Fraternity/Sorority Recruitment time! So, what's the hooplah about?

Our campus starts fraternity and sorority recruitment next week and I know that many others are also embarking on this unique time of year.  With so much focus on these groups this week, it has turned my thinking to this area and the unique opportunities and challenges that face our students who choose to lead these groups.

Let me put it out there from the start... I am a sorority member myself and am a huge proponent of the benefits of membership.  Membership in that organization definitely made me the leader that I am today and I can attribute a great amount of my personal growht to the opportunities I was given.  Love them or hate them, fraternities and sororities are a part of many of our campuses.

Leadership in these organizations brings about significant and intense experiences for students and I'm thinking recently about what makes them so unique.  These organizations make committments to holistic support of students whether in academic, social, service, leadership or other settings.  I'm thinking that might be the ticket and have something to do with why being a chapter president is such a tough job or why membership decisions are so significant and frought with advising challenges for us.

Membership recruitment (i.e. "formal rush") activities bring a lot of "hooplah" to our campus each year, whether good or bad... there's a lot of hooplah.  There is intensity from current members, prospective new members, administrators, and non-members and everyone has a lot to say.

So, let's hear from the SA blog public.... what do you have to say?

Comments

[Dawn Vanniman]

I have to say that I agree, for the most part, about the leadership opportunities and the like. That being said, I'm really glad that we don't have the Greek system at our college!

I didn't pledge or join when I was in college, but my roommate and boyfriend did. It did seem to put them under a lot of stress for 'rush' and continued until the pledging was done.

I see that students get the same leadership skills from clubs as from the Greek system, it's just a different set of students and they have to want to take the opportunity instead of having it right there for them. Just my thoughts. :)

[Cindy Kane]

Hi - thanks for your comment.

You say the students "have to want to take the opportunity instead of having it right there for them." Can you expand on that a bit as I'm not sure what you mean or how that is different from other groups or leadership opportunities?

Cindy