Rush this fall will be the hardest

[DeltaSigStan]

As I'm sure Josh can atest, this rush is going to be big. We're looking forward to bringing in a lot of PNMs this fall, and the school seems to support us just a little bit now.

Now comes the problem. Last fall, the big houses got tremendously big (some went from 40 to 80, one went from 80 to 100, one went from 50 to 75), and the smaller houses stayed small (one went from 18 to 20, one actually went from 20 to 12!)

In addition, next fall, Kappa Sig is coming back, and unlike when we were restructured, they're going to have a butt load of alums helping them to go from 30 to God knows how big. And in the Spring, Lambdi Chi is coming back.

So, we're going to have 16 IFC houses plus TKE looking for guys, and if my house, as one of the smaller ones, doesn't get a good size pledge class, we're going to be left behind, so to speak.

Does anyone have any recruitmen strategies that smaller houses could use when "competing" against the bigger ones? It's kinda hard for the smaller houses to find guys when many want to join a big house (often for that very reason).

What exactly should we point out to PNMs? What aspects should we bring up that we can show that we're just as tight as the big houses.

I mean, winning APhi's Philan. and placing 3rd in Greek Week doesn't say much to PNMs because they probably will have no idea what we're talking about.

[chideltjen]

With the exception of the past year, which has just been incredible for us, we were the group that struggled to get new members. The house was a lil different a year ago, smaller, and as always, our rush was the week after formal recruitment. Actually it begins on Pref Night so sometimes any girl that was cut first round will maybe come to us.

Anyway: you will be surprised at how winning certain events grabs a PNM's attention. I know that we overdo it sometimes and say yes we took second in greek week twice in a row, 2nd in superbowl, blah blah blah. But if you have that to catch people's attention, they may ask, well gee how did you do that and what is that?

We also try to pull in girls who are a little unsure about the sorority process and say that our events are free, no pressure, just come check us out type of deals (which they are.)

We also pass out flyers and information to EVERYONE. If you get one of your more outgoing brothers to start passing out flyers to everyone in the quad, you might grab a few quality bros that may have never thought about rushing but you just opened a door for them. DON'T DISCRIMINATE!

Update or create a website. Make sure it has plenty of information, pictures, contact info. A good portion of the girls we get each semester checked out the website before coming to events.

[aephi alum]

My chapter has been in that boat too - we were by far the smallest of 5 sororities. Of course, NPC rush is a different animal...

I second chideltjen's advice. Also:

Round up a bunch of area alums to help you out. They don't even have to be from your chapter. If you do this, though, BE SURE to have a good rotation system so that most or all of the active brothers get to meet each PNM. If a PNM only meets alums, who's going to vouch for him when it comes time to vote? Also, the first person each PNM talks to should be an active, if possible.

A good selling point for a smaller chapter is the opportunity to take on a leadership role immediately. Smaller chapters are always looking for committee chairs... you have to be careful to spin this the right way, though.

Another good selling point is that you get to know all the brothers well in a short amount of time. If your fraternity has 100 brothers, how many will you know well by initiation? Or even by graduation? One of many reasons I joined my sorority is that I had the opportunity to meet and have good long convos with all 7 sisters and all my fellow PNMs during rush... when I got my bid, there was no question that I was going to accept, because I felt that I was starting to bond with each of those women (both the sisters and my pledge sisters). Again, though, you have to spin that the right way.

And the usual stuff, that goes for big chapters as well as small: Brag about your accomplishments, be they academic, philanthropic, sports, whatever. Be very very visible - wear your letters, have a table in the student center where you all meet for lunch or dinner in the days leading up to rush, etc.

Best of luck!

[sugar and spice]

Two more good selling points of smaller chapters that aephi alum didn't mention:

- If you're going through a "rebuilding" stage, you can emphasize the fact that they will be able to help shape the chapter from the ground up

- And on the slightly less noble side, when you mix with sororities, the numbers definitely work in your favor

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
Two more good selling points of smaller chapters that aephi alum didn't mention:

- If you're going through a "rebuilding" stage, you can emphasize the fact that they will be able to help shape the chapter from the ground up

- And on the slightly less noble side, when you mix with sororities, the numbers definitely work in your favor

Both two points I thought of!

I would push your win with APhi and the Greek Week as well - guys are competitive and want to be in the best fraternity. I would also be honest in that you are rebuilding and that you are looking for quality men - then make them feel like they are quantity. If you find out Kyle had a 4.0 GPA and was valedictorian, say "Kyle, we're really trying to boost our grades and we've heard you know just how to do it..." but don't make him feel like the token nerd. Similarly, if Billy is good at football, brag about how you did awesome in IMs or how it'd be great to have him on your IM team...

[justamom]

Maybe this isn't important to everyone, but "my" boys are really talking about te hazing. I don't know what you policy is. I do know that these guys are so "tight" that they want closeness and
guys who are "real". They also don't want to get the tar beat out of them.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by justamom
Maybe this isn't important to everyone, but "my" boys are really talking about te hazing. I don't know what you policy is. I do know that these guys are so "tight" that they want closeness and
guys who are "real". They also don't want to get the tar beat out of them.

JAM,

Just caught the headline on your post since I don't generally check the Rush threads. Don't know where "your" boys (what does that mean?) are going to school or what fraternity they're interested in -- or if they have a preference at this point.

You've heard this all before, but just be sure to check out the chapter with their national office and with the Greek Affairs office on their campus. If I kept hearing rumors of hazing, I might steer clear of any given chapter.

Might even check with a couple of the sororities on campus to see what they've heard.

