Men’s Fraternity Recruitment

The Daily Deac got an email yesterday about men’s fraternity recruitment, saying we’d given a lot of air time to women’s sorority, recruitment – what about the men?  A fair point well made.

So let’s talk men’s recruitment.  The key dates for recruitment are below, and there is an excellent Q&A with Steve Hirst, Director of Student Leadership and Organizations, about fraternity recruitment.  I think Steve makes an excellent point here when he talks about the difference between sorority and fraternity recruitment at Wake Forest:

“How does the men’s rush differ from women’s recruitment at Wake Forest?
While rush and recruitment both refer to the process by which IFC fraternities and Panhellenic sororities take new members, the processes look and feel much differently. The men’s process (including the formal portion) is much more casual. Much of the process for the men looks more like men hanging out or playing sports than an “event”.

Most chapters use the process to mostly refine a list of men that have been identified to make sure that there is an organizational fit. Most groups will host events that expose the fraternity membership to each prospective member in a variety of situations. It is somewhat typical, for instance, for chapters to host athletic activities, informal gatherings and coat and tie events.

Another aspect that is significantly different is in regard to the flexibility of each organization’s decisions when deliberating on bid invitations. While the women are required to extend a specific number of invitations, the fraternities are free to extend as many or as few of invitations as they wish. This is largely related to how the national offices have structured the rush process.”

So for men, there is not the same kind of dramatic ‘one week of recruitment events’ that the women had.  So it’s easy for us at the Daily Deac to be a little more blase about the process, because it seems so loosely structured.

Also, historically men have not been as vocal or visibly upset if they have a disappointing outcome (or their parents).  It can be hard for us as administrators to know when and where there are men who are disappointed at the end of the process and could use some support.  If your son should fall into this category after recruitment, please email parents@wfu.edu and we can suggest avenues of support of people on campus that might be resources for your son.

If your son is going through the process, good luck to him!

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January 15^th – IFC Rush Assembly (5pm in Pugh Auditorium – required)

January 16^th – 17^th – Formal Rush Rotation (all prospective members visit each fraternity over a two night period).

January 18^th-22^nd – Informal Rush Events (prospective members are free to choose which events they would like to attend).

January 23^rd – Silent Day – Chapters submit bid invitations to the IFC.

January 24^th – Bid distribution: every student receives an email notification in advance of the distribution meeting informing them as to whether or not they will be receiving at least one bid invitation.