How is your Fraternity Rush structured?

[Elephant Walk]

Well, "walking out" is pretty rare and only happens to certain fraternities. Generally it carries little punishment because it doesn't happen too much. If a rushee simply doesn't want to talk to that fraternity, he usually sits in the middle of the room talking to other rushees who don't want to talk to the fraternity.

The chapters have no limit on how many they want to invite back....but it's a self-limiting things. Certain fraternities have what they dub the "Frozen Chosen"... that is a few of the fraternities only invite 150 men back on the second round....out of nearly 600, that's alot of cuts. It allows them to focus really hard on certain guys who are likely part of other top fraternities frozen chosen.

Bids are given out this way (I'll try to explain it best I can, it's kind of complicated). A fraternity is given a certain quota of people based on chapter size. For smaller fraternities, it's 50. After the last two nights many fraternities may have approximately 150 guys that they have to put on an "A" list and a "B" list and a "Cut list".

If the fraternity is allowed 50 total, then it may have 50 people on it's A list. If a man puts XYZ as 1st on his pref card and is likewise put on XYZ's "A" list, then they are automatically paired and he gets a bid the next day. If XYZ has someone on their "A" list, but that person is on the "A" list at ABC and he puts ABC 1st on the pref card, then the person goes to ABC and the 1st person at the top of XYZ's "B" list goes onto the "A" list for XYZ.

If the man puts XYZ first and ABC second, but XYZ cuts him, but ABC keeps him on their "A" list, he goes automatically ABC. The rushees do not know which lists they are on. It's all computer automated. The rushees stand around in the Union one-by-one filling out pref cards. The choices are then placed into the computer by someone whose working Rush. Fraternities find out whose coming their way usually around 1 o'clock that night. The rushees get a few calls but many find out on Judgement (err...Bid) Day.

[gtdxeric]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

(I'll try to explain it best I can, it's kind of complicated).

Wow, you weren't kidding, that's pretty much sorority recruitment-level complicated. I only know of one other university that has a comparable rush for IFC fraternities, that being Depauw.

Do you know why y'all do things so formally? Is there some sort of story behind it, or is it just the way some administrator somewhere along the line decided?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by gtdxeric

Wow, you weren't kidding, that's pretty much sorority recruitment-level complicated. I only know of one other university that has a comparable rush for IFC fraternities, that being Depauw.

Do you know why y'all do things so formally? Is there some sort of story behind it, or is it just the way some administrator somewhere along the line decided?

I agree with your assessment and also want to know the answers to your questions. But mainly I want you to know that I think your signature is outrageous on a couple of different levels:

"UGA VI died as most Georgia fans will: pantsless, lacking a high school degree, and suffering from a heart attack."

(At least you made no reference to slobbering or being inbreed, and I have to confess, it made me laugh.)

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by gtdxeric

Do you know why y'all do things so formally? Is there some sort of story behind it, or is it just the way some administrator somewhere along the line decided?

For the longest time, I assumed this is how everyone did it. I'll talk to some of the people who run IFC and ask them what the story is. The only differentiation on it is I know that 5 years ago...they use to rush before school started and move into the house as freshman pledges (which would be absolute hell in my opinion).

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

For the longest time, I assumed this is how everyone did it. I'll talk to some of the people who run IFC and ask them what the story is. The only differentiation on it is I know that 5 years ago...they use to rush before school started and move into the house as freshman pledges (which would be absolute hell in my opinion).

Elephant Walk;
That is just how we did it! Rush was the week prior to/before Freshman Orientation. Seemed to be right and OK at that time. When I heard it was changed, I did not think to much of the change.
Different POV's and frame of reference I guess.
What was "hell" was getting back to the Chapter for rush clean up.

[TechSigmaNu]

At my school, formal recruitment begins one week before the first day of classes. The PNMs meet half of the fraternities Monday and the other half on Tuesday. From there, the PNMs go on the internet and rank the fraternities from the best liked to least liked, while the fraternities cut PNMs that they don't want to see the next day. Wednesday the PNMs visit the top six on the list unless one of those six cut them, then the next fraternity on their list is moved up. Thursday is down to four fraternities and Friday is cut to two. Then Saturday is Bid Day.

[PANTHERTEKE]

I just want to say that if I had been forced to visit everyone during my rush experience I would've hated it...

We have a "Meet the Fraternities" night in our ballrooms where the rushees can check out everyone but nothing is mandatory where I'm at.

