The Interfraternity Council voted unanimously on Apr. 21 to create a dry recruitment weekend from Nov. 5 to Nov. 7 next semester in an effort to expand recruitment opportunities and reach out to new students.
Currently, formal recruitment for freshmen is limited to rush week during the week before spring semester. But both prospective and current members may benefit from more IFC sponsored recruitment events in the fall, according to Matt Grosshans ’11, the IFC vice president for recruitment.
The only interaction that freshman currently have with the Greek system prior to rush week is through open parties.
“It’s one thing to go to individual chapter events, but we want an IFC presence on North Campus,” Grosshans said.
On Friday, Nov. 5, there will be a “Meet the Greeks” event, similar to informational event held on the Monday night of rush week where each chapter will have a table and present information about its house. On Saturday and Saturday, there will be smokers and non-alcoholic recruitment events for students to explore different houses.
“It is important to note that alcohol will not be a part of this recruitment weekend and that we will encourage chapters to engage in healthy and safe recruitment practices,” Allen Miller ’11, the IFC president, said.
“It will be a no-pressure environment,” Grosshans said. “We want to reach out to people who don’t traditionally come back for rush week.”
According to Grosshans, this event was created after current freshmen said they would have liked more time to explore the different houses. Their response was gathered by a survey sent out to 600 new members as well as from input in the “new member IFC” program, where new members attend special meetings to talk about, among other things, the recruitment process.
“Rush week is a short, truncated time to make important decisions,” Grosshans said. “We want to change how the IFC approaches recruitment.”
According to Grosshans, this weekend in the fall semester is only one piece of the puzzle. “It’s important in the context of broader efforts of the IFC,” Grosshans said.
The IFC plans to work with the Multicultural Greek Letter Council and Panhellenic Council to participate in events during orientation, including the Big Red Blowout. They also plan to hold an information session on North Campus and at Noyes on Aug. 26 for transfers and upperclassmen. These will be listed in the orientation guides that are distributed to new students.
Last spring, when the IFC instituted a minimum GPA of 2.25, “some of the criticism we received was that we didn’t inform freshman as well as we should have,” Grosshans said. But holding these new events in the fall will help ensure that new students are informed about IFC procedures, he said.
“In the months to come, we will work closely with Campus Life and potential members to ensure that the weekend runs smoothly and is beneficial to new students, transfers and members of IFC fraternities,” Miller said in an e-mail.
Original Author: Laura Shepard