Fraternity recruitment season attracts sincere pledges and simple party-goers

Spring and summer fraternity recruitment drives, or rushes, have the potential to be fraught with fakers who have no intention of joining a house.

Most of the 28 recognized fraternities at the UW host events each week throughout the year, which can include anything from house tours and barbecues to river rafting, camping trips and concerts, according to the UW Interfraternity Council (IFC) Web site.

Marco Manuel, recruitment chair at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said he estimates more than 100 students go through a house during the summer.

“We look for guys who will contribute to, build and represent our house,” Manuel said. “Some guys come out with the intentions of partying. There’s no 100 percent way of telling who is sincere. You can sort of tell by their interactions with guys in the house. For example, their mindset might only be on partying and they aren’t interested in hanging out with other guys at a party.”

Fraternities invite recruits to events and social gatherings as a means to court the potential members, a process which some recruits may take advantage of. However, a rigorous recruitment process weeds out those who have no intention to join a fraternity and instead go through the rush process as a means to attend free events.

Erik Bendiksen, recruitment chair at Chi Psi Fraternity, described recruitment as a personal process during which houses have the opportunity to get to know a potential recruit.

“There’s no timeline; the lenth of time for recruitment varies from house to house and individual to individual,” Bendiksen said. “Houses look for well-rounded individuals who have high academics, and who value social and athletic life.”

Matt Falk, recruitment chair at Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, said that in addition to recruiting from the recruitment list, his house also recruits based off of referrals from current members.

Unlike sororities at the UW, which have a formal recruitment process that takes place only in the fall, fraternities have an informal recruitment system that courts potential members for an unspecified amount of time.

For students that have already signed up for a residence hall, most chapters will reimburse the deposit. The average quarterly cost of living in a fraternity is $2182.

Students interested in joining a house can sign up to the recruitment list through the IFC Web site at depts.washington.edu/greek/ifc. Fraternity recruitment chairs use these lists to invite potential recruits to events.

[Reach reporter Chris Paredes at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]