How does rush work? Different forms of rush?

[IrishLake]

I know there are some colleges where the fraternities offer a more formal recruitment, but I can't think of who, at the moment. The traditional formal recruitment described above is pretty much just for the ladies.

[Alumiyum]

At ours they have parties (dry) open to the campus the week after school starts. Each night one fraternity has a themed party...all the Greeks go, and many PNMs attend, both girls and guys. They have Smokers on the last night, then Bid Day. I've only actually been to one Bid Day (they go to the school theater, get their bids, then go to their group that gets all excited...once all of the bids have been given out they walk to their hall/house) because us ladies usually just sit in strategic points on campus to watch our favorite group bring the new guys back to their hall/house. I believe they do have to register, but all in all it's a pretty laid back process.

[als463]

Between this thread asking about how rush works and a thread asking about videos for rush and their PR tactics-I'm starting to wonder about the OP. Is anyone else getting the 'Alexandra Robbins' vibe from this person or is it just me? It's almost as if this person is doing some sort of research on GC.

[pearlbubbles]

Originally Posted by IrishLake

I know there are some colleges where the fraternities offer a more formal recruitment, but I can't think of who, at the moment. The traditional formal recruitment described above is pretty much just for the ladies.

If I remember correctly, Arkansas in one of them.

[Flying Tiger]

als463, I'm not sure what vibe you are getting. I am asking about how rush works because this whole formal recruitment that is structured does not occur at my school, thus I never even knew it existed until recently. After being in a fraternity for a couple of years, I though I knew how rush works. Obviously not, as things are done differently at other schools. Thats why I am asking about it. Recruitment videos and PR tactics are important because you can basically create a profile of your house based on what you show in a video.

Alumi Yum, looks like your campus has its way of doing rush too. Its actually a good idea because instead of having rushees move from house to house, it brings everyone all together into one location.

[Flying Tiger]

This brings up another thought. I guess the reason why my school does not have any organized events between houses is because Greek involvement is generally low. Houses compete against one another for members. Co hosting an event with another house would be impractical since you risk "losing" a rushee to the "other" house. In fact, my school has lots of "that house is stealing all our rushees this quarter."

So at your school, is there like an abundance of students that come out and want to join your houses? Do you ever have to worry that you won't get enough pledges. I mean at our school, we have to literally drag students out of their beds to get them to attend rush events.

[IrishLake]

Originally Posted by Flying Tiger

als463, I'm not sure what vibe you are getting. I am asking about how rush works because this whole formal recruitment that is structured does not occur at my school, thus I never even knew it existed until recently. After being in a fraternity for a couple of years, I though I knew how rush works. Obviously not, as things are done differently at other schools. Thats why I am asking about it. Recruitment videos and PR tactics are important because you can basically create a profile of your house based on what you show in a video.
Alumi Yum, looks like your campus has its way of doing rush too. Its actually a good idea because instead of having rushees move from house to house, it brings everyone all together into one location.

Yes, but you also have to live the profile you present. You can't bait and switch. You can't use a video to show a bunch of positive things if you guys aren't living it, and in reality your group is associated with a lot of negatives. It takes a lot to turn the image of Greek Life away from what it seems you guys have. It's more than just good PR and a nice video. Make service the focal point of your group. Support other clubs on campus when they have a findraiser. Send notes of good luck and well wishes to other GLOs and other clubs. Maybe if the greek orgs on your campus worked together more, you wouldn't have such a negative stigma attached.

Originally Posted by Flying Tiger

This brings up another thought. I guess the reason why my school does not have any organized events between houses is because Greek involvement is generally low. Houses compete against one another for members. Co hosting an event with another house would be impractical since you risk "losing" a rushee to the "other" house. In fact, my school has lots of "that house is stealing all our rushees this quarter."

So at your school, is there like an abundance of students that come out and want to join your houses? Do you ever have to worry that you won't get enough pledges. I mean at our school, we have to literally drag students out of their beds to get them to attend rush events.

There are different situations at all schools. Some school have 1800 girls go through recruitment every year, with only about 70% receiving bids and with pledge classes at 100 girls. But size does not indicate success or quality. There are plenty of successful chapters that are less than 20 members in size. But in order to make people WANT to go greek, instead of dragging them to events to force it upon them, your greek life groups need to present a united front.

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by Flying Tiger

This brings up another thought. I guess the reason why my school does not have any organized events between houses is because Greek involvement is generally low. Houses compete against one another for members. Co hosting an event with another house would be impractical since you risk "losing" a rushee to the "other" house. In fact, my school has lots of "that house is stealing all our rushees this quarter."

