Though school was not in session last week, more than 700 students returned to campus a week early to participate in Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council Rush. The week before spring semester begins is the most important formal recruitment process for the 17 chapters under Panhellenic and IFC.
At SMU, IFC governs nine chapters and Panhellenic oversees eight.
IFC Formal Recruitment
This formal recruitment season, fraternities under IFC experienced a slight change in the process. IFC enforced a strict deadline for men wishing to register for spring rush. And, for the first time, fraternities used priority preference during the selection process.
This method, which Panhellenic sororities use, provided the potential male members with an opportunity to select which chapters they are interested in receiving a bid from.
According to IFC advisor Ryan Williams, priority preference made a positive difference in recruitment.
“It allowed for more men to see more chapters and for more chapters to see more men,” Williams said, explaining that with the old process men would place all their eggs in one basket, hoping to receive a bid from their preferred chapter. Now, priority preference provides chapters with this information before they bid on a prospective member.
Some IFC chapters thought the new system created more clarity during the selection process.
“It [preference priority] helped us realize how serious people were,” Chase Perkins, Fiji Rush and Social Chair, said. “It let us know who they [potential members] cared more about and who we should concentrate more of our efforts on in the recruiting process.”
Other chapters thought it did not have a major impact on recruitment.
“It’s different, but I don’t think it made a difference [in Pike’s recruitment],”Taylor Simpson, Pi Kappa Alpha rush co-chair, said. “The main reason is, because of spring Rush, you hang out with these guys all [fall] semester. So, during Rush, you know and they know who will get a bid, for the most part.”
Though Williams would not provide the exact number of bids per chapter, he did give a general overview.
Of the nine houses, seven chapters confirmed bids from prospective members in the high 20s and low 30s, and two chapters confirmed bids in low numbers, according to Williams.
Overall, Williams said spring recruitment went well.
Perkins and Simpson agreed.
“I think we got a really great group of guys with diverse backgrounds and strong academic and leadership skills. I feel like these guys have the ability to do a lot, not only for Fijis but for SMU in general,” Perkins said.
“Rush went really well,” Simpson said. “It’s really exciting to have a great group of guys. They’re already bonding and it’s great to see that enthusiasm already in the house.”
Fraternity Open Recruitment
For those men who were eligible yet unable to attend formal recruitment last week, certain chapters are participating in open recruitment. Open recruitment is a less formal recruitment process that chapters can chose to participate in after the official process has ended. Participating chapters review eligible applicants, deciding whether or not to pursue them.
According to Williams, open recruitment is not a popular process for most chapters.
For those who wish to go through open recruitment, Williams said, “I’m realistic with them: The longer you wait, the less likely you’ll be recruited.”
Williams would not name the participating chapters, explaining that some chapters’ commitment is still pending.
Those interested in going through open recruitment have through the end of next week to register with IFC.
Panhellenic
Almost double the number of women participated in Panhellenic sorority recruitment compared to IFC recruitment this spring.
Though it was a large crowd, Panhellenic advisor Shannon Sumerlin said Panhellenic pulled through.
“The Panhellenic women did a really good job of promoting Greek life,” Sumerlin said.
Preparations for formal recruitment began on Aug. 1, the day Sumerlin arrived on campus to tackle her new position.
Though Sumerlin is familiar with the Greek rush process, having served on nationals before, she had never participated in deferred rush.
“It was a new element I hadn’t dealt with before,” Sumerlin said.
She said, because of spring rush, women who had established friendships in the fall with members of sororities encountered the realities of not getting a bid from the sorority of their choice. This created tense situations that she had never confronted before during fall recruitment at other universities.
But, Sumerlin said she applied this year’s rush motto, “No matter the letter, we’re all Greek together.”
“Women of the Greek community really value their sorority experience, and it becomes evident during recruitment,” Sumerlin said.
This year, Panhellenic unveiled its new computerized version for the selection process, which Sumerlin said cut the preference process in half. In the past, it took members as long as three to four hours to weed through potential members. This year it only took an hour and a half.
Sumerlin said the rush numbers were so high this year that instead of the traditional eight round groups there were nine. Incorporated into the rounds this year was a break period held at the Faculty Club.
Penhellenic rush week culminated Saturday morning when members handed out bids to recruits, who ran to their new house.
“We had really amazing girls go through recruitment, and we are so excited about are new pledges and all of them becoming members of our house,” Chi Omega Personnel Chair Taylor Custer said. Chi-O exceeded quota by four.
The feeling also resonated with Kappa Kappa Gamma Membership Chair Ceesun Sumerdy.
“Kappa got an amazing group of smart, beautiful, talented and well-rounded women who will represent this house well in the next four years,” Sumerdy said.
With the Kappa house currently under construction, the chapter used its temporary home at Panhellenic II during rounds. Though the new location could have proved to be a setback during rush week, Sumerdy said the decorations pulled through and the house worked out well. Kappa has 45 pledges.
