Now that summer is underway, students from all over the nation have begun their summer fun. Summer is a time to relax for most students, however for recruitment chairs of campus fraternities, their work is still ahead of them.
Just like any other organization, fraternities depend on recruitment to continue the legacy in which they uphold. Sports teams have scouts to search for talent worthy of their team's logo. For a fraternity, the recruitment chair seeks young men fresh out of the minor leagues (high school) that are worthy of their letters.
Recruitment is one of, if not the most important, elements of the fraternal chain of existence. Without new members, a chapter will shrink and in some rare cases cease to exist on their respective campus. Fraternities can almost always find young men who are interested enough in their organization to make the pledge. However, like any form of recruitment, there is always a certain level of competition.
As the summer months approach, a recruitment chair will often ask around the active membership, seeking information regarding the young bloods graduating high school. In this preliminary stage, there may be many a nights of clicking through potential new members' Facebook profiles. It's important to seek out this recruits interests and then to see if his interests coincide with the general interests of the house. If everything checks out, then one may choose to add this kid to the houses' rush page on Facebook. This is a convenient networking tool for recruitment chairs, saving them the hassle of writing recruitment mail outs and making phone calls. For the most part, this is the easiest step of the process.
Meeting potential new members is where a recruitment chair really needs his mojo flowing. First of all, he needs to coordinate a meet, which often takes the form of an event in which multiple PNM's (Potential New Members) will be present. Here is where he can really get a feel for what these PNM's are all about. The recruitment chair must also keep in mind the expectations that the house has for new members, seeing as it's very rare that all members are present at the event. He wouldn't want to recruit a kid that could potentially be an outcast within the membership. Often times, he will seek approval from other members of the house before moving forward in the process.
Now, the competition for the, "number one draft picks" is always the fiercest during the summer. Usually you can find a couple of late round gems during formal recruitment in fall, but for the most part, the big dogs get signed during the summer. Lets be honest: this search is for the bros born with Polo horsepower that could potentially propel your house to the top. This kid has the grades, the look, the personality, and a way with women that you just don't find in many young bucks. But, this breed often has their own angle on the fraternal recruitment process.
These high value recruits will reach out, get in contact with multiple fraternities and attend many events in order to see which house has the most to offer. This is where a recruitment chair has to put in work, finding ways to separate his house from all the others in the eyes of the studs. This is most easily accomplished by setting up awesome events, events that are exciting and expose the new guys to the elite members of his house.
Without a doubt, the recruitment chair has the most pressure out of any member in the house to perform at his best. With out his best effort, a house could have a bad recruiting period and the reputation, standing, and membership quality could take a major hit. With that being said, best of luck to all of you guys out on the front lines fighting for the future of your fraternity. No pressure, but choose wisely. Remember come syllabus week (or as I call it, preseason week one), your recruits will hit the field and their true colors will surely come to light.
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