So at your school, is there like an abundance of students that come out and want to join your houses? Do you ever have to worry that you won't get enough pledges. I mean at our school, we have to literally drag students out of their beds to get them to attend rush events.

The actives work pretty hard to get people to go through recruitment in the first place, but it's much more difficult for the men. Their chapters are smaller and they have far fewer participants in formal recruitment than the women. I don't know if the fraternities worry about how many man sign up, but they do worry about the sizes of their pledge classes since there are so few men going through in the first place.

Of course there's a lot of "XYZ stole our pledge", but in reality with such a small campus and small number of PNMs this is probably the best way to do it. The parties are themed and are almost always band parties:
ATO Virgin Party (virgin cocktails and a band), DX Censored Party (huge band party), Pike Crawfish Boil, Lambda Chi Iceberg Party (everyone comes in scarves and Uggs and they turn on the AC full blast), AKL Volcano Party (luau themed with a band)

They're all advertised heavily on campus and on facebook, and Greeks in general talk them up to freshman. IMO what usually happens is that the female PNMs are encouraged to go because sorority women WILL be present at all the parties actively meeting PNMs, and once the new guys find out the parties will be full of girls, they definitely want to go. The fraternities also attend each others' parties, and for the most part the fraternities not hosting the party hover around the edges and respect the party hosts...then just try to top that party. IIRC the one night where PNMs visit separate halls/houses (only ATO and DX have houses, the others have halls like the sororities do in the dorms) is Smokers. They dress sharp and are trucked from house to house. This is the only night they are REQUIRED to attend.

Sorority recruitment is very traditional, just on a small scale.

There's always grumbling over "pledge stealing" but it almost never boils over. From the outside looking in, the key is to just realize there are only a few men to choose from and you can't always get what you want. The pledge classes are generally around the same size for each group.

[Flying Tiger]

Irish Lake, I agree with you that it we must live up to the profile we present. Deciding what to present our main goals as during rush will allow PNMs to decide if they want to rush us or not. Yes some PNMs are looking for parties, drinking, and girls, while other do want community service. Our campus actually does have one co ed fraternity that is puts itself out as a service fraternity and they are quite big for a house on our campus. Their pledge classes are like 30 pledges which is unheard of for other houses. Of course I can't say for certain that students rush them because they are a service fraternity, but I think its more because they are big and have lots of connections, not to mention that this co ed fraternity is nationwide with hundreds of chapters. They place a big emphasis on bonding to, not partying. That org is accused of taking pledges by all the other orgs.

The general reputation of the greek orgs at our school is not exactly negative, but more of just something that unnecessary. Students not joining because they already have their own friends. The biggest step for us is getting them to come out for the very first time. After that, it becomes much easier and they start to express their own interest. Then they will come to our events on their own.

For us, our recruitment tactics and public relations comes down to selling ourselves in that split second that we first meet them when they walk past our rush table. We need to have a solid first impression. In that few second coversation, which must present ourselves in a way that makes them feel comfortable enough to come out to the events. Unlike formal recruitment, we have to go to them as opposed to them coming to us. At the event we have to present ourselves again and if they come on info night they will see our rush video. So basically its like your right that our other rush events should be a reflection of our rush videos, and usually it is.

I agree with you too that Greek orgs on a united front would be better, but with so much rivalry, I doubt it could happen at our school.

[Flying Tiger]

Hi Alumi Yum, yea everyone works hard to get through recruitment, espcecially fall because this is usually the best rush for all the orgs on my campus. We get the most rushees and the largest pledge class. This is when freshman know very little about the school or classes and still have lots of free time. They are finding there way around when they are approached by invididuals wearing jackets and sweaters displaying two to three unusual looking symbols. They are given a flyer and are invited to come out to an event with them that night by total strangers. Is that going to convince them to come out?

Personally I think this scenario might seem kinda intimidating so its makes rush difficult. By spring they know who we are so its more of either they are interested or not. I think fraternity recruitment is harder then sororities though it doesn't quite show that much on my campus since its seems that both only have pledge classes of about 5 to 10. The sororities talk about their community service and bond easier with their rushees making them feel more comfortable. They emphasize their sisterhood.

