New fraternity recruitment rules will go into effect this Spring.
This year’s Interfraternity Council recruitment process will be one week shorter than last year’s, running for two weeks from Jan. 9 to Jan. 22, said senior Matthew Forester, IFC vice president of recruitment and new member education. Those interested must register for recruitment by Dec. 7, whereas in previous years, registration remained open until the first day of recruitment.
“We still want chapters to be able to meet all the guys and have a good time during recruitment, but we basically want it to be more safe, more responsible and more professional,” Forester said.
Forester added that the changes to the recruitment process will reduce financial competition between chapters and also address the liability faced by both students and the University during IFC recruitment, such as increased section damages and the number of calls to emergency medical services in recent years.
“We needed to have a process that was much more professional and safe and also fun,” said Zoila Airall, assistant vice president of student affairs for campus life. “[IFC] decided to... be much more clear with when [recruitment] begins and when it ends, so it’s fair for all freshmen going through it and for all chapters participating.”
Airall added that IFC is planning two parties, signifying the official start and end of recruitment, in order to eliminate post-recruitment hazing.
“The IFC recruitment team is going to be visiting every chapter’s rush events to make sure... that everything is going according to plan,” Forester said. “[That] includes putting a stop to progressives and other unsafe behavior.”
Clarybel Peguero, assistant dean of fraternity and sorority life, was not available for comment as of Monday night.
Despite promises of greater safety, not all prospective fraternity members are excited by the changes.
“I don’t think people rushing will get a feel of what each frat is really like, because people will probably act differently when there are officers around,” freshman Jackson Scharf said. “Someone could end up in a frat that parties harder than they expected because their rush was toned down.”
Changes to the fraternity recruitment process are familiar to Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek, who said she has seen such reforms every three to five years in her time as an administrator.
“[Fraternities] get some feedback, and then they regroup and try to make it better the following year,” Wasiolek said. “[The changes are] more of a recognition on the part of the frats that there is something about their recruitment process that maybe is dissuading the young men from even going through it.”
The IFC recruitment team collaborated with Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta and Airall in writing its proposal.
“It’s a partnership,” Wasiolek said.
The exact schedule of recruitment rounds has yet to be released in order to give fraternities more time to plan events, Forester said. He hopes beginning recruitment two days before the start of second semester will make the process more professional.
Airall said beginning recruitment before the start of the semester allow students to focus on events without the added stress of academics.
“They wanted to have a time where people could start some of the recruitment process and everybody is free and the classes have not actually started,” she said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.