Question:

About 10 years ago, our charter was revoked and we were officially removed from campus.  However, we continued to function as an off-campus sort of Fraternity. This was without the blessing of nationals and was certainly condemned by administration.

From our initial year until this spring most of our pledge classes were at best mixed; there would be some good guys in each class but they were overall subpar. However, our spring recruiting class this year was outstanding. While I am a member of this pledge class I am probably biased but the majority of older brothers agree with this statement.

Next year we will be returning to campus after our hiatus. This has generated a lot of excitement among our alumni and we have seen a large uptick in donations, which means we will have a large amount of money to dedicate to rush events and our social calendar. However, my question is about recruitment.

How can we sell my pledge class and a few select members of the other pledge classes without seeming like we are undermining brotherhood? How can we show our best without the negative effect of excluding the kids who aren’t up to par? After all, even though they may not be the best guys (most are rather awkward, don’t look like true fraternity men, and aren’t leaders) they are still my brothers.
Your advice in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Answer:

Not every guy in the fraternity is going to be a rock star.  In the same regard, there is not a secret formula for the perfect fraternity man.  They come in all shapes and sizes.

I get your hesitation though.  You worry that a few of your brothers will be seen as undesirables and that will hurt you during fraternity recruitment.  You are worried about your image, because you believe that your image is what is going to capture the imagination of perspective new members.

First though, you have to realize that your pledge class doesn’t matter anymore.  There is nothing to sell there.  You are now a member of the fraternity – not a pledge.  Your job is to sell the entire brotherhood, not just a select group of guys.  Now that you are a brother, you have to change your mindset.

My advice?  If they are your brothers then act like it.  Your brothers are your brothers and you should always be proud of that fact.  Brotherhood is not something when it is just convenient.

If you act this way then two things will happen.  First, the guys rushing your chapter will see how you treat all your brothers, and they will think the undesirables are all right because of how you treat them.  They will think if the cool brothers like them, then those guys are probably all right.

Second, the guys in question will probably grow a little bit.  They will feed off how the brothers treat them, and they will probably stick their chests out a little further with pride.  A little confidence can go a long way, and it will probably score a few cool points for these brothers.

Again, I get your concern about image.  But let’s be honest – you don’t have any other way to approach the subject outside kicking these guys out of the fraternity.  The very worst thing you can do is talk junk about these brothers to outsiders.  Doing so will make you look petty an arrogant.  Comparing brothers or pledge classes classifies as talking junk.  No one wants to join a fraternity where the brothers talk about each other behind their back.

Let me ask you which fraternity is more desirable:

Is it the one where all the brothers are cookie cutter cool guys or is it the one where all the brothers genuinely like each other and treat each other well?  I promise you the 2^nd fraternity will have more success in recruitment and also be a better fraternity because they will understand what it is all about.

Be a model brother who treats everyone in the fraternity well.  It will make for a much better fraternity experience for you.  You will be seen as a leader in the eyes of your brothers.  It is also the surest way to success for your chapter.

This question was submitted by one of our readers. If you have a question you want me to answer go here to submit it: Fraternity Advice.

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Question:

Hi there! I am trying to find a new way to revamp my recruitment at Southeast Missouri State. I really want to get every potential new member to meet each chapter without stepping out of the 365 day recruitment process. Any thoughts?

I assume you are an IFC officer or Greek Advisor by the way your question was asked.  I’ll be honest with you, I think trying to get each potential new member to meet each chapter is a very bad idea.

Fraternities are life-long membership organizations that are based on friendships.  That isn’t a decision that should be made without a thorough understanding of the fraternity you are joining.

It is impossible to know a chapter well enough if you are spending all your time getting introduced to the 10, 20 or even 30 fraternities on campus.

My suggestion for potential new members is to do their homework and find 3 or 4 fraternities where they think they’ll fit in.  Rush those guys and be sure you know enough about them to make an informed decision.   My suggestion for brothers is to recruit smarter.  Some good resources are 5 Ways Your Fraternity Can Kill It During Recruitment and Fraternity Recruitment Made Easy (a chapter in my book The Fraternity Leader).

Question:

If someone was initiated into an NIC fraternity (let’s say Delta Upsilon) and was then kicked out during a Chapter review/reorganization can he join a non-NIC fraternity?

Answer:

As long as you were never initiated into NIC fraternity, you are welcome to join another.  If you were initiated, you would have to get a release from your current fraternity to join another one.  Every fraternity has a different process for that.

