Small school/informal rush

[AOX81]

I would like to know how other small schools run their informal rush period...and how many girls actually go through rush. At our school it is so hard to get girls to even go through formal rush...any ideas on how to change that? I mean it is so bad that I remember when I rushed quota was 4!! But since then it has gotten a little better. Please let me know if you can help!!!!!!!!!!!

[33girl]

I don't think a truly informal rush (i.e., everyone has COB parties and does their own thing) is a good fit for small schools that don't have all the chapters filled to capacity. What might be good is a "structured informal" rush....there is a meet the Greeks info session and a schedule of when the parties happen, but the rushees just attend the parties they want to. That way you don't have to choose if you want to attend more than one and they happen to be at the same time.

[AOX81]

We do have a structured informal rush...and it still doesn't work. We usually have information night, 1st round (all the girls have to meet with all of the sororities), 2nd round-4th round when they get to pick and choose which events they go to, and then finally pref night. Our rush seems pretty pathetic as a whole. And it seems like my sorority works their butt off for nothing. The other sororities are too worried about themselves and how many girls they are going to get. We are always promoting greek life in general but we are not receiving any help from other organizations.

[gphi2k]

I go to a school that has, no joke, 60 THOUSAND students. And generally, our quota hovers around 6, give or take a few every year. Usually take. People at my school are just not interested in greek life. We have the girls houses set up little info table in the main student centre at school for informal rush, but i can't remember the last time any of our 7 houses really benefited from this. What worked for my house and continues to work best for us is, suprisingly, word of mouth. We usually get girls at informal who are friends of girls already in the house. The only other thing that has appeared to work for us is putting up adverts in girl' dormatories. Other than that, I'm at as much of a loss as you are. How do you get a school with little or no greek spirit,inspired?

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Gamma Phi Beta
University of Toronto
Alpha Alpha

[AOX81]

That is crazy!! I can't believe that at a school with 60,000 students that quota is only around 6. What is up with college students today?? I don't understand why hardly anybody is interested in greek life.

We have tried the table thing in our University Center but it doesn't work. Our girls are usually screwing around and the potential rushees are too nervous to even walk up to the table to get information.

For formal rush, does everybody send out letters and information to all of the incoming freshmen?? We were going to try that for the first time last year but a girl from one of the other sororities pulled them from the mail room because their website was on the flyer....they never got out!!! What was actually funny about it was somebody hacked into their website and now it is some little kids Pokemon page!!

[matthewg]

In Germany we are confronted with the lack of interest in fraternities since the late sixties students revolts.
That's why we couldn't afford to do rush or we would probably die. So we accept new members on a year round basis without any fixed schedule. Therefore, we basically try to "rush" them all year round and that works fine, with initiation always being 2 semesters after the begin of pledging.

What we do to get attention on campus is therefore:
a) an information desk at the beginning of the semester including handing out info flyers to possibly interested people. However, you really have to walk up to people and give them the stuff, they usually don't come to the desk.
b) organizing on campus events like scientific talks with invited speakers, publicly advertised on campus - that get's you known
c) most of our other events in our house (parties and such) are also open to the public and advertised - on these occasions you get to talk to interested people
d) invite really interested people to events that are by invitation only - then you can focus on them

and then again, as otheres stated, the word of mouth is extremely important and for our chapter the rule has been lately that pledges are the best to draw new pledges.....

We currently have 10 pledges which is definitely above average for German freternities.
Maybe some of the strategies help you, too

cheers

[AOX81]

With the way that my sorority works we only take new members twice a year.

And at our school we can't walk up and hand out flyers to people...soliciting

We currently have six pledges. I do find that pledges are the best rush tools. They are the ones who are the most excited because this is all new to them.

Our school just needs HELP!!!!