Spring recruitment for fraternities ended last week, and overall numbers stayed relatively consistent compared to last year.
Similar to sororities, the Interfraternity Council recruits fewer men in the spring than the fall.
The Director of Recruitment Charlie Schmitt said between 25 and 30 men will end up joining fraternities.
“About 14 men showed up to the bid ceremony and another four or five were recently added. In the end it comes down to about 25 or 30,” Schmitt said.
President of the Interfraternity Council Eric Steinhardt said he is happy with the way the numbers turned out.
“This year’s recruitment is consistent with last year’s numbers,” he said. “Sure, we’d like to see growth, but we’re also content to see the numbers remain consistent.”
Schmitt said the informality of recruitment makes it difficult to pin down a specific number of recruits. Also, Steinhardt said even though official recruitment is over, all the chapters will continue to accept new members.
All 14 fraternities participated in the week-long recruitment event because there is no limit on the number of men allowed into the fraternities. The chapters held programs at their houses throughout the week such as wing-eating contests and pick-up basketball games.
Schmitt said spring recruitment is more relaxed because many of the men who go through recruitment have been associated with the fraternities for about six or seven months. He also said recruitment in the spring usually is a good fit for someone who has spent time with the fraternity.
He said his roommate got involved and joined his fraternity in the spring because he spent so much time at the fraternity with him.
During the week, chapters also often had free food at their houses to entice recruits to visit and explore. Then at the end of the week the bid ceremony took place, which usually meant most of the men were accepted into their desired chapter.
“The feeling with fraternities is if there are eight guys to fit your house, then none of them should be denied,” Schmitt said.
Steinhardt also mentioned the reason spring recruitment takes place so early in the semester is because of the chapter education process each new member must go through. This process can take six to eight weeks to complete.
“It’s in regards to scholastic schedules. We don’t want the fraternity to get in the way of finals later on in the semester,” Steinhardt said.
The fraternities will spend most of the spring semester focusing on their individual philanthropies and preparing events for fall recruitment.