However, you pose an interesting question about joining a non-NIC fraternity.  The NIC is the one who put that policy in place that all member fraternities agree to abide by.  I guess if the fraternity in not a member of the NIC – then there are no rules to abide by.  That being said, I would be very cautious about joining a non-NIC fraternity.

Question:

I recently transferred schools and was a part of a frat at my old school. The new school I am at has the same frat and I have been over to the house and tried to become a part of it. I can tell that I will not fully be a brother there. The have told me several times that they will vote on me weather I can join or not but after one semester they still haven’t voted. The guys are completely different from my brothers at my old frat and I don’t really like them. Can I join a new frat or am I with my original one.

Answer:

Once you are initiated into your fraternity, you are a brother – period.  The chapter at your new school does not get a vote on whether or not to accept you.  You are already a brother.

I will assume you have made every attempt to assimilate into the new chapter.  While they should welcome you into the chapter, you should do everything possible to meet them half-way.

That being said, those guys sound like jerks.  I wouldn’t want to be part of their chapter regardless.  It says a hell of a lot about a group of guys who don’t welcome their fraternity brother with open arms.  My bet is that this is a chapter with a lot of issues that you don’t want to be a part of.

I would send an email to your fraternity’s executive director and explain the issue.  Realize though if you are doing that you are essentially burning a bridge with the chapter.  If you see no way that you will be a part of that chapter, I would request my release from the national headquarters.

Question: 

I’m trying to open a bank account for my fraternity. I was wondering what is the process of opening a bank account for a non-national fraternity. What type of bank account do I open?

Answer:

Your association with a national fraternity does not make a difference to the bank.  My suggestion is to visit (or email) a few banks and explain your situation.  Let them tell you what you need.

I would make sure the checking account you set up has low or no fees.  Also, you want all checks to require two signatures.  Free online banking would be nice as well.  To learn more about my thoughts on fraternity finance, check out Fraternity Treasurer Responsibilities.

Question:

I disaffiliated from my fraternity last semester but I am thinking I made the wrong choice. Could I re-join that same fraternity?

Answer:

Technically I am sure you could if they would accept you.  However, before you go crawling back, think about this:

How many times have you seen your buddies break up with a girl because he couldn’t stand her, only to go crawling back a few weeks later?  The time apart made him forget why he broke up with her in the first place.  However, when they were back together and the brief honeymoon period wore off, they were back at each-others throats only to break up again for the same reason they broke up the first time….

The point?  Be sure you that you aren’t crawling back to an old girlfriend because you are lost or lonely.  If she wasn’t right before, she won’t be right in the future.  The same flaws will come up again if you are accepted back in the fraternity.  Are you prepared to deal with them this second time around?

This question was submitted by one of our readers. If you have a question you want me to answer go here to submit it: Fraternity Advice.

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Question:

I am my fraternity’s VP of Membership and I basically manage and run our fraternity recruitment and new member education. My problem deals with recruitment.

Other fraternities view us as the nerds, the gay fraternity, the Jewish fraternity. In all actuality we have few guys that many would consider “nerds”, we have 3 gay men, and 4 Jewish people. With a chapter of 60 brothers this obviously is a small percentage of the Chapter. I don’t know where the trash talking comes from because we do not have any deep problems with any fraternity on campus. I honestly think they view us as a threat because we continue to push out good recruitment numbers and place in almost every sorority philanthropy we participate in.

How do we make sure PNMs don’t change their mind at the last second and how do we better our reputation within the Greek community?

Answer:

I know that you brought up the perception that your chapter is the nerd, gay, or Jewish chapter on your campus. However, I am going to push past those perceptions. I simply don’t have a good answer on how to attack those issues directly. I do see that there is some over-arching problems instead. You are going to be hard pressed to answer the “trash talking” conundrum. Every chapter on every campus has this problem somehow. Let’s focus on some things that can be more directly control.

Recruiting is like a sales pitch. It sounds like to present a great product in the form of your chapter. Your chapter during recruitment is what you are “selling”, but more importantly, chapters have to sell their individual members. I want to outline a few ideas that might help you close the deal on your PNM’s regardless of the aforementioned perceptions.