[TechTransfer]

i hate formal rush, so very, very much, but we're not allowed to do informal until spring quarter starts at the beginning of March. we use an old school, static recruitment system that's a lot like what the women use. the system doesn't work (last year less than 100 men went through) but we keep using it for some reason that is inexplicable to me.

this is what we do:

this year, formal rush is the first full week of class (in the past it was a week later). from the day the dorms open, until bid day, potential new members cannot be in the houses, except during scheduled rush events or during the single party you're allowed to have the weekend before. during the actual rush week, Greek men are not allowed to talk to PNMs outside of official events, except for 'casual conversation'. Greek men can't go into dorms they don't live in, can't call PNMs, can't congregate with PNMs. there are rules against hotboxing, wearing your letters near the dorms....other stuff i'm not remembering. there are a lot of rules.

monday, you visit all the houses (ten this year), for about ten minutes each (i don't remember exactly how long it is). at the end of the night, you turn in a preference card with all ten ranked. what's done that night varies from house to house- when i went through, some houses just gladhanded, while others did a slide show or presentation.

tuesday, you get a card saying which five you're visiting that night. which five is determined the night before- if your #1 choice wants you, you go there Tuesday night, otherwise they go to the #2, and so on. you visit for i believe 30 minutes, at predetermined times. this night is a lot of talking to people. at the end of the night, you turn in another preference card.

wednesday, you get two houses. you visit one for dinner, the other for desert. then thursday night, you get the same two houses, but dinner and desert are flipped. these nights there's often a speaker, usually an impressive alumnus.

friday at noon, bids are available. you go to wherever they're being given out (my year it was the auditorium, but it's often the student center), and go to a table, and tell them your first choice. if you got a bid from that house, you receive it, if not, they ask you your second choice, and so on until you have a bid.

[SycamorePike]

I love the open rush at Indiana State. It is every fraternity's job to go out and rush. There are three fraternities that always do well at rush, and then the other seven either base theirs off a few parties or whoever happens to hang out with the brothers. Our rush numbers from the ten fraternities we had ranged from Pike who had 35 to Sig Tau Gamma who had 2. Everyone else was in between, the next highest was 23 by Pi Kappa Phi.

For one semester they did a structured rush, to try to "make things even" and it didn't work. I don't mean to bash it, because if it is done right, it works. But just doing it so that their isn't a drastic number difference is not the right reason. A potential guy is going to rush where he feels most welcome and will have the most friends, NOT wherever is smaller so he can make things even.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by SycamorePike

I love the open rush at Indiana State. It is every fraternity's job to go out and rush. There are three fraternities that always do well at rush, and then the other seven either base theirs off a few parties or whoever happens to hang out with the brothers. Our rush numbers from the ten fraternities we had ranged from Pike who had 35 to Sig Tau Gamma who had 2. Everyone else was in between, the next highest was 23 by Pi Kappa Phi.

For one semester they did a structured rush, to try to "make things even" and it didn't work. I don't mean to bash it, because if it is done right, it works. But just doing it so that their isn't a drastic number difference is not the right reason. A potential guy is going to rush where he feels most welcome and will have the most friends, NOT wherever is smaller so he can make things even.

35 is the biggest?

Isn't Indiana State a kind of big school?

[SycamorePike]

I am not sure if you read it right, our biggest rush class per semester ranges from 35 to 2. We only have 10,000 students. Back in the 80's and 90's, Greek life was a lot bigger than what it is now. We have twelve fraternities and nine sororities. Biggest fraternity is around 70 and smallest is around 20.

But if you did read it right, Indiana State isn't as big as people think. The Greek life isn't backed very well by the university administration because what good things that fraternities bring are overshadowed by the bad.

[CrackerBarrel]

ISU is much smaller than I thought I guess. 35 isn't a particularly large pledge class and no where near the biggest on most campuses in the south (which is what ElephantWalk and myself are familiar with).

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by CrackerBarrel

ISU is much smaller than I thought I guess. 35 isn't a particularly large pledge class and no where near the biggest on most campuses in the south (which is what ElephantWalk and myself are familiar with).

He said at 10,000 students...which is way smaller than I thought ISU would be.

That's not bad at all for 10,000. Univ. Cent. Arkansas in Conway...the best usually take about that and they have around 12k people.

[TechTransfer]

we have 9000 and a normal pledge class is 15-20, so I think 35 is excellent.