Greek recruitment is a time that comes at the beginning of every semester, where members of the fraternities and sororities on campus reach out to those non-affiliated students in an attempt to show them the benefits of joining their respective organizations.
The Greek system is a large part of the philanthropic, social and academic lives of around 12 percent of Geneseo's student body.
There are many common misconceptions about Greek life. Many Greeks take recruitment (formerly known as "rush") as a time to dispel these myths, show the campus what their organization means to them, and hopefully find some potential new members they would like to make their brothers or sisters.
Recruitment generally comes in waves that form a spectrum from informal to formal, ultimately ending in member selection and the new member education period. Toward the beginning of recruitment, many events are open to all men and women to give them a high-level view of what a particular organization is about.
As recruitment continues, each event generally attracts a smaller group. Formal recruitment, for example, is an invite-only event where the organization selects new members they feel may be a good fit. This more intimate setting, such as a dinner or barbeque, gives current members an opportunity to get to know their potential brothers or sisters.
These events lead up to final recruitment, which usually occurs one or two days before final bids. This is the last chance to get to know prospective members. After final recruitment comes member selection, in which the organizations sit down and evaluate each potential new member on a variety of characteristics and ultimately decide if they feel this individual would be a good fit for their organization.
The following day is final bids, where the individual gets picked up from their residence and celebrates the beginning of their acceptance into the Greek community. The new member education, or "pledging," period starts the following day.
Recruitment is fun, free, noncommittal and has the potential to enhance your collegiate life. Interested students can find more information about Greek Recruitment, including dates and times for events, at www.geneseo.edu/~igc.