1)      Follow up and stay in touch

-          Too many chapters step away when they feel like that have a guy on the hook. They say to themselves, “this guy is definitely ours. Let’s focus on a guy on the fence.” The issue with that approach is then you ignore that guy, albeit unintentionally, and he doesn’t feel like he is truly wanted in your chapter. This leads to those 11^th hour switches that you feel you are plagued by

2)      Make sure your individual members sell themselves

-          People join people. This is absolutely true. When you buy a car, you want to trust the person that sold it to you. You as an individual chapter member have to sell yourself to the individual PNM. If your chapter is full of people that cannot make others feel comfortable joining the group, you will struggle. Nerd or gay perceptions aside, sell the person. Don’t underestimate the power of those one on one recruiting moments.

3)      Overwhelm the negative perception with the positive message

-          Fraternity Public Relations should not be taken likely. In the modern age, positive and negative public relations are seconds away on Twitter, Facebook, and the like. You are passionate about all of the things that make your chapter stand out on campus. Do you advertise this effectively? Do you use facebook as a chapter or have a chapter twitter account? Online and social media is the fastest growing marketing medium in the business world. Everyone now seems to have a smartphone and has instant access to information about your chapter and your MEMBERS. Your online and social media image and marketing efforts can greatly overcompensate the negative perceptions you have described.

4)      Ask questions

-          The PNM’s that chose another chapter will tell you why if you ask in a non-defensive way. Other chapters and sororities will tell you why PNM’s went another direction. Your Greek Life office should conduct a survey or gather some kind of feedback at the end of formal recruitment. You need to know why you lost a PNM in order to figure out how to tweak your approach and make improvements.

5)      Recruit year round

-          This is true everywhere and in every situation. Recruiting does not just take place during formal recruitment periods. You recruit every day and in every way. You positively recruit my publicizing your events and your achievements. You negatively recruit when your members do stupid and inappropriate things. You can hype up your chapter to PNM’s 24 hours a day without having an event. We call it Guerilla Marketing in the company I work for. It cost you nothing to talk to a guy you like and you think could benefit the chapter. It cost you nothing to spend time at the rec playing pick-up games with other guys on campus. Why not do it? These are the little things great recruiting chapters do year round.

This answer was written by Joe Russo, an alumni brother from Phi Delta Theta and contributor for the thefraternityadvisor.com. If you are interested in writing for thefraternityadvisor.com – let us know (CLICK HERE)!

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Question:

I am our fraternity president, and I was previously a VP Recruitment. I did a good job but I know now how much more our house can do to recruit better guys more guys and more efficiently. I didn’t see this as rush chair because I was thrown into the position, and we have an unfortunate tradition of apathy we are trying to rid.

He has been high most times I see him, a couple of other people in my house are the same way. I have smoked a handful of times in college, (a lot more in high school) but I have not smoked a single time nor will I during my time in office.

The major concern I have is that it is affecting his work ethic towards recruitment. When I give him a task to do he fights me tooth and nail, then when he does it at the last second it is still not up to par (basic things not rocket science). 

I’m concerned he will recruit more people who smoke weed.  I don’t think people who are high ALL the time like he is will be good members. We have had guys who get 4.0s are active fun and smoke that they use as an example of why they can too. When I ask him to do something for the house along the lines of recruitment he won’t agree to a way for me to hold him accountable.
> How do I hold him to do what I need him to do?
> How do I talk to him about my concern with his drug use?
> How do I make sure if he doesn’t do the job the other people in the house will?????

Answer:

You are in a tough situation.  Let me break my answer into two sections:

How to Handle a Brother Doing Drugs

There is a difference between experimenting and having a drug problem.  From your question, it sounds like your buddy has a problem.

A good friend, a good brother, will do everything he can to help him.  You need to have the tough talks about his lifestyle.  How do you do that?  By letting him know how much you care about him and how you are worried he is getting himself into big trouble.  Don’t make it about the fraternity, because it is much bigger than that.  This guy could be throwing his life down the toilet.  A brother doesn’t sit back and watch this happen to another brother.

Unfortunately, it probably won’t matter unless the addict wants to stop on his own.  Sometime the best way to help him get to that stage is to show tough love.  That is the second part of this answer.

How to Handle a Recruitment Chair Not Doing His Job

First, you need to have a serious conversation about his job performance.  Be sure you have clearly laid out the expectations, and that you can clearly show how he hasn’t met them.

Then you have a choice.  You either give him another chance, or you can choose to go in another direction.  99% of the time, you should go in another direction.  However, 99% of the time people don’t because it is the harder thing to do.

In my book, The Fraternity Leader, I talk about how you build character during the difficult times.  Anyone can be a leader when times are good.  The true leaders can step up and make wise decisions even though they aren’t always the easiest ones to make.  You clearly have one of these situations.

