Eight Brothers Walk Into a Bar…

This may just be a case of an old fart fiddling with other peoples’ business, but it’s a puzzle to me so I thought I’d ask everyone what they thought. It bears mentioning that I’m the sort of person who likes to ponder over things without ever necessarily thinking of interfering with the real situation – maybe that’s why 8 Brothers exists. :)

My old chapter is having Rush this week. Every day, there’s a different event – fun stuff, social stuff, but with built-in opportunities to learn more about the fraternity. Active members are strenuously encouraged to attend. Potential recruits are individually targeted by actives, and there are posters and flyers everywhere band kids go.

The problem is – and from what I’m being told, this has happened for the past couple of years – no one is attending. The active members show up but they can only get 1-3 potential members to attend. If this year is like last year, half of the people who attend Rush won’t interview – but they’ll get dozens of interviews from people who never attended a single Rush event.

The end result is that Rush is a total wash and a financial drain, serving only as a Brotherhood experience for the active members who are able to show (given that it is a solid week of nightly near-mandatory activities). However, recruitment is generally highly successful nonetheless.

I get to wondering – what’s the deal, here? Our school has a very small/weak Greek system, so maybe the kids don’t understand what “rush” means – but shouldn’t they be interested in going to the events just because they’re fun and offer information?

Does it matter if recruits don’t attend Rush?

Since the chapter is getting recruits hand-over-fist who never attended Rush, should they just save the time and money and skip Rush entirely?

If not, how can they make Rush more appealing to recruits?

Should Rush be mandatory for recruits? Should it be an interview question – “Did you attend Rush and, if not, why?” Should skipping Rush reflect in any way on a recruit?

Is ten days of solid recruitment too much, too fast? Would a two-week period with five or six events be better?

One thing that I’ve noticed is that the event posters do NOT say “Rush” on them – they say things like “Come float the river with KKPsi.” Do you think people think that it’s a KKPsi-only event?

Whaddaya think?