The Interfraternity Council Formal Recruitment has looked a little different this summer.
Held June 24 to 25, the once three-day event was cut to just two days this year, but the process remained the same, IFC Vice President of Recruitment Vinnie Cacciatore said.
Beginning in the MU’s Student Recreation Complex, all 28 IFC chapters set up booths for potential new members to browse. From there, PNMs chose their top eight fraternities and spent time visiting each chapter. Then, they eliminated five more chapters, leaving their top three selections to pay final visits to, Cacciatore said.
“[Formal Recruitment] allows new students to get exposed to the Greek community and to see as many chapters as they can,” Cacciatore said. “Students who have not been exposed can get their feet wet and furthermore figure out which organizations might be the best fit for them.”
According to Cacciatore, several chapters recommended cutting down the extra time in between the events.
“There was a lot of stagnant time in the process,” Cacciatore said. “Every year we send out a survey to the PNMs, our recruitment chairs and also our Rho Gammas (recruitment guides).”
Cacciatore also said IFC relies on feedback from those that receive the survey.
“The process changes a little bit each year and the reasons for these changes, when or if they occur, are due to the feedback that our office and the IFC get each year,” Coordinator of Greek Life Julie Drury said in an email.
Several IFC chapters are already speaking out about said changes, and the responses might send mixed signals to IFC.
“The computer system used this year presented some challenges, but given that there was a participation increase of around 100 percent, any difficulties therein were expected and did not represent an undue challenge to us in our role,” Delta Chi President Ryan Bueckendorf said in an email.
Delta Chi Recruitment Chair Skylar Morris said that the absence of a house could be a large reason for their success.
“One of the major advantages of our chapter is the fact that we don’t have a house for now and that we can really take as many guys as we think fit our values.” Morris said. “We really use Formal Recruitment as an opportunity to meet a lot of good guys and to get our name out a little more on campus.”
Sigma Chi Recruitment Chair Kyle Toth also found the process to be very successful for his chapter.
“I thought this year was a great experience and opportunity for our chapter,” Toth said. “The only slight modification I would make is more buses for the rushes. Some of the kids have very little time to run across campus, which cut away from potential time to meet with them.”
Not all chapters found the shortened schedule to be as effective, though.
“PNMs had 80 to 90 minutes to stop at different tables and talk to as many chapters as they could,” Sigma Pi Rush Chairman Darrell Bass said in an email. “This wasn’t enough time for PNMs to get a good feel for what each chapter is about. At dinner they would choose their top eight chapters for the first round of house visits starting that evening. This meant PNMs had to cut 20 chapters even if they didn’t get to meet with all of them at the expo.”
Bass said that he would be willing to join with other chapters to present his suggestions for next year to the IFC.
“This is now the fifth year we’ve done it, and each year we’ve made some changes,” Cacciatore said. “For a program that is definitely a work in progress, we’re still trying to find the perfect solution. We definitely took a chance by changing it.”
Cacciatore is working on the final report for this year’s Formal Recruitment and plans to meet with several members of each chapter when the next academic year begins.
“I think that since it is a growing program, more students that are attending it are much more proactive about being recruitment, so we have to take that into account for next year,” Cacciatore said.