If you decide that this guy isn’t cutting it (and it appears he pretty clearly isn’t), then you need to remove him from the position.

The best way to do this is to explain to him that he can resign or you will have him removed.  By allowing him to resign, he will be able to save face.  Chances are if he is doing a poor job, he would welcome the opportunity to quit.

If he chooses not to resign, follow whatever process your chapter has for removing an officer.  I don’t really like to see brothers criticized in meetings, but for this brother it might be the best thing that could happen to him.

Show tough love in this spot.  As a the president of your fraternity, you have taken a responsibility to all the brothers of your chapter (both undergrad and alumni) to protect your charter and your standing on campus.  If you don’t take action – you will be letting them down.

Also, by showing tough love maybe the brother will realize that he needs a lifestyle change.  Of course, don’t kick him to the curb and forget about him.  Continue to try to help him find his way.  However, don’t let your fraternity suffer during the process.

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I’m wondering how your fraternity decided to give out bids. My chapter does not come together to decide who gets one – the Recruitment Chair and one or two other guys, usually the former Recruitment Chair and an assistant to the current simply decide together. I feel that this results in a lot of “The Recruitment Chair liked you so you’re in” rather than “The chapter liked you so you’re in” which is how I feel it ought to be.

Can you offer any advice on how I might suggest that the chapter has more input on the bidding process?

Answer:

We would hold a brotherhood vote to determine who got bids.  If my memory serves me correct, we required 2/3 of the brotherhood to vote yes to get a bid.  However, the president also had the authority to give bids on his own.  This was to be used as a last resort in case a situation popped up where we couldn’t wait for a brotherhood election.

I was president for two years, and I think I exercised this privilege once.  This time we had our brotherhood vote on Sunday, and we were pinning our new members on Wednesday.  We ended up bringing a new guy out Sunday night, Monday night and Tuesday night and it was clear we wanted to give this guy a bid.

There was no time to organize a brotherhood vote.  So I consulted with the exec board and everyone agreed he should get a bid.  So we did it.  This is about the only scenario where I could see it being a good idea for just one person to have the authority to make the decision on a bid.  Notice even then I consulted with others.

I really don’t like how your chapter does it.  I find it very hard to believe that any fraternity would go along with the setup you currently have.  Having a few guys determine responsible for who gets accepted into the fraternity is ludicrous.  Unless your chapter is very apathetic, I would imagine there will be an outright revolt soon if you don’t do something.

While this policy has to change, the last thing your fraternity needs is for it to be done poorly.  Imagine the negative impact to rush if this issue blew up during a rush event.  I can see a couple brothers seeing a guy get a bid, but then becoming pissed publically because they don’t think he deserved it. And of course, no one wins when you air your dirty laundry.

What you need to do is have a sit down conversation (alone) with the chapter president about the issue.  Let him know your concerns.

During this conversation, let him know that you would like to bring a motion up during your next chapter meeting to make a change regarding this issue in your local constitution.  Be prepared to give him a letter that states the change and when you want it to be presented at a meeting.  Of course be sure to follow whatever policies you have in place for changing your constitution.

Now the issue will be out in the open, and the brotherhood will be forced to act on it.  Be sure that you don’t make it personal about the current or past recruitment chair.  It is not about them at all, it is about a bad policy that is in place.

If enough brothers feel the same way you do, then your fraternity should pass this and your problem will be solved.  If it doesn’t pass, then your fraternity has some serious issues that I would worry about.

Hope this helps.

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Question:

What do I do about the rush ninja? You know who I mean…its that guy in the fraternity who snuck his way in through rush and pledgeship, and came out a total asshole who causes girls to leave parties and in some cases brothers to go inactive.

I have never heard the term rush ninja – it is pretty funny. Unfortunately, we are all familiar with this brother.

He got his bid during fraternity recruitment over a lot of objections from a lot of brothers because an influential brother labeled him a diamond in the rough. That brother convinced everyone he deserved a chance. During his new member period, he kept his nose down and the brothers didn’t like him, but didn’t have the heart to kick him out.

Next thing you know, he is the brother that no one is proud of. His values don’t match those of the brotherhood. He isn’t friends with the brothers and is the source of 90% of the drama in the fraternity. So what do you do?

The very first thing you need to do is have a private conversation with him. Men discuss things in hopes of settling their issues privately. You don’t have to accuse him of anything, just explain how his actions (be specific) have made YOU feel.