The fraternities emphasize their brotherhood as well but I think the rushees are more interested in girls then wanting to hang out and bond with a bunch of guys. Of course this aint true for everyone, yes some guys really are looking for brotherhood and connections for after graduation. But yea, we have to go out to them, though on rare ocasions some guys have walked up to our booth being interested in joining our fraternity. I wish more people would come to us, but I doubt it will happen.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by Flying Tiger

Irish Lake, I agree with you that it we must live up to the profile we present. Deciding what to present our main goals as during rush will allow PNMs to decide if they want to rush us or not. Yes some PNMs are looking for parties, drinking, and girls, while other do want community service. Our campus actually does have one co ed fraternity that is puts itself out as a service fraternity and they are quite big for a house on our campus. Their pledge classes are like 30 pledges which is unheard of for other houses. Of course I can't say for certain that students rush them because they are a service fraternity, but I think its more because they are big and have lots of connections, not to mention that this co ed fraternity is nationwide with hundreds of chapters. They place a big emphasis on bonding to, not partying. That org is accused of taking pledges by all the other orgs.

The general reputation of the greek orgs at our school is not exactly negative, but more of just something that unnecessary. Students not joining because they already have their own friends. The biggest step for us is getting them to come out for the very first time. After that, it becomes much easier and they start to express their own interest. Then they will come to our events on their own.

For us, our recruitment tactics and public relations comes down to selling ourselves in that split second that we first meet them when they walk past our rush table. We need to have a solid first impression. In that few second coversation, which must present ourselves in a way that makes them feel comfortable enough to come out to the events. Unlike formal recruitment, we have to go to them as opposed to them coming to us. At the event we have to present ourselves again and if they come on info night they will see our rush video. So basically its like your right that our other rush events should be a reflection of our rush videos, and usually it is.

I agree with you too that Greek orgs on a united front would be better, but with so much rivalry, I doubt it could happen at our school.

Do you mean Alpha Phi Omega? If so, they don't "put themselves out as a service fraternity, they ARE a service fraternity. As for them stealing pledges, people can join both APO and a social fraternity/sorority, and there is quite a contingency of people who hold dual memberships. If you are losing people to a service fraternity, ask yourselves what you guys are offering that isn't as appealing. Perhaps your campus culture is more interested in a service organization versus a social one.

As for people wanting to stay with their own friends, if you're getting them in the fall, you have prime the opportunity to MAKE FRIENDS. Encourage groups of friends to rush; if their friends are doing it, it might keep them interesting during the uncertain parts of rush.

Originally Posted by Flying Tiger

Hi Alumi Yum, yea everyone works hard to get through recruitment, espcecially fall because this is usually the best rush for all the orgs on my campus. We get the most rushees and the largest pledge class. This is when freshman know very little about the school or classes and still have lots of free time. They are finding there way around when they are approached by invididuals wearing jackets and sweaters displaying two to three unusual looking symbols. They are given a flyer and are invited to come out to an event with them that night by total strangers. Is that going to convince them to come out?

Personally I think this scenario might seem kinda intimidating so its makes rush difficult. By spring they know who we are so its more of either they are interested or not. I think fraternity recruitment is harder then sororities though it doesn't quite show that much on my campus since its seems that both only have pledge classes of about 5 to 10. The sororities talk about their community service and bond easier with their rushees making them feel more comfortable. They emphasize their sisterhood.

The fraternities emphasize their brotherhood as well but I think the rushees are more interested in girls then wanting to hang out and bond with a bunch of guys. Of course this aint true for everyone, yes some guys really are looking for brotherhood and connections for after graduation. But yea, we have to go out to them, though on rare ocasions some guys have walked up to our booth being interested in joining our fraternity. I wish more people would come to us, but I doubt it will happen.

That might be true for the parties, but generally, people will want to join groups because of the people in the group. You have to make the personal connections.

PS. I almost cried when I saw the word "aint". Do people who have graduated college really use this word???

[AlphaFrog]

I use "ain't" when making a point and/or in jest. This does not appear to be the case here, though.

ETA: I just remembered that one of my standard audition monologues has "ain't" in it - but the character is a homeless woman...sooooo....

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

PS. I almost cried when I saw the word "aint". Do people who have graduated college really use this word???

I do all the time, though never in writing and never in anything other than relaxed conversation. It's okay as long as you know better.

By the way, one does not graduate college. One graduates from college, while a college graduates its students. Sorry, but this one is a pet peeve, so as long as grammar is being commented upon . . . .

Meanwhile, I still want to know why an alumnus is asking all of these questions about rush and talking as though he still participates in it.

[Barbie's_Rush]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Meanwhile, I still want to know why an alumnus is asking all of these questions about rush and talking as though he still participates in it.

I agree. There's something here that just isn't right.

[Flying Tiger]

Something here just isn't right? I'm asking because I want to help my fraternity out. Just because I have graduated does not mean I am completely separated from my fraternity, so yes, I am still involved. After a few years of low recruitment, its clear that are recruitment tactics aren't working so thats why I am asking others for their opinions. Its thats simple. Maybe its just us, or maybe its the way greek orgs are on are campus. Either way, I'm just asking for others opinions.