I’m initiated- now what?

If you are a new member for this semester, initiation is just around the corner, if it has not already happened. Our ritual is what sets us apart from other clubs or organizations, and brings us together as brothers. Now that you have gone through our ritual, you should be very excited to make your chapter, and by extension our fraternity, the best it can be. One such way is to help with recruitment, which is, as you know, an ongoing process. There are a few ways you can do this:

• Bring your pledge class together and write down the names and contact information of anyone you think would make a good member of the Fraternity. Too many times men are initiated but are never asked for the names of friends who could make good members of Theta Chi. Your alumni can also be great resources.
• As a pledge class, put together a recruitment event where you invite all of the people that are on your new names list. At some point, you will be running your chapter; take charge and find out how to run a recruitment event successfully.
• Start introducing potential members to brothers in your chapter. You do not need to immediately identify these brothers as members, just as friends of yours. After a while, introduce this prospective member to the concept of the Fraternity and then show that these people he has been hanging out with are members of our fraternity.

These three things are just the first of many things that you can do to help your chapter with next semester’s recruitment efforts. Remember that the recruiting process doesn’t end when your campus’s rush or formal recruitment period does. Take initiative and make a difference. Good luck!

Chapter Recruitment Profile

 

The men of Gamma Delta, celebrating with their almost 30 pledges!

School Name:

Florida Southern College

Chapter Designation:

Gamma Delta

School Size: Small (1,900 undergraduate students)

Current Chapter Membership: 34 initiated brothers

3 Secrets for a successful recruitment : At Gamma Delta, we have held successful recruitments for the last two years, with new member class sizes of around 30.  This also means graduation hits us pretty hard, so a good recruitment is necessary to keep the chapter alive.

Chapter Recruitment Profile

School Name: University of Central Florida Knights (UCF)

The men of Iota Theta/Central Florida

Chapter Designation: Iota Theta

School Size: Large – 25,000+

Current Chapter Membership: 80 brothers

Chapter Recruitment Profile

School Name: Georgia Institute of Technology

Chapter Designation: Alpha Nu

School Size: Medium (10,000 – 24,999)

Number of Men in Chapter: 53 brothers/23 pledges for Fall 2009

Bringing Tabling Back

Anthony Dominguez (Delta Phi/North Texas 2010)

Kyle Mauch (Alpha Iota/Indiana 2010)

Leadership and Education Consultants

When people think of tabling, often times thoughts of draping a flag over the table, having your most prized trophies and awards displayed, and showing off some great pictures coupled with flyers that have a cool slogan and list your rush events all immediately come to mind. Sitting behind a table for hours, dressed in your best recruiting clothes and bragging about your chapter is a thing of the past. Here is a new take on tabling that will be much more fun and will definitely be more interesting for the guys you are recruiting.

The Importance of Standards

Phillip Burns (Iota Lambda/Longwood 2008)

Coordinator of Expansion

In honor of school starting across the nation, here is a pop quiz: Which institute of higher learning receives more applicants a year – Harvard University or your local community college? Answer: Harvard, by a fair margin. The reason for this is simple: Just about anyone can get into community college, but there are only a select few who can say they are students at Harvard, which makes that university more appealing. If a student can make it into Harvard, they know that they have done something with their lives, and they are recognized for this.

Start with Why, Part II

Phillip Burns (Iota Lambda/Longwood 2008)

Coordinator of Expansion

Missed Start with Why, Part I? Click here to read it!

First and foremost, your chapter needs to know why you exist. How do you determine this? At your next chapter, take a few minutes and ask every member to write down why they think the chapter exists. This answer should only be one, maybe two, sentences.

Start with Why, Part I

Phillip Burns (Iota Lambda/Longwood 2008)

Coordinator of Expansion

This fall, prospective members will come to your chapter/colony/interest group and they will be interested in joining our fraternity. When they ask why they should join Theta Chi, what are you going to tell them? “We throw the best parties on campus,” “The sororities love us,” and a personal favorite “We have the best brotherhood on campus” will all be uttered at some point by a well-intentioned recruitment chairman or member of the group.

Alpha Upsilon/University of Nebraska – Lincoln Colony Update

The Alpha Upsilon Colony of the University of Nebraska is on its way to finishing its long road to installation as an active chapter of Theta Chi. We started the school year this last fall with thirteen returning members and have grown to 26 members, including five members so far this semester. We will be preparing the petition for reinstallation this coming week for a hopeful initiation in May.

One of the most impressive things about this year has been the ability to retain members, keeping every member who joined this year except for one.

Eta Alpha/Clemson University Colony Update

Eta Alpha Colony at Clemson University is well on its way to becoming an active chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity. In the past two months, we have submitted our petition for reinstallation to the Grand Chapter, and with the aid of our graduate advisor Brother Dan Lepper (Iota Beta/Missouri State), we have begun organizing the events surrounding our Initiation on Founders’ Day April 10^th! We recently pinned four New Members during official IFC Spring Rush, bringing the size of the Colony to 48 members. New Members Tom Baker, Jake Gray, Christian Homrich, and Drew McCathern have joined in the excitement of becoming a Re-Founding Father of our chapter.