The Interfraternity Council formal recruitment weekend begins the process of matching men with a fraternity, and this year, it did so in record numbers.
Recruitment, which was held June 29 to 30, is intended to show students all of the IFC chapters in a short period of time, IFC Vice President of Recruitment Matt Goldsmith said. This year’s attendance of 363 men this year is an increase from 250 men last year.
“This was our biggest group yet,” IFC spokesman Jon Strope said. “It’s becoming more popular with increasing interest in Greek Life.”
Though there was an increase in attendance, the IFC executive board did not make any major changes to the event. The only difference was splitting the group in half to lessen congestion for the opening event of the weekend, IFC Vice President of Recruitment Matt Goldsmith said in an email.
The council did not want to make the weekend too structured, Strope said.
“It’s a laid-back weekend,” Strope said. “It is a great way to get exposed to fraternity life and to know chapters and meet guys.”
Potential IFC recruits began the weekend June 29 in the MU Student Center at the Chapter Expo, according to the IFC website. Participants could visit each of the 28 fraternity chapters for about 30 seconds to a minute.
Strope described these short visits as “elevator speeches,” in which each fraternity discussed what it values, what it does and what it’s about.
After these brief meetings, each participant listed the top eight fraternities he would like to visit again. In turn, each fraternity made a list of people it wanted to visit them.
Both of these lists were combined to create a schedule for participants’ second-round visits.
The second-round visits began that night, with each participant visiting four of his top eight fraternities. The second-round visits continued the morning of June 30.
“During these eight 30-minute visits, recruits will get to meet with many of the members in each of the chapters,” Goldsmith said. “If the chapter has a house, recruits will also get the chance to get a tour of the facility.”
From these second-round visits, fraternities narrowed their lists of potential recruits. Possible recruits received a schedule of three final third-round visits.
“After these three visits, the recruit can either receive a bid to join a fraternity or a request to informally rush with them,” Goldsmith said.
Typically, the recruitment weekend leads into the informal rush process, which begins in the fall.
“Our main goal overall is for these recruits to find a home for four years and men they can legitimately call their brothers,” Strope said.
Men still have the opportunity to informally rush even if they could not attend IFC’s formal recruitment.