Quote:
Originally Posted by thetygerlily
Fraternities generally are more of a free-for-all, less structured, visit who you want when you want. My husband went through at the same time as me and his recruitment was basically "hey, we played soccer together. Want a bid? Come to the house and we'll give you one." Granted, I think that was pushing things a bit and was likely much more casual than most, but it was a stark difference from what I went through.
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This has been my observant experience with fraternity recruitment. I also believe that their more relaxed recruitment is related to the fact that
most fraternities have a relatively easy process set in place for "blackballing" or booting guys out prior to initiation. So basically they are recruiting during the whole pledge term to determine who is worthy of membership. On many campuses, it is normal to have 40 pledges but only initiate 25. If that were to happen in NPC world, all kinds of red flags would be raised. We have to figure out who is worthy of membership in 3 or 4 nights of singing and dancing. Yes, NPC groups have standards procedures for releasing pledges who are problem-children, but if that process is used too much, it's an indication of deeper issues.
Don't get me wrong - I think what we are doing now is the best option. And violetpretty's note about NPC's advocating no-frills is a step in the right direction to take out any perceived superficiality and move toward selection based on values and actual human interaction / relationships.
Regarding deferred recruitment. I think it works well on some campuses, but there are others where it would become a breeding ground for dirty rushing, I'm afraid. The tent talk would be spread out over a whole semester, and PNMs would be influenced by men as well. I don't see how it would help the struggling chapter when PNMs have a whole semester to "fall in love" with the stronger groups. One of the goals of RFM is to manage PNM expectations and let them explore realistic options rather than spending extra time with chapters that they have no chance of joining. With deferred, they just get their hopes up over a longer period of time.
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