Fraternity Recruitment in Full Swing
Written by Victor Hedenberg
It’s the time of the semester when the fraternities at Hillsdale College are working at full grind attempting to recruit new members. The competition is on to ensure that the fraternities can continue in their current fashion and sustain a long-term presence on campus. Yet attracting the attention of new students presents its own unique set of challenges. The goal then becomes to actively advertise the fraternity across campus, a concept that any member will tell you requires hard work.
Last year recruitment changed from a heavily restricted system which all fraternities had to follow to one allowing more flexibility for recruitment efforts. The new system promotes the idea that fraternities can adjust their recruitment periods to their own liking and “pick-up” new members anytime instead of being constrained by a calendar date.
For example, Delta Tau Delta held its preference party last week in Curtiss Dining Hall in the Dow Center. Several prospective members were invited to the event for a meet-and-greet with all the active members. After that, a few respectable members spoke about the nature of a fraternity and what it can add to a person’s life. Fruits and desserts were also served, and the prospectives had additional time to socialize with the members.
The main idea of an event like this is to build interest in fraternity life and what it can give in return for membership. The preference party also helps the fraternity itself to see who is honestly interested in joining. Those who show up are typically more favored and more likely to be granted membership than those who do not. Obviously, the preference party is only one of many events that a fraternity hosts during its selection process, but it is an important step towards building strong and fast relationships between prospective and active members.
Victor Hedenberg is currently a senior majoring in Economics and minoring in Business Administration. He is involved with the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and has volunteered with many organizations at Hillsdale.