1993 Volume 116 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

On Campus
Beating the rush recession
How five chapters improved their rush in spite of the odds against them
While the rush
recession has hurt
chapters of many
fraternities on campus^
across North America, a
few chapters of Phi Delta
Theta prepared to do battle
with the effects of the
economy and declining
student enrollment. jUging
their own skills and wits
and armed with the new
rush materials Iron* General
Headquarters, a few rush
chairmen produced some of
the best rush efforts by their
chapters in recent memory.
How did they do it
Well, here are five chapters
that experienced dramatic
results in their rush
performance and the
reasons for their successes;
O Kansas Delta at
Wichita State University
pledged 28 Phikeias, up
from last year's 17. "We
really pitched the advantages
of Greek life at a
commuter school like WSU
to the rushees... the sodal
and brotherhood asped, the
scholarship program, and
our new house," says IriJc
Pray, Kansas Delta's rush
chairman. "Our biggest
problem at a school like
this, &ough, is guys
dropping out after they
pledge, so we really
concentrated on getting
quality as well as quantity.
The average high school
GPA of our Phikeias is 3.2."
©OhioTheta at the
University of Cindrmati
pledged 26, up 20% from
last year. The chapter
recruited more men than
any other chapter on
campus. "We had been
using the same theme for
five years, but the new
Standard for Brotherhood
campaign from Headquarters
really excited the
members about rush. We
used more advertising, held
a workshop with the
videos, and the brothers
really rushed hard," says
John Stahl, Ohio Theta's
rush chairman.
® Tennessee Delta at
Tennessee Tech pledged 31
Phikeias, the best rush
performance on campus
and one that doubled the
size of the chapter. "We
have our freshmen run a
pre-rush function for non-
Greeks, and that prepares
our younger guys for rush.
It also gives initial contact
to the guys we want," says
Greg Martin, Tennessee
Delta's rush chairman. "We
wanted 40 this year. There's
just so much more you can
do as a chapter when you
have more members. I hope
we can pledge 20 guys in
the spring."
0 Ontario Gamma at
McMaster University
pledged 20 men, the largest
Phikeia class in the
chapter's history. "We
wanted at least 20 Phikeias
to replace the outgoing
senior class," said the vice
president, Greg Winter.
"The chapter really promoted
itself through its
service projects, student
government involvement,
and scholarship achievement.
We pushed the new
brochures and our new
rush literature, too. Getting
our name out was the most
nnportant thing."
® Washington Beta at
Whitman College pledged
21 Phikeias despite the
draniatic drop in the
niimber of men going
through BFC rush. The
previous year, the chapter
pledged only 14- "We
worked hard during the
summer establishing
r^ationsliips with the
incoming freshmen we
wanted. That made our
efforts in formal rush that
much easier," said the rush
chairman, Jason Copeland.
"When you have freshmen
already committed to the
chapter, they rush other
freshmen for you."
As these examples show,
preparation, motivation,
and self-promotion are
often the keys to a successful
rush. Many chapters
that face adversity in rush
rationalize their failure by
making arguments against
recruiting a larger pledge
class. To succeed in rush,
however, a chapter must
make a commitment to
increase its size, and then it
must prepare, motivate,
and promote,
Rushees pledge a
fratemity because of the
members. If the members
do not work at meeting
freshmen and rushing them
one-on-one, a chapter
cannot succeed, even by
promoting a great social life
and a beautiful house. It
takes careful plaiming and
encouragement to motivate
members to rush, but the
five chapters described here
have at least that one thing
in common.
Winter 1993 • TheScroU 15