This article is Day 27 of the series: 31 Days to Better Fraternity Recruitment.
Below are ten short stories of brothers I recruited for my fraternity. Note there is a common theme with most of them. ..
Brother 1 – I was his acquaintance in high school. We were friends, but never really hung out. We graduated together. During rush the brothers asked me if I knew anyone who would be interested in joining. I suggested this guy. He ended up becoming a brother.
Brother 2 – This guy was the guy with the highest potential of those rushing with him. He was a good athlete and good student. When I found out he played golf, I took him to a course one afternoon. We started a great friendship that day and he became a great brother.
Brother 3 – I was a recent alum, and visited the house during rush. This guy was afraid of joining because of his Dad’s reservations. I offered to call his Dad and explain the impact the fraternity would have on his son’s life. I spoke to his Dad for about an hour, and the son received his Dad’s approval.
Brother 4 – We played on the same golf team in high school despite me being a couple years older. When I found out he was attending my school, I was sure to invite him to rush. He ended up joining with 3 friends.
Brother 5 – I was his RA. He knew he wanted to join, but wanted to learn more about Greek Life at our school. I took him to the Greek Life Director and she sat down with him and answered all his questions. She spoke very highly of us in the process and he ended up joining.
Brother 6 – We lived together in the dorms as freshman and played on the dorm’s intramural football team. We stayed in touch and I found out he wanted to join. I invited him to rush and he became a great brother.
Brother 7 – I was this guy’s RA. He was an out-of-state student far from home. Like a lost puppy he stayed close to me those first couple days of school. I brought him to the fraternity house and he became a brother.
Brother 8 – I lived in the dorms with this guy. We rushed together first semester but he didn’t join – I did. I ended up keeping in touch with him during that semester and invited him to our parties. He had a great time and decided to join the next semester.
Brother 9 – I took two classes with this guy my first semester. He wanted to join a fraternity , but didn’t know where to look those first few weeks of school. We stayed in touch and he would eventually join.
Brother 10 – Again, I was this guy’s RA. He was shy when he first got to school, and did not socialize much that first week of school. On that first Friday I noticed he was playing video games alone in his room so I invited him to join me at the fraternity house. He ended up coming out of his shell and joined.
So what do nearly all of these 10 situations have in common? I had a relationship with nearly all of them outside the fraternity before bringing them in. Most were from the dorms (note there are many more stories of guys I got being an RA) or guys I knew from home. The relationship didn’t start at rush. Rush just took it to the next level.
If you want to have success during rush – you need to get yourself out there. You aren’t going to pull huge classes if the only people in life you associate with are in your chapter. Be active on campus and take the time to develop relationships with the people you encounter during the day to day. This is the easiest way to master fraternity recruitment.
To learn more, check out our most in-depth article on fraternity recruitment: The Complete Guide to Fraternity Recruitment.