Hopefully, he will appreciate the conversation and modify his behavior. If he doesn’t, then other brothers should have the same conversation with him (privately one on one).

At this point he will realize that he has to change. If he doesn’t change, then the chapter will have to kick him out of the fraternity.

Before you start the process your fraternity has for expelling a brother, you better make sure that everyone feels the same way you do. This is obviously a big step and should not be taken lightly. I would first make sure the executive board is aware of the issue and let them take the lead on it.

I realize that expelling a brother is tough. No one likes to be the bad guy and kick a guy out. If this guy doesn’t meet your values, and is holding your fraternity back, then it is really your only option. Trust me though, removing this cancer from your fraternity will make it a lot stronger. It will also ensure that this type of attitude and behavior doesn’t spread.

This question was submitted by one of our readers. If you have a question you want me to answer go here to submit it: Fraternity Advice.

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Question:

What do you think about men who don’t drink? I’m looking at one fraternity right now who don’t appear to be wild about it. I’m fine around drinking, I just choose not to. Is there a place in Greek Life for the dry guy?

A good friend of mine rushed my fraternity.  He didn’t drink.  He had the same concerns as the ones above.

During rush, no one made a big deal of it.  He asked questions about it, but no one really seemed to care.  He realized it wasn’t an issue to us, and he joined.

We would quickly learn that this was actually an awesome thing for the rest of us.  This brother was a regular with the party guys, and he never minded driving.  We always had a safe ride home.

The bigger point is he always hung out, and was a damn good brother.  His not drinking had no negative impact on him being a brother, and if anything it had a positive one.  We liked him for who he was, and didn’t pay any attention to the drinking issue.

It sounds like you are going through fraternity recruitment and have encountered some immature brothers.  Be sure one or two juvenile guys don’t spoil your opinion of the entire chapter.  Some of the younger guys often are misguided, and may not be good representatives of the entire chapter.

Chances are the guys are level headed, and really don’t care if you drink or not.

If it seems like the fraternity is making too big a deal of you not drinking, go find another fraternity.  The last thing you want is to be part of a chapter that pressures you to do things you don’t want to do.

To answer your question – there is a place for the dry guy in Greek Life.  Actually, there are lots of places.  You just have to find the one where you fit best.  Good luck.

This question was submitted by one of our readers. If you have a question you want me to answer go here to submit it: Fraternity Advice.

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He has a fraternity brother who had his younger brother rush.   For whatever reason, the brotherhood decided the younger brother did not deserve a bid, and this caused some discontent in the fraternity.  He asked me my opinion on legacies.

As frequent readers of TFA know, I believe your fraternity should only focus on having the most high quality men in the chapter.  If an individual doesn’t meet your expectations, then they should be cut or not given a bid.

I believe in nearly all cases a legacy should be given an automatic bid – especially if the original brother is still in school.  Only in extreme circumstances should he not be given one.

Here is why:

1)      It is necessary PR move.  Think about the brother in the original question.  His fraternity brothers essentially said that his family isn’t good enough.  I love my fraternity and chapter, but it would be very hard to remain committed to an organization that wouldn’t accept my real brother.  Also, think about the problems it is going to cause his family.  How is he going to explain to Mom that little brother isn’t good enough – especially if Mom is paying his dues?  I think you risk losing a brother if the legacy isn’t offered a bid.

2)      There is a more tactful way to handle this situation.  Let the legacy become a new member.  If the new member program does what it is supposed to do, it will prove whether he should become a brother or not.  If he isn’t a good fit, it will be exposed for everyone to see.  In nearly all cases where a new member isn’t cutting it, a new member will realize this and quit.  However, if he doesn’t, then you will have concrete reasons why he doesn’t meet your expectations of a brother.  You will have given him every opportunity to prove himself, and can now justify not letting him in.

3)      He may turn into a really good brother.  Maybe he just gave a bad first impression during fraternity recruitment.  We have all seen 100x the recruits that try too hard and come off bad, or the ones who are a little socially awkward.  However, often times these guys are diamonds in the rough and turn into great brothers.  If the original brother is a good member of the fraternity, there is hope for his legacy.

I am very curious to hear your thoughts on legacies.  Should they be given automatic bids?  Does anyone have a story that could help the chapter that is having this issue?  Please leave your thoughts below in the comments.

Any insight will really help this struggling chapter…

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Question:

I am the newly elected VP of my fraternity. I came in a year and a half ago as a sophomore in a complete rebuilding scenario. We are at a small school and currently only have 16 actives. The average “good” fraternity here has around 50-70 guys.

Anyways we’ve recruited and cut dead weight to where now we only have 4 guys before me and the rest are all new guys, and I’d say we have about a 50/50 split between “fratty guys” and “non-fratty guys”. As you know image is one of the biggest things when it comes to pulling in new guys as well as working with sororities.

What advice could you give me when it comes to trying to change the mindset of the guys we have to where we focus on recruiting more of the fraternity type potentials and less of the GDI friends that some of them seem to have? Also any rebuilding advice in general would be nice.

Answer:

This is my fourth attempt at answering this question…

After reading your question again, and reading Dennis’ reply below, I realize that I probably read too much into this question.  I interpreted the question to imply that you believed you needed to recruit guys for superficial reasons to get your fraternity to the next level.

That mindset will kill your chapter.  I strongly believe that you need to measure the quality of the men in your chapter by their character – not their image.

However, it is obvious you are committed to your fraternity and looking to take that next step.  I apologize for my initial answer….

I hope the intent of your question was how to recruit more high-quality men and how to get your current brothers to buy into that same mindset to continue your rebuilding effort.  I will answer that question…

First, I commend you for expelling the brothers who don’t meet your standards.  That is a very difficult thing to do, but was obviously the right thing as evidenced by your success.  As Dennis references below, I advise quickly removing brothers who refuse to meet the ideals and commitments of the fraternity.  Keeping dead weight around just prolongs the problem.

To take the next step, I think it is essential that all the brothers sit down and discuss what is expected of a brother.  All brothers need to buy into that vision.  This will help you achieve a few things.

It will obviously help you keep your brothers accountable to a set of standards.  They will be defined and they will be clear.  This will help your fraternity.

Also, it will help you focus on recruiting the right type of guy.  You will be looking for guys who meet this set of standards, and that will make recruiting easier.  You will have predetermined what expectations you have for new members.  That should aid you during fraternity recruitment discussions of why you should or shouldn’t take a guy.

Above all else, I encourage you to not take guys who don’t meet your standards.  If these guys make it into your fraternity, they will hurt you because they do not share the same vision as the rest of the brothers.  This will cause an endless string of frustration and cause splits in your chapter.

It will also hurt you during rush.   A high potential recruit could be turned off by your undesirable brother.  It would be awful to lose a future fraternity president over a guy you didn’t want anyway.

About your image, don’t worry about it.  Image is a by-product of opinions you can’t control.  Focus on what you can control.

You can control the quality of the brothers you have in your fraternity.  You can develop relationships with individuals in other organizations (sororities) that will eventually turn into relationships between chapters.

And if you focus on making yourselves and your fraternity better, I promise you the image issues you believe you have will go away.

Also, if you haven’t done so, I encourage you to check out my book – The Fraternity Leader.  This answers a lot of the questions you have – namely How to Recruit and How to Become Popular with Sororities.

This question was submitted by one of our readers. If you have a question you want me to answer go here to submit it: Fraternity Advice.

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1 – For a lot of fraternities, it is difficult to get brothers motivated during the spring recruitment period.  Brothers just aren’t as interested for whatever reason.

This will have the added bonus that brothers should enjoy the event, which will make the event a success.

2 – Don’t overspend.  Spring budgets are tight.  Formal is normally in the spring, and the accounts get bled dry before summer.  Spring rush is one of those expenses that does not have to be excessive.

The guys who are going to join your fraternity in the spring will have already been sold on it.  They will know the guys, and they will know what you do.  Don’t spend money when you don’t have to.

This brings me to my next point…

3 – Focus on recruiting guys you already know.  By January, everyone has established relationships with friends.  Guys aren’t going to join on a whim like they will in the fall.

Therefore, you will be spinning your wheels if you focus on trying to recruit strangers.  The time for recruiting strangers was in the fall semester when you could invite them to your events and take the time to get to know them.  Trying to find these guys and then get them to join is not the most efficient way to use your time.

4 – Make it quick.  You should know who you are going to recruit in the spring.  Focus on them and their friends, and then end it.  No need to drag it out.  This should motivate the guys being recruited because they  know they better act or be left out.  The brothers will be happy because rush will not last longer than necessary.

I hope these four tips help you succeed during spring recruitment.  For more recruitment advice – check out 5 Ways Your Fraternity can KILL IT During Fraternity Recruitment.

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