Something else that just occurred to me. If the campus newspaper is online and has a search function, you might do a search under the fraternity name and see if any stories -- good or bad -- pop up. I checked Delt out on the search engine on the Ohio University website (the university one, not the newspaper), and found a couple of disturbing things. Fortunately, they were years ago -- after my time, but not close enough to current to be worrisome.

Remember that sometimes the hazing stories they hear are really old news -- the stuff of which urban legends are made. You know, walking 3 miles to class in the snow uphill both ways. If there are particular stories, there should be a way to substantiate them.

Hope I'm not stepping into an ongoing saga here.

Finally, the first time anyone lifts a finger toward them, they should bail the heck out. It's not worth it.

[The_Nash]

I feel your pain. We are in a very tight situation as well. Nationals has given us one more semester to fill all of the requirements to become a chapter. This means that we need to rush big and rush quality guys.

[Betarulz!]

A couple of things I can think of, but I'm not used to how formal rush works for the fraternities (See Summer Rush Thread for description of what I'm used to), so my advice may not be that great.

Use your wins to your advantage, guys may not know what they are, but they understand that 1st or 3rd place is winning, and who doesn't like to win?

Also if you have guys coming through that you really like, try to get them to get their friends who aren't rushing to start. That could be a big lure. One of the things that we use is getting recommendations from guys we've already signed.

If you can sign guys at any point during rush, then make 100% sure that those signed show up at all other events and they can help rush their pledge brothers. (Also gets those guys in to the feel of the house and brings them in to the mix pretty quick.)

Some houses at Nebraska who are slightly smaller often use the tactic of giving anyone who stops by a bid card "to think it over". Sometimes the power of just having a bid card staring you in the face while trying to bid cards from other houses can change decisions. I'm not suggesting you do this, as I think it is important to be selective about rush, but it might be effective to give out more bid cards early if that's possible.

Don't know how your Intramurals work out there, but here our intramurals usually have three divisions(if not more), and in the fraternities the freshman/pledges are stuck in the lower divisions no matter skill level. Some kids are drawn to the opportunity to play in the A division, rather than having to play in the C division. Smaller houses can give those sorts of opportunities that bigger houses won't.

[KEPike]

Stan,

It is proven that a man will pledge 1) where he has the most friends, and 2) where he feels the most comfortable.

Since you won't be able to compete with the larger houses in terms of size, you have to literally kill guys with kindness and make them feel that they are welcomed and at ease with becoming part of the house.

From some of your previous posts, it sounds like your chapter is genuinely trying to turn things around. If so, be sure and hammer this into guys' heads. They'll hear stories from guys at other houses, but be sure to keep everything positive and upbeat. For example, if a rushee asks "so I heard Delta Sigma Phi is the worst house on campus" or whatever, respond with "well, we have made our share of mistakes in the past, but we are trying to become better. We won APhi's philanthropy and we placed third in Greek Week. This year, we want to win Greek Week, improve our academic standing and reputation, and become a force at SDSU." Then, be sure to get confirmation from the recruit as to what he wants from a fraternity. Make sure that you can offer this to him.

Also, be realistic in your goal for the recruitment period. Chances are, you're not going to get 50 pledges or whatever, but 20 may be. Decide on what your goal is and put a plan in place to achieve it.

I was the rush chair of a 30-man chapter with 18 seniors that recruited and initiated enough men to double our size in one year. This can be done with a focused plan, energetic brothers, and an optimistic attitude that you can and will accomplish your task. Best of luck and keep us informed.

[aephi alum]

Another point that a couple of people have touched on - I'm sure you know this, but it bears repeating.

Don't give in to the temptation to bid any guy with a pulse just to get your numbers up. You may get a big pledge class now, but you will probably find that a lot of them depledge, or go through initiation and then never do anything with/for the fraternity, or cause unnecessary drama within your chapter.

Plus, people want to feel that they got a bid because they were chosen, not because the fraternity is handing out bids to all comers.

Plus it looks like you're desperate...

[DeltaSigStan]

Originally posted by aephi alum
Another point that a couple of people have touched on - I'm sure you know this, but it bears repeating.

Don't give in to the temptation to bid any guy with a pulse just to get your numbers up. You may get a big pledge class now, but you will probably find that a lot of them depledge, or go through initiation and then never do anything with/for the fraternity, or cause unnecessary drama within your chapter.

Plus, people want to feel that they got a bid because they were chosen, not because the fraternity is handing out bids to all comers.

Plus it looks like you're desperate...

I dunno, some of the big houses (in fact, most of them) bid everyone they can and cut as they go along.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by DeltaSigStan
I dunno, some of the big houses (in fact, most of them) bid everyone they can and cut as they go along.

Bad idea - you want to get top guys, not get a bunch of guys and cut the ones who aren't.

[aephi alum]

Originally posted by DeltaSigStan
I dunno, some of the big houses (in fact, most of them) bid everyone they can and cut as they go along.

Obviously I was in NPC-land when I wrote that In the NPC world, it's very difficult if not impossible to get rid of someone once they've accepted a bid - so you have to be selective up front. Sometimes I forget that's not always true in the NIC world.

But if someone's obviously not going to make a good brother, save yourself the trouble and don't bid him in the first place. You have to be selective up front as well as throughout the pledge period.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Every brother should join a club or a team where he can meet guys who might want to pledge. You should have a team or hang out at the gym where you can meet guys. You can volunteer at freshman orientation, move in day, and registration. Networking and word of mouth can definitely attract some potential brothers.