Every school year, greek organizations around campus open their doors to prospective members from all walks of life in the hopes of building a network of friends that will last a lifetime.
Ryan Powell, assistant director of Greek Affairs, said the greek system can help students integrate into a new place as they enter The University of Alabama.
“By joining a fraternity or sorority, new students are choosing to get involved and connected to The University of Alabama outside of the classroom,” Powell said. “The transition to college from high school can be difficult, and campus involvement, especially in a fraternity or sorority, can help to ease the transition.”
During the selection process, prospective students are chosen to carry on the tradition of values set out by the specific chapter.
“All fraternities have a set of values that are cornerstones of their organizations,” Powell said. “The chapters recruit men who share similar values to those of their organization, and their membership.”
Drew Maddox, rush chair for Theta Chi, said the recruitment process is essential to building an enduring brotherhood that lasts beyond graduation.
“Rush is a crucial part [of] every fraternity,” he said. “The social events throughout the school year are mainly focused around the freshmen, so it is important to do your best to try and get the best kids every year.”
Maddox said while fraternities and sororities both conduct rush activities, there are differences in the way each go about welcoming prospective members.
“Pledge classes for fraternities are typically about 35-55 guys, which is the perfect size compared to the 100-girl sorority pledge classes that seem too big and don’t ever really get to know everyone,” he said. “Sorority rush is conducted during one week of meeting hundreds of girls and spending very little time at each house. I personally feel like during this process you aren’t given enough time to make such a big decision.”
Fraternity rush parties are used to bring possible bids together in an environment that will introduce them not only to other members but also to the greek system.
“For rush we invite high school seniors who plan on attending The University of Alabama and are interested in different things that active greek members have recommended,” Maddox said. “We start with a couple of big parties during the spring semester and continue on into the summer up until the fall semester. We like to give everyone a fair chance by not filling the entire pledge class early, and we like giving anyone from out of state an opportunity to come to an event and have an equal chance of receiving a bid.”
Maddox said he enjoyed his own personal rush experience and encourages interested students to participate.
“In my opinion, fraternity rush is so much more personal compared to sorority rush,” he said. “When I went through the process, I actually felt like people wanted to get to know me instead of already determining what they think about me based on my high school achievements.”
The Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity conducts rush during both the spring and fall semesters, Luke Kiszla, the chapter’s recruitment director said.
“We typically offer both a fall and spring rush, adhering to guidelines set by the IFC. Since we do both semesters, rush is a bit different than a lot of other houses,” Kiszla said. “For fall rush, Alpha Sigma Phi may have only one or two parties in the spring and wait until April to offer bids to rising freshmen or sophomores we know really well.”
While rush occurs during fall and spring, other events over the summer aid in the selection process, Powell said.
“Over the summer, we have a few events where we may give bids to students we have gotten to know better, but the majority of bids are issued near the beginning of school,” Powell said.
Greek Affairs encourages students interested in learning more about greek life to visit alabamaifc.com
