Fraternity recruitment
In this Issue: fraternity recruitment
Note: I am on PTO but have pre-posted content for you
For parents/families of sons, I am frequently asked about what fraternity recruitment looks like for them. I am going to do my best. As always, I want to stipulate upfront that I am Switzerland in matters of Greek life, so every student should do what’s right for them. Also, these are my opinions, not Wake’s.
There is a huge difference in the men’s and women’s processes – the short version is that sorority recruitment is highly structured and fraternity recruitment is not.
Men’s recruitment runs from January 15th and bids go out on January 22nd. While sorority recruitment follows a prescribed process with daily events and particular milestones, fraternity recruitment is much more casual. Much of the process for the men may look more like men hanging out, or watching or playing sports, rather than being at a formal recruitment event.
Most chapters use the formal recruitment period to refine a list of men that they have been getting to know in the fall to make sure that there is a good fit between that man and the chapter. The various fraternities will host events that expose the current members to each prospective member in a variety of situations: these could include athletic activities, informal gatherings, and/or coat and tie events. Men would be wise to keep their options open and consider all groups, not just the fraternities they think they’d be a best fit for.
A lot of the recruitment process is done by distro lists (whether that is group text, group chat, emails, etc.). A man could be receiving invitations to events at a given fraternity for a time, and then suddenly stop getting invites. That is typically the sign that the man is no longer being considered for that fraternity. Sometimes a fraternity will actually contact the student to say they are moving on, other times their ‘notification’ they are no longer being considered is that invites stop. This can vary from chapter to chapter.
While sororities are required to extend a specific number of invitations to make a quota, the fraternities are free to extend as many – or as few – invitations as they wish. Though it is generally a good sign if your son is receiving invites to fraternity events up until Bid Day, that does not necessarily mean he will get a bid to join those groups.
Bids will go out on January 22nd. It is possible that your son could get no bid, one bid, or multiple bids (and then he has to choose which one to join). Just as with sororities, it can sting if you are not invited back to the group of choice. Also just like sororities, I deeply believe there are all types of men in all groups, so any group will have a range of personalities and behaviors and you would find commonality with some and differences with others. There is no one perfect group. My Harry Potter sorting hat analogy works here too – for men who get a bid, they have tended to land in groups that suit them.
Families want to take note that there are organizations that are not recognized by the University (though some are still recognized by their national organization); see here for more information
The University discourages students joining these unrecognized organizations. Because they are unrecognized, these groups do not have faculty/staff advisors, there is no University oversight or training in important topics like harm reduction, they may not have insurance, etc. In addition, the University does not manage or have information on their recruitment or pledging processes. If your student is interested in joining one of these organizations, it would be helpful for you to have a conversation with your Deac about the ramifications of being in an unrecognized fraternity.
If your son is going to go through recruitment, I wish them all the best. And just as with the women, if the process does not go as they hoped, encourage them to seek support from our various resources (RAs, Counseling Center, 336-758-CARE, etc.). We’ll share some info about NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Conference) intake next week.