Battling dirty rush

[usrname1692]

Last year my chapter went through an uncalled for membership review, we lost 70 members, we are now down to 20. Im an NI recruitment chairman as well as all of the officers, our upperclassmen who are left are all on exec or super distant. we do not have any assistance from kicked out ex-recruitment chairmen. Our chapter adviser has made this whole process hard on us but i know hes tryin his best. getting to the point, we are getting dirty rushed by other fraternities hard, theyre telling rushes we are all dropping and losing our house, which both are not true. but as the fall semester is approaching were still about 10 new members short of our goal and i was seeing what assistance yall could offer. another thing that would help would be ideas on how to get more names of potential new members, our ifc offers a website that has a list of some potential new members but we need more.

cheers

[FSUZeta]

As a former chapter advisor, I promise your chapter advisor makes decisions based on your chapter's best interest and directives from your national office. He is not out to get you, but to guide you. You guys need to show your national headquarters that they made the right decision when they didn't close your chapter or boot you who remain.

No org wants to shut a chapter down- from a business standpoint, they lose money. But in that same vein, from a business standpoint a rogue chapter can cost millions of dollars in lawsuits.

Has anyone approached the chapter(s) spreading the rumors and had a civil conversation with the officers? Asked them to stop and enlisted their help?Could you speak to your campus Greek life advisor and ask that he/she put a stop to the rumor that y'all are breathing your last breath? Maybe he/she could host a meeting with all the Greek org officers that are in town. Prepare what you want to say to the GL advisor and meet in person. If you have definite proof of rumor mongering, bring it. Be civil, respectful, and professional.

Is your campus holding new student orientations during the summer? Could you get permission to put up an information table about your fraternity? Are all members pitching in to recruit new members? They should be, but it is up to you to get your guys organized and informed on what you need them to do. Delegate!

Do whatever you can to get those members who have distanced themselves back and interested in your brotherhood again. Maybe hold a cookout or some fun activity that concentrates just on them. Make sure it's an upbeat event- no griping about the injustice you all feel was inflicted on your chapter last year. It is important to not lose those members, so KROM (keep rushing our members).

Also take a deep breath. This is June and you are just 10 spots away from your goal? That's a glass half empty outlook. If you reverse that statement, you have X amount of new guys toward your membership goal and it's not even July yet! Remember there will be guys who would be great members that y'all will meet in the fall-under the radar guys that you and your brothers will meet in class. Guys your new members will room with or become friends with in the first few weeks of class. I think you will meet your goal. Good luck!

[PGD-GRAD]

^^^ what FSUZeta said!! This should be required reading for every chapter in your situation. (And there have been—and will be—many!)

I want to add the idea of summer rush...if it’s allowed. Get the names of incoming freshmen and have brothers from different areas host a small cook-out or even a pool party. Often alumni are happy to assist with this. It doesn’t have to be huge...just 4 or 5 brothers and an equal number of rushees. Your current brothers, and the new guys you’ve already bidded, all know other incoming students. USE those connections.

And her advice to KROM is SO important. Our chapters say: continue to rush your pledges. It works and helps assure retention.

GOOD LUCK! And NO BITCHING. Positivity breeds success.

[Rod D]

You attract "dudes" with beer and women.


Ok, so before everyone starts the flames -- it's a joke. Rumors are flying because what happened to you was probably done in "secret." Thus, the rumors fly. Loosing 70 members isn't Nationals "helping" you -- really 70 guys where just so bad they didn't belong. Unfortunately, the only way to fight rumors is with facts. It's almost impossible to recover a house that goes from 90 to 20. That is a sinking ship. So you'll need to start there. You'll need to be able to answer these questions for yourself and potential members.

How are you going to possibly maintain a house that had 90 members, with 20 plus a new class?
With those numbers, what do your finances really look like?
What other discipline are you subject to, and how are you going to handle that going forward?
You may even want to be able to discuss what happened, why, and what is being done about it.

Anyway good luck. You have an uphill battle.

[PhilTau]

Seventy active members booted? Was it hazing, grades, nonpayment of dues or drugs/underage drinking? Or a combination?

Anyway - dirty rush is likely the least of your challenges.

In addition to the great advice above, here are some suggestions:

Get all 20 of those remaining together over the summer for a retreat. Doesn't have to be fancy. Try to get someone from you nationals to attend and help lead it. Get all the facts about what happened, be truthful, and come up with a short explanation that your members can use to explain what happened in a consistent manner. Plan what you are going to do to replace the members.

Also, consider the members that were booted. Regardless of how much they may have been liked and loved, they probably are the types of guys you do not want to give bids to this time around.

Do the activities suggested in prior posts; however, I would differ about having alumni attend events. Keep alumni as far away as possible from any of your events and away from your new members. The reason for this has been discussed in other inquires. It is because alumni tend to tell "war stories" about how bad they were hazed and it will give new and existing members ideas on how to get into even more trouble than you have already experienced.

If your campus allows continuous open bidding, consider doing that instead of the traditional rush. Maybe try focusing on non-freshmen and transfer students. Get people with good grades. People who will graduate and who have a good chance at successful careers in whatever field they may be pursuing.

Finally, (and nationals has likely beat this into you) any "traditions" that your old chapter may have had, must be declared dead, dead, dead - no matter how benign the remaining members may believe them to be.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by PhilTau

Do the activities suggested in prior posts; however, I would differ about having alumni attend events. Keep alumni as far away as possible from any of your events and away from your new members. The reason for this has been discussed in other inquires. It is because alumni tend to tell "war stories" about how bad they were hazed and it will give new and existing members ideas on how to get into even more trouble than you have already experienced.

Or it could be that part of the reason the chapter has gotten into such dire straits is BECAUSE the alumni have distanced themselves from the fraternity and the only accountability is to a distant national office. There are times when alumni make things worse, but to put a blanket prohibition on all of them from every chapter is absurd. You know best what your situation is.

Make rushing upperclassmen (especially those with experience in other organizations) who want to start something new your first priority, and freshmen a distant second. The last thing you need is a chapter that is 75% guys who still can’t find their around campus. Nationals love to start “fresh” like this, but unless there is CONSTANT intervention (as in live In consultants) it is pretty much always a total flop.

[LaneSig]

I agree with PhilTau that the remaining members need to have a membership retreat this summer. Y'all need to make sure that everyone is focused on rebuilding the chapter, and that everyone is on the same page.

Also, while you probably want to throw big rush parties, it might be better to focus on members asking pnms to lunch, play basketball, or just hang out. PNMS might feel a better connection to individual members and be more willing to join a group that is rebuilding.