rush as well (held in January). But fewer men rush in the spring.

Correction: According to the UK IFC website, bids may be extended at 9 a.m. on the Thursday of rush week and may be accepted on Friday.

[PANTHERTEKE]

Originally Posted by TSteven

That is similar to Kentucky. Fall formal just means that each chapter is having parties during the designated rush week and must follow the IFC guidelines. (i.e. no alcohol, over by 11 p.m. etc.) As such, the rusher may attend as many parties as he wants. However, bids may not be extended nor accepted until Thursday of rush week. Some of the chapters may have invitational only parties staring on Thursday. Regardless, since there are summer rush events (but no official bidding), a good portion of the pledge classes have already been lined up. And there is a Spring formal rush as well (held in January). But fewer men rush in the spring.

Ah I see. Yeah, that's pretty similar. We have to follow the IFC guidelines (no alcohol, no more than 17 women at 2 rush events) from Monday-Thursday, which is official Rush Week, and Friday is usually the day when each chapter has a party. Chapters can bid whenever they want, but we usually don't bid guys until Wednesday (except for the guys we've had lined up since before).

But these rules apply to all of our Rush Weeks, which is why I mentioned that there is no fundamental difference between the three.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by PANTHERTEKE

So for the guys who go to schools with "Formal Rush" for IFC, what is that like?

Are you forced to visit EVERY house and talk to all the guys?

Yep. Every house.

If you don't visit every house you supposedly get kicked out of rush. A few houses have guys walk out on them, which is pretty funny.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Yep. Every house.

If you don't visit every house you supposedly get kicked out of rush. A few houses have guys walk out on them, which is pretty funny.

So if they walk, does that mean they are kicked out of formal rush? Or do they just need to show up for short time, maybe sign in or get their ticket validated (what ever they need to do to prove they attended), and then bail?

And do the chapters have a limit on the number of men they can invite back per round? Again, I have heard that on some campuses, a chapter can can invite as many as they want up to a point. Also, may a rushee receive more than one bid? Again, I've heard that after the *preference* round, each chapter may extend a bid. It is then up to the rushee to accept the one he wants. But in other cases, just making it to the *preference* round is considered receiving a bid. Again, the rushee accepts the one he wants from that group.

For what it is worth, there seems to be various forms of an IFC *structured* formal rush with more campuses moving toward one of those variations. Granted not a heck of a lot right not, but more campuses seem to be implementing some sort of structure that requires that the rushee must attend at least one open house at each chapter. I know that Ole Miss has one of the more formalized rush structures and it seems to work